Patience pays off as Butler girls basketball’s Amelia McMichael reaches 1,000-point milestone
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Butler's Amelia McMichael (32) looks at the scoreboard after scoring her 1,000th point in a girls basketball game against Seneca Valley Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Amelia McMichael, back, celebrates her 1,000th point with Malina McElroy (1) in a girls basketball game against Seneca Valley Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Amelia McMichael's family and audience members celebrate her 1,000th point in a girls basketball game against Seneca Valley Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Amelia McMichael (32) attempts to steal the ball from in a girls basketball game against Seneca Valley Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Amelia McMichael (32) scores in a girls basketball game against Seneca Valley Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Sydney Patterson (15) passes the ball against Seneca Valley in a girls basketball game Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Malina McElroy (1) attempts to block Seneca Valley from scoring in a girls basketball game Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Sydney Patterson (15) drives the ball down the court against Seneca Valley in a girls basketball game Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Eva Stutz steals the ball from Seneca Valley in a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Avery Maier attempts to score while Seneca Valley's Reece McFadden blocks in a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Reece McFadden steals the ball from Butler's Sydney Patterson in a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley celebrates their win against Butler in a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Sydney Patterson scores while Seneca Valley's Surina Vellody blocks in a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Vallet basketball coach Dorothea Epps celebrates her team's win over Butler in a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Sydney Patterson (15) drives the ball down the court against Seneca Valley in a girls basketball game Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Surina Vellody attempts to reach the net in a girls basketball game against Butler at Butler HIgh School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Reece McFadden scores in a girls basketball game against Butler at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Avery Maier attempts to score while Seneca Valley's Reece McFadden blocks in a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Amelia McMichael (32) attempts to steal the ball from in a girls basketball game against Seneca Valley Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Sydney Patterson battles with Seneca Valley for the ball during a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Ella Omasits looks to pass the ball during a girls basketball game agaainst Butler at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Brook Dufford (25) battles for the ball with Butler during a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Malina McElroy (1) tries to prevent Seneca Valley's Natalie Hambly (24) from passing the ball during a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Gracie Cato runs the ball down the court while Butler's Avery Maier tries to intercept the ball in a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Amelia McMichael (32) runs the ball down the court during a girls basketball game agaainst Seneca Valley at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Butler's Amelia McMichael tries to steal the ball from Seneca Valley's Ella Omasits during a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Seneca Valley's Reece McFadden hangs onto the ball in a girls basketball game at Butler High School on Friday, Jan. 31, 2025. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
BUTLER TWP — Brushing by her coach on her way to a seat on the bench, Butler’s Amelia McMichael might have been wondering if her time was coming.
She was sitting at 17 points at that point in Friday’s game against Seneca Valley, two away from 1,000 for her girls basketball career. She had to wait until she was subbed back in to reach the figure.
“You’re going to get it,” Golden Tornado coach Mark Maier told her. “Don’t worry.”
McMichael, a senior and West Chester women’s basketball commit, sat in class nervous earlier in the day, thinking whether it would be the night she’d get there. She stopped being tense as soon as she walked onto the court, but that didn’t take away from the feeling of having a magnifying glass hovering over her.
“I didn’t want her to get a fourth foul there at the end of the third,” Maier said. “I had 1,000 points at Butler, and I know when I was going for 1,000, you tend to press. You want every shot to be the one, you know?”
“It’s definitely intimidating and nerve-wracking because everyone’s watching you and everyone knows how many you need to get,” McMichael said.
McMichael was put back in the game a minute into the fourth frame. She pulled in a pass under the hoop 40 seconds later and knocked down a turnaround shot to pull Butler within one point after being down 10 a few minutes earlier.
McMichael finished with a game-high 22 points. Seneca Valley went on to win 57-53 and clinch its first WPIAL section title in 48 years.
“I just took one dribble and shot it,” she said. “It was just a regular layup. Once it went in, I was really, really excited.”
As was the crowd, which jumped to its feet in applause.
“I told her, ‘You let the game come to you, you’ll get 1,000. If you force it and every shot you take is off-balance, you’ll miss ’em,’” Maier said. “Look what happened: she made it.”
Before the Raiders’ Legacy Joseph-Short got settled for a free-throw attempt about a minute later, the public address announcer informed those who hadn’t caught on that McMichael had accomplished the feat. She received a standing ovation while she stood outside the lane.
“I didn’t really like all the attention,” McMichael said bashfully. “I mean, I was excited. I was like, ‘Oh gosh, everyone’s looking at me. Make sure my hair looks OK!’”
Maier pointed out it took McMichael only three years to reach the plateau despite playing stiff Class 6A competition.
“As soon as I stepped on the floor my sophomore year — first varsity game — I set a goal, and my goal was to get 1,000,” McMichael said. “I did that.”
McMichael had kept note of what she needed since.
“At the start of the season, I needed 300,” McMichael said. “Each season, I averaged around, like, 350. So I was like, ‘OK, if I just keep doing what I’m doing, I’ll get it.’ I looked back, I think, three weeks ago, and I was like, ‘OK, I need to average, like, 20 a game to get my 1,000 on this night.’”
She’s the 10th Butler girls basketball player to reach the milestone and first since Oliva Bresnahan in 2010.
