BETHLEHEM - Minersville senior Reighly Melochick sank the first of two free throws with 2:15 remaining in the Battlin' Miners' PIAA Class AA second-round game Tuesday against Neumann-Goretti.
During the game, it was just another free throw in Melochick's mind, though the mostly Minersville crowd in Freedom High School's Joseph J. McIntyre Gymnasium let out a collective roar, knowing the senior guard had just eclipsed 2,000 career points.
It was a rare bright moment for Minersville, which lost to the undefeated Saints 60-42 to end the season at 26-2.
"I kinda did it for the little kid inside of me who thought 1,000 points wasn't enough," Melochick said. "It's not really exciting for me right now. The sorrow from our loss outweighs the happiness for me right now."
Melochick reached her milestone after she made a fine defensive play.
Melochick tipped away a Neumann-Goretti pass into the hands of Minersville senior forward Leah Leshko, who dished the ball back to Melochick.
Sprinting end-to-end, Melochick drew contact from Saints forward Ahnje Timber to earn the trip to the line.
She had been sitting on 1,999 for almost 8 minutes. Her game-high 19 points brought her final career total to 2,003.
"Not too many kids, boys or girls, score 2,000 points," Minersville coach Jared Homa said. "I know that she'd trade those 2,000 points in for a state title. But when she looks back and everyone in Minersville looks back, they'll look up to that banner and be amazed at how many points Reighly scored."
The Miners never led in Tuesday's game, as Neumann-Goretti (27-0) opened the contest with an 11-point run and led 18-2 with 2 minutes to play in the first quarter.
Emmanuella Awobajo led Neumann-Goretti with 14 points. Timber added 11 and Sianni Martin scored 10.
Defensively, the Saints finished with 10 steals and 10 blocks - three of which came on one Minersville possession in the fourth quarter.
They also outrebounded the Miners 33-18.
"You can't really describe it until you're out there playing against them," Melochick said. "They're a lot stronger and quicker than anyone I've ever faced."
Minersville sliced the deficit to 11 points at the end of the first quarter, but Neumann-Goretti's Alisha Kebbe opened the second frame with a 3-pointer.
The Miners came back by hitting 4-of-4 from the free-throw line before point guard Ciani Cryor posted a 3 to extend the Saints' lead to 24-11.
Minersville got back within 10 before Ahnje Timber connected from beyond the arc, making it 27-14.
After trailing 33-18 at halftime, the Battlin' Miners used a 9-2 run in the final 2 minutes of the third quarter that brought the score to 45-34, forcing a Neumann-Goretti timeout.
Once the teams returned to the court, Cryor hit another 3-point field goal that sparked an eight-point run and erased any hopes Minersville had of a comeback.
"They have athletes in every single position," Homa said. "It's very difficult to defend. You have to pick your poison. In the third quarter, when we got that lead down to 11 ... they have so many answers.
"They just roll kids in and it makes it difficult because they have kids that can shoot from the outside," Homa added. "But I'd like to play them again tomorrow."
The victory advances Neumann-Goretti to Friday's quarterfinals, where the Saints will face District 1 champion St. Basil, a 53-43 winner over Delone Catholic.
"It's a tough matchup for anyone," Homa said. "Our kids showed a lot of character bouncing back like that twice against a very good team.
"They're going to be tough no matter if it's A, AA, AAA, whatever it is."
That's saying a lot considering the depth the Battlin' Miners touted this season, featuring a mixture of seniors and underclassmen.
"Our seniors gave us everything for six years," Homa said. "It's hard to lose them - Hannah Rinaldo, Leah Leshko, Alyse Ryan and Reighly. It would've been easy for them, two or three years ago when things got tough, to walk away instead of working hard.
"But they worked hard and we had a great season - champions of the Schuylkill League, District 11."
Returning next year are starting freshmen Abby Schoffstall, who finished with 13 points Tuesday, and Emily Mealey - as well as Adrienne Kroznuskie, Allison Polinsky and Meg Schwalm, the first players off the bench this season.
It's a depth that was born and bred in Minersville, and even though it came up short to the Saints, Homa wouldn't want it any other way.
"It's not frustrating, because I wouldn't trade one of our kids for one kid (from Neumann-Goretti)," he said. "These kids grew up in our program. They love Minersville."