Three SOL players reached the 1,000-point milestone in three days in late January. A fourth accomplished that feat in December. Photos provided courtesy Mark Allen, Tracy Valko & Darryl Rule of J&D Photography. To view complete galleries, please click on the following link: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f578962862
It’s a rare and special day when a player reaches the 1,000-point milestone.
In late January, in a span of three days, three SOL girls’ basketball players surpassed the milestone. Cheltenham senior Paige Powell and Upper Dublin senior Megan Ngo put their names in the program record books when they reached the milestone on the same day, and two days later, William Tennent senior Halie Staub joined them in the 1,000-point club.
Another, William Tennent senior Avery Kucor, without a whole lot of fanfare, became the first girls’ basketball player in 34 years to accomplish that feat on Dec. 18, and Staub’s story would not be complete without including the senior point guard.
Also, in addition to scoring 1,000 points, Ngo also put her name in the program record books when – on the same night - she surpassed the 600-assist mark – a number that promises to stand for a long, long time.
Each player’s story is different, but each is equally significant.
Powell joins Lady Panther greats
The banners in the gymnasium at Cheltenham High School are reminders of the program’s storied past, which – under Hall of Fame coach Bob Schaefer - included two state titles, four district titles and 24 league titles in 27 years.
The list of 1,000-point scorers is star-studded with McDonald’s All-American Laura Harper, who went on to excel at the University of Maryland and later played in the WNBA, topping the list.
Paige Powell has looked at those banners ever since she stepped onto the court three years ago, and recently, the senior standout added her name to the prestigious list.
“My coach has always been on me about getting up on the board,” Powell said. “He said, ‘You have the ability to do it,’ so at the end of the season last year, my coach told me how many points I had.
“I just worked all summer, and I knew this year – it had to be done my senior year.”
The script rarely goes as planned when it comes to attaining a milestone, and Powell’s run to a thousand was no exception.
The senior guard – who averages more than 17 points a game - entered the season needing 315 points to reach a thousand. She was 23 away entering her team’s home game against Chester but ended up with 11. That was followed by three days later by the postponement of the Panthers game at Upper Moreland due to a snowstorm.
“We thought she was going to get it (against Chester) – we bought the balloons and everything, and then with all the snowstorm (and postponement), everything deflated,” coach Andre Brickey said.
Cheltenham’s game at Upper Moreland was moved to the following Thursday, and Powell needed just 12 points to reach the historic milestone.
“Thursday’s game was a fun one,” Brickey said. “We were able to get her 1,000, and we were able to pull off the win, so it was a good one.
“We called an iso play for her, and a little one-on-one drive – she went to the right side and finished.”
Powell, according to Brickey, came into her final high school season a different player.
“From last year to this year, it’s just a lot of maturity and just confidence,” the Lady Panthers’ interim coach said. “When we need a basket, we can go to (Paige). She can score on a pull-up, she’s hitting 3-pointers all over the floor, so, if we need a basket, we lean on her.”
Powell joins teammate Maya Simmons - who reached the milestone last year - on the banner.
“We had a lot of stars last year, we had a great team,” Powell said. “I knew I had to step up this year, so I’m shooting the ball more.”
“Paige has definitely come to the forefront this year,” Brickley said. “You could see it on her face – you could see the relief. It’s something she really wanted to be up there with a lot of well-known names, so this is big. This is huge for her, and it’s huge for the program.”
Powell admits she was feeling some pressure as she approached the milestone.
“There was a lot of pressure,” she said. “I’d hear it every time I walked around. Everybody’s telling me – you’re 90 points away, you’re 50 points away. You have to hit it.’
“I knew I could hit it, I knew I could get it, but I just like to play the game. I wasn’t trying to think about the points. I really just wanted to win at the end of the day. I knew I was going to get it eventually.”
That pressure didn’t end until Powell had her 12 points at Upper Moreland.
“My teammates were yelling it – ‘You got nine points,’ so in my head I knew because they kept telling me the whole time,” she said. “Knowing they had my back and knowing they wanted me to get it helped too.”
Powell scored the historic basket on a layup.
“It was an iso 101, and it felt good,” Powell said. “I don’t show my emotions on the court, but on the inside, it felt good to do it.”
There were no balloons or flowers, but Powell received the commemorative basketball, and Paige Powell’s name will forever be on the banner with other Lady Panther greats.
Ngo a double threat
Megan Ngo did something that was nigh impossible.
Somehow, the Upper Dublin senior reached not one but two milestones in the same game against Hatboro-Horsham on Jan. 29. Ngo needed 18 points to reach 1,000 points, and just four assists separated the senior point guard – who already held the program record for assists - from the 600-assist mark. 
She surpassed both.
“Even though I’ve seen her dominate games while only taking a couple of shots, I’m extremely happy for her that she was able to reach 1,000 points,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “And having 600-plus assists at the same time proves she plays the game the right way.”
As for reaching both milestones, Ngo acknowledged that the 600-assist mark never entered her mind when she stepped onto the court as a freshman.
“It definitely was a goal of mine to score a thousand points coming into high school,” she said. “That’s something you see certain people do, but honestly, I never really thought I would get 600 assists, which is really exciting.”
Earlier this season, Ngo broke Jess Polin’s program assist record of 542, and coming as no surprise, it’s the assists Ngo enjoys more than the points.
“A hundred percent – I love getting my teammates involved,” she said. “And I think that’s what’s really special about not only this team this year, but all four years I’ve been surrounded by players who could put the ball in the basket.”
If you do the math, Ngo has had a hand in a minimum of 2,200 points and obviously a lot more since many of her assists were for 3-pointers.
