DUBOIS, Pa. – Melody Young, an Otto-Eldred graduate, became the first player in Penn State DuBois women’s basketball history to score 1,000 career points.
(Photo of Melody Young (left) and Pat Lewis. Young, an Otto-Eldred graduate, scored her 1,000th career point Sunday, becoming the first 1,000-point scorer in PSU DuBois women’s basketball history. Lewis, meanwhile, won his 400th career games between Cameron County girls’ basketball and PSU DuBois women’s basketball. Photo by Bard Close)
Young, who scored four points in the Lions 88-58 win over Penn State Scranton, has 1,002 career tallies.
“It’s really hard to score 1,000 points in our program because I do a lot of subbing,” PSU DuBois head coach Pat Lewis, who has been the head coach for the entire 12 years of the Lions program, said. “Melody is just a workhorse. Her average hasn’t changed over the years. It’s great seeing this young lady, who didn’t score 1,000 points in high school, come to DuBois and flourish. She consistently got better. It’s mainly because of her work ethic. She had a good background from Otto-Eldred. She is just a workhorse. It is a very workmanlike 1,000 point.”
Lewis said it means a lot to the program to have the first 1,000-point scorer.
“A lot of times our kids don’t get the notoriety that some of the other kids going to bigger schools get,” Lewis said. “We played a good schedule and our kids work hard. It’s great to see them get acknowledged.”
On the year, Young is averaging 10.1 points per game and 10.2 rebounds per game.
LIONS CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOT
With the win, the Lions clinched a PSUAC playoff spot. They are 13-7 on the season and 7-6 in conference play on the year. They have won three in a row, including a big 74-73 overtime win over Central Penn Feb. 5 and a 72-56 win over Penn State New Kensington Feb. 8.
Cierra O’Shell led the Lions in the win over Scranton with 20 points with Punxsutawney grad Hope Bridge adding 19 points and Kristin Williams 16 points and eight assists.
LEWIS WINS 400TH GAME AS GIRLS’/WOMEN’S COACH
The win on Sunday was also a milestone for Lewis, as it was his 400th career win as a girls’/women’s high school/college coach.
Lewis won 280 games and was the District 9 Class 1A runner-up twice in 24 years as the head coach at Cameron County High school, where he started as the junior varsity girls’ coach in 1977 and became the head girls’ coach for the 1983-84 season. Lewis then started the Penn State DuBois women’s program, which is in its 12th year and has won 120 games with the Lions.
“It means a lot to me,” Lewis said. “It always sounds cliche, but it has to do with the players you have, the assistant coaches you have and the program you have. In order to reach milestones, you need all of those things and longevity. What really means a lot is the comments I have seen from former players. They all know they had a part in it. That’s why it means a lot to me. To go through their posts on Facebook and remember how important they all were to this. It’s neat to get 400 as a head coach, and hopefully, there are more wins to come.”
Lewis said reaching his milestone on a day where a bigger milestone was reached and a playoff berth was clinched made it more special.
“It’s really nice that it came today,” Lewis said. “It came on a day where Mel had a bigger milestone and we clinched a playoff spot. It did have special meaning because of that. If it was just another game, maybe it wouldn’t have meant so much. But this one was a playoff-clinching win.”
Penn State DuBois returns to the hardwood Tuesday, Feb. 12, when it travels to Penn State Beaver.
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