Just call her Mary 1,000.
With 57 seconds left in the first half, Derby’s Mary Hyde scored her 1,000th point for the Red Raiders, touching off a celebration that included pictures with a “Mary 1,000” sign.
Unfortunately, Hyde’s milestone was bittersweet, as the Red Raiders lost to a dominant St. Paul Catholic squad, 61 – 38.
The win gave St. Paul its seventeenth win of the season and the Naugatuck Valley League’s Brass Division championship.
Hyde scored 17 points in the game, the only Red Raider to reach double figures against St. Paul’s pressure defense.
Hyde’s basket came with St. Paul comfortably ahead by a 32 – 19 margin.
Officials stopped the game for a brief ceremony to recognize Hyde. Her teammates presented her with flowers and balloons. St. Paul players came to Derby’s bench to offer congratulations.
Hyde said she did not realize that she was on her way to the 1,000-point plateau until Coach David Chevarella recently told her.
“When my coach told me I was close, I was excited and kept pushing myself harder and harder in practice to get those points,” Hyde said.
Derby couldn’t get much going all game, scoring just four points in the first quarter to fall behind by 12. Hyde scored 12 of Derby’s 17 second-quarter points.
“We came out a little slow. I wanted to win tonight, so I played my heart out. Our team just couldn’t pull it off,” Hyde said. “They have a lot more talent than us and they came out full force and they were ready to play.”
Chevarella said Hyde comes to play, no matter what. “She’s been [good] all year long. She can certainly score. Most of it is hustle,” Chevarella said.
The rest of the game was a schooling by the Falcons, who forced turnovers and spread the scoring around.
Ashley Sulewski led the way for the Falcons with 13 points and nine rebounds. Adele Ruel followed up with 11 points and six boards. Courtney Lobo poured in 8 points, picked up four rebounds and blocked three Red Raiders shots.
Heather Smith scored nine points for the Red Raiders.
St. Paul Head Coach Joseph Mone was happy with the way his team passed to set up good shots to get the offense going. “I’m happy with the way we moved the ball and made the extra pass and got the extra shot,” he said.
Chevarella said his team battled hard against one of the state’s best, but Derby was already behind the 8‑ball losing three players to injury, including starter Marisa Conte.
“Our kids battled and played hard,” he said.
Chevarella also worried about his players not showing confidence in the face of pressure and developing other ways to score aside from Hyde, something they’ll need to do in the NVL and state Class S tournaments.
“We’ve still got some kids that are a little scared and we turned the ball over way too much tonight,” he said.
The Red Raiders (8 – 10) will host Sacred Heart at 6 p.m. Friday.
