Two freshman girls basketball players marching lockstep toward 2,000 points have picked up the pace.
Too grand: 2,000th point is days away for ninth-grade girls basketball players Tori Oehrlein, Maddyn Greenway
No freshman has reached that mark, but Greenway is 51 points short and Oehrlein 55 points out.
Providence Academy 5-8 guard Maddyn Greenway is at 1,949 points after scoring 41 in an 88-59 victory over Holy Family on Tuesday night. Crosby-Ironton 5-11 guard Tori Oehrlein is at 1,945 points, boosted by her 45-point game in a 93-41 victory Monday over Pine River-Backus.
No ninth-grader in state history has reached 2,000 points. Oehrlein is ahead in one category: She's positioned to get to 2,000 points in the fewest games. She has played 70 high school games, Greenway 79.
Oehrlein's big game Monday made her a record-setter. She became the school's all-time leading scorer, boys or girls, surpassing the record of 1,943 set by boys player Bryce Tesdahl in 2008. Tesdahl is in his fourth season as Minnetonka's boys basketball coach.
Oehrlein became her school's all-time girls scoring leader less than a month ago. She is averaging 31.6 points per game for the Rangers (14-7). Crosby-Ironton travels to Park Rapids (9-11) on Thursday before hosting unbeaten New London-Spicer (23-0) on Saturday.
Greenway is averaging 30.1 points per game for the Lions (20-2), ranked No. 1 in Class 2A by Minnesota Basketball News. Providence Academy next plays Friday at Minnehaha Academy (17-5).
Rebekah Dahlman of Braham holds the Minnesota scoring record for girls with 5,060 points, a total she reached in 2013.
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.