“I think that’s what is really special about assisting – that is really more of a team thing because you can’t get an assist without someone scoring the ball,” she said.
Ngo is the third player on this year’s UD squad to surpass the 1,000-point mark this season, and with just one loss, Upper Dublin is the top seed in the District 1 6A Tournament and has clinched its third straight SOL Liberty Division title and second SOL Tournament title in as many years.
“It’s been awesome,” Ngo said. “It’s been really cool how many individual accomplishments we had this year, but I think what’s the most special part about that is that we all can’t wait to see what we accomplish as a team.
“I think that’s what is really special because obviously we have a lot of different threats and players, but I think we all are really excited and want to compete and see how far we can go.”
And while it’s the team that comes first for both Ngo and her teammates, there’s no mistaking that reaching the 1,000-point plateau and the 600-assist milestone is truly remarkable.
“Meg’s journey to become the player she is today is a product of all the time she puts in to improve her game,” Funsten said. “She is never satisfied and is always looking at ways to get better.
“Her work ethic – which is consistent in her family – is unbelievable, and her intensity of one of a kind.”
Kocur & Staub make history
Avery Kocur and Halie Staub.
They’ve been teammates since third grade and friends just as long. It’s a safe bet neither could have imagined they’d be closing out their high school careers with their names in the program record books not only for leading their team to the
program’s first title in 38 years but for both reaching the 1,000-point milestone – the first Tennent girls in 34 years to accomplish that feat.
“It’s kind of crazy because freshman year and sophomore year our records were horrible, and even junior year – our record wasn’t that good,” Staub said.
Horrible might be too strong a word for back-to-back nine-win seasons their first two years in the program, but it was a far cry from this year’s 18 regular season wins and a 7-1 record in SOL Freedom Division play.
“I think our team chemistry is a lot better, and we’re having a lot of fun,” Staub said. “We’re just locked in at practice, but I think having fun is really important. We all get along really well.”
Kocur was a bit more optimistic when she entered the program.
“Coming in my freshman year - I did want to win a title during my four years,” she said. “And as the years went on, we finished second last year with two other teams, and then it was my senior year, and I was like, ‘Okay, it’s my senior year, I know what’s at stake. It’s my last year ever playing in high school, and I knew we could get it done.”
As for scoring a thousand points, both say they didn’t give it much thought initially.
“As the years went on, I was like, ‘This is something I could get, and I could make an impact at Tennent because no one’s ever done it for a long time,’” Kocur said.
Kocur entered her final year of high school with 912 points. She wasted little time when the season start, reaching the milestone two weeks into the season in a win over Springfield Twp.
“There was definitely a lot of pressure I would say about a week before,” she said. “We had two games that one week, and I knew it wourld be coming up soon, and I was stressed all day at school.
“We had a home game when I needed 14, and I just had to let the game come to me, and it ended up working out.”
Kocur turned a pass from Staub, her good friend and teammate, into a 3-pointer, and her name was in the history books.
“Halie told me going in, ‘I’m getting your assist,’” Kocur said.
Kocur returned the favor when Staub scored her historic basket – also on a 3-pointer – in a win over North Penn.
“I was like, ‘Okay, you can’t score unless it’s my assist,’ and then it ended up happening,” Kocur said. “I was so excited for her.
“I feel like all season she was kind of on the edge if she was going to get it or not, and she kept telling me, ‘What if I end up with 900-something and I’m super close, and I don’t end up getting it?’ I was like, ‘Halie, I promise you, you’re going to get it.’ Leading up to the game she was so nervous, and she came out on fire.”
Staub needed 11 points and got that and more in a dazzling first quarter showing, torching the Knights for 14 first-quarter points.
“It was awesome – usually when you have nerves, you can’t do it, and she tore it up when she got out there,” Kocur said.
For Staub, it was the culmination of a goal she wasn’t sure she’d reach.
“We were looking at the thousand-point banner, and the one row was completely full, so we’re excited because we get to start the next row,” she said. “But this year I was just nervous because I needed to score 270 points, and I don’t do as good when I’m thinking too much.”
Until, that is, the day she landed in the history books.
“I think I was really in my head about it,” Staub said. “I was really nervous that I wasn’t going to get it at all because I’m not good under pressure, but they were all giving me good passes, so once I hit a few shots, they were just falling.”
The fact that the friends and teammates both assisted the other’s historic basket made it especially sweet.
“That was something we were talking about because I told her that I wanted to assist her thousand, and then she told me if she didn’t assist mine, she’d be mad,” Staub said with a laugh. “We made sure that happened.”
For the Panthers, it was all part of a historic season for the Panthers.
“I am so happy and incredibly proud of Avery and Staub for achieving 1,000 career points,” Tennent coach Laura Whitney said. “It has been 34
years since this program has had a 1,000-point scorer, and to have two players reach that milestone in the same year speaks volumes about their talent, dedication, and work ethic.
“The best part, though, is not just the kind of basketball players they are—but the kind of people they are. As talented and competitive as they may be, they remain humble, selfless, and always put the team first.
“I’ve been watching Avery and Staub play since they were in fourth grade, and even then, you could tell they were special. As freshmen, they stepped right into starting roles on varsity, and I know that came with pressure. The way they handled themselves over the past four years—continuing to grow, improve, and lead by example—has been truly impressive.
“They will certainly be missed next year and will be hard to replace, but I can’t wait to see all the great things they go on to do. It has been an absolute honor to coach them these last four years, and I am forever grateful that they chose Tennent, trusted me, and believed in what we could build together for this program.”
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