Busch surpasses milestone

By JEREMY BEHNKE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop senior Ashley Busch may not be a flashy scorer, nor is she considered a prolific scorer.

But during her four years of varsity experience, she has been a model of consistency and unselfishness.

On Tuesday night against Sleepy Eye St. Mary's, she etched her name into the GFW record books when she drove the lane and scored her 1,000th career point. The Thunderbirds defeated St. Mary's 58-42 in Tomahawk Conference action.

"I think I feel overwhelmed," Busch said. "I don't know -- it's a weird, different feeling."

For the second game in a row, Busch saw the double-team when she got the ball down low. Busch scored two points in the first half, but became more aggressive in the second half and tried to get fouled. She ended up with 14 points and has 1,003 for her career.

"They had two girls who were taller than me, and I can't shoot right over them, so I had to look for a foul because I know I can be consistent at the free throw line," Busch said. "So I thought if I was going to try and get a point, I might as well get it at the free throw line, because I had a better chance of getting it there."

Ashley Vorwerk scored 21 for the Thunderbirds, who improved their record to 15-3 overall and 12-3 in the Tomahawk.

GFW coach Becky Busse also said she was proud of what Busch has accomplished in her four years of coaching her.

"It was very emotional for me," Busse said. "She's really the first GFW girl I've had in all four years to score 1,000 points. She's so deserving of it. She's a workhorse, and she's very unselfish."

The Thunderbirds trailed 16-13 after the first quarter, but turned to their full-court press in the second quarter and it resulted in problems for the St. Mary's offense. A pair of baskets by Vorwerk gave the Thunderbirds an 18-16 lead.

Raina Walter's 3-pointer gave the Knights their first basket of the quarter with 3:21 remaining.

"We started out pretty slow," Busse said. "We missed practice yesterday, and I didn't want to press them right off the bat since we didn't have a lot of practice. But as soon as I started that press, we got some steals and we got a nice lead."

Consecutive baskets from Busch gave her seven points and upped the GFW lead to 42-30.

In the fourth quarter, Busch was fouled and hit a pair of free throws, bringing the total to 999 points.

She then took the ball strong to the basket and her jumper in the lane rolled in for the milestone.

"I knew eventually it would come sooner than later, so I just wanted to go for the win instead of the 1,000," Busch said. "I guess I saw the lane was wide open, and I said why not take and why not try," Busch said.

Molly Mathiowetz scored 14 points and had seven rebounds, and Jonalyn Cook grabbed seven boards and hit a pair of 3-pointers for the Knights.

St. Mary's finished with 22 turnovers and GFW had 11. St. Mary's outrebounded the Thunderbirds 24-20.

St. Mary's (10-11, 7-9) is at McLeod West Friday in Stewart.

GFW hosts Sleepy Eye Friday.