MINERAL POINT – Darlington senior Cassidy Chambers scored the 1,000-point of her career on Friday night, but she would have liked to have had her Redbirds pick up the win instead.
    On the night the Redbird guard reached her scoring milestone, Mineral Point took over sole possession of second-place in the SWAL by posting a 47-40 victory over the visiting Redbirds at MPHS on Friday, Feb. 8.
    The Pointers (11-6 overall, 9-3 in SWAL) came out firing with senior guard Emily Mitchell knocking down two of her team’s three first-quarter 3-pointers and sophomore forward Natalie Chubb adding a putback and an old-fashioned three-point play in the opening period to lift them out to an early 16-9 lead.
    “They’re shots were falling. They had a couple of banked in threes. Those still count. There’s nothing you can do about it. You have to grit your teeth and keep battling,” said Darlington head coach Riley Fitzsimons.
    MP’s lead swelled to 20-11 midway through the second period before Chambers and fellow senior Claire Scott sparked an 8-2 run that allowed the Redbirds (14-5, 8-4) to trim the deficit down to 22-19 by halftime.
    Chambers, who scored five points during the rally, put in her 1,000th career point on a free throw with 3:07 remaining in the second quarter to join a select group of Darlington girls who reached that milestone.
    “She’s a battler. She can shoot from the outside. She can drive to the basket. She can shoot free throws. She’s got the whole repertoire,” said Fitzsimons, who is a member of the Darlington boys’ 1,000-point club. “That’s one heck of an accomplishment. She’s worked hard all her life to become the player she has become. I know her. She would have rather had the win tonight than to score her 1,000th point.”
    The Pointers regained the momentum after the intermission by opening the third quarter on a 12-1 run to widen their advantage to 34-20.
    The lead remained at double digits for much of the second half, but some spotty free throw shooting down the stretch allowed Darlington to remain in the game.
    The Pointers had 21 attempts at the foul line over the final five minutes of play, but they sank just eight of those shots to give the Redbirds some hope.
    The hosts went just 17-for-39 (45 percent) from the line on the night, but the Redbirds could take advantage as that shot just 12-for-27 (44 percent) from the line themselves.
    After whittling a 16-point deficit down to 47-40 on a three-point play by Chambers with 20 second to play, the ‘Birds could get no closer.
    “I told the girls I can’t blame them for their effort and I can’t blame their minds because their heads were in the game. But, their shots weren’t falling,” said Fitzsimons, who noted the loss of practice time on Thursday due to the early release for weather concerns hurt the team’s preparation for Friday. “I hope we captured some momentum late into the game that we can carry into the playoffs.”
    Chambers finished with 17 points to lead the Redbirds, while Scott chipped in with 14.
    Mitchell led the Pointers with 17 points, while freshman Clara Chambers added nine points for the hosts.
    At Livingston, on Tuesday, Feb. 5, the Lady Redbirds jumped ahead 20-2 after one quarter of play and kept their foot on the gas pedal the rest of the way to race away with a 62-22 SWAL victory over the Iowa-Grant Panthers (2-16, 0-12).
    Cassidy Chambers matched the Panthers point-for-point in the game as she finished with a game-high 22 points for the ‘Birds.
    Claire Scott tallied nine points and Kaitlyn Wall followed with a season-high seven points in the win.
    Next up, Darlington hosts Boscobel on Friday, Feb. 15.

Darlington…….   9  10    5  16 – 40
Mineral Point… 16    6  15  10 – 47
    Darlington – Mallory Busch 2, Cassidy Chambers 17, Abigail Merriam 4, Claire Scott 11, Alexa Hardyman 3, Mariah Wiegel 3. Totals – 13  12-27  40.
    Mineral Point – Qualley 3, Pittz 3, Dolphin 2, Graber 2, Mitchell 17, Wainwright 2, Chambers 9, Chubb 4, Schultz 5. Totals – 13  17-39  47.
    3-point goals – D 2 (Chambers 1, Wiegel 1), MP 4 (Mitchell 3, Qualley 1). Total fouls – D 27, MP 21.

Darlington…. 20  16  16  10 – 62
Iowa-Grant…   2    6    6    8 – 22
    Darlington – Shannon McDaniel 3, Mallory Busch 2, Cassidy Chambers 22, Carly Reilly 2, Abigail Merriam 4, Tatum Evenstad 4, Claire Scott 9, Alexa Hardyman 5, Kaitlyn Wall 7. Totals – NA.
    Iowa-Grant – Moneypenny 2, Holder 6, Roth 2, Yelinek 5, Jackson 7. Totals – 6  8-19  22.
    3-point goals – D 1 (Wagner 1), IG 2 (Yelinek 1, Jackson 1). Total fouls – D 22, IG 16. Fouled out – D: Scott.

LAST WEEK’S MISSING BOX SCORE
Riverdale….. 14   7   8  10 – 39
Darlington…   8   6   8  13 – 35
    Riverdale – Meister 14, Rognholt 2, Fradette 3, R. Pedek 6, Kleist 11, Frazier 3. Totals – 14  7-13  39.
    Darlington – Cassidy Chambers 20, Cassidy Cox 2, Carly Reilly 1, Abigail Merriam 4, Claire Scott 6, Kaitlyn Wall 2. Totals – 14  7-17  35.
    3-point goals – R 4 (Meister 2, Kleist 2), D 0. Total fouls – R 18, D 18. Fouled out – D: Scott.