Well-deserved mark
KARNS CITY — After spending the previous two seasons alongside two of the better players in Karns City girls basketball history, it was only fitting that Ashley Campbell got her chance to shine.
Campbell became the eighth player to eclipse the 1,000-point mark. She joined the club in grand style, tallying 26 points in a 50-48 win over Keystone Feb. 12.
"I'm honored, honestly," said Campbell. "I'm happy to be up there with these players."
Last Friday, the senior forward wrapped up her career with an 18-point, 20-rebound effort in a 42-38 loss to Clarion-Limestone.
"Her sophomore year, Ashley was the third player behind Haley Callihan and Allyson Kepple," said Karns City coach Dave Kerschbaumer. "She kind of got garbage stuff.
"Last year, she stepped up more inside and outside, with her and Ally. Then, this year, she buried 3-pointers when she had to. Her jumping range got better and she got on the defensive end better.
"The kids look at her and see what they can do. She's won three district championships. She's a very accomplished player,"Kerschbaumer added.
That Campbell, a Butler Eagle first-team all-star last season, got to 1,000 points was remarkable considering the Gremlins didn't have a second serious scoring threat to complement her and because she didn't set a torrid pace like she did the latter half of the season.
"It was a little harder this year to score," said Campbell. "Playing with Ally made it a lot easier because there was someone else to score. It was a lot harder, but it was fun."
Through the first nine games, Campbell averaged 14.3 points per game. Over the final 11 contests, she averaged 23.8.
Campbell averaged 13.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 72.5 percent from the free-throw line last season. This season, she averaged 19.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per contest.
"We never really talk to the girls about numbers," said Kerschbaumer, "but with about eight games to go, she was averaging 14, 15 points a game.
"I said 'Hey, you've got to get close to 20 points a game if you're going to do it. Nothing out of the norm of what we do. Just find a way to get to the free-throw line.'
"She exceeded that. She shot (80.2) percent for the year. She got there a lot and finished it off,"Kerschbaumer added.
Campbell connected on 170 of 212 free throws for the campaign.
She hit a stretch of eight games in which she hit on 91 of 107 attempts, an 85-percent clip, including a 23-of-26 performance that helped her score 41 points in a 59-40 win over A-C Valley Feb. 5.
The Gremlins suffered only their second losing campaign and first nonplayoff season since 1995-96, which took a little shine off of Campbell's accomplishment.
"We (seniors Campbell, Hannah Beck and Taylor Kerschbaumer) were pretty upset by it, so we just took some good points out of it to make it better," she said.
Here are the Karns City girls basketball players who have scored at least 1,000 points in their careers:<B>Name Points</B>Elizabeth Whitmer 1,496Katie Kepple 1,467Courtnay Rattigan 1,433Karissa Kusick 1,351Allyson Kepple 1,189Bobbi Jo Blakely 1,183Ashley Campbell 1,028Gina Andreassi 1,021
