Girls Basketball: Demirciyan closes within 6 points of 1,000

Adrine Demirciyan has been waiting for her 1,000th career point since last season’s compressed campaign when the Greenport/Southold girls basketball team played only eight games. So, what’s another five days of waiting?

The anticipated milestone will have to wait a little longer, but Demirciyan didn’t seem to mind. After all, her teammates and herself played splendidly Wednesday in a 51-32 non-league trouncing of Bayport-Blue Point at Greenport High School. Demirciyan fell one assist shy of a triple-double and her 18 points left her only six points shy of 1,000. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it’s a virtual certainty she’ll top that mark Monday night when the Porters host Mattituck.

It would be quite an achievement. Only one Greenport girl has scored 1,000 career points and that former player, coincidentally, is Madison Tabor (Class of 2017), the team’s current assistant coach. Also, Demirciyan, an East Stroudsburg University (Pa.) commit, looks like a lock to break Tabor’s school record of 1,036 points.

Asked afterward if the delay made a difference to her, Demirciyan answered: “Not really. A game’s a game, as long as we come up on top and just win games.”

Demirciyan might have reached the mark Wednesday, but with Greenport (3-1) leading, 51-30, and 1 minute, 54 seconds left in the game, coach Chris Golden called a timeout and Demirciyan took a seat on the bench. After the timeout, the senior guard/forward remained on the bench.

“I didn’t want to be disrespectful to the other team by just having her in there when we were up by, I believe 20, just to try to get the [1,000th point],” Golden said. “I just wasn’t comfortable with that. And, you know, that was really my thing. If it was a close game, of course she’s got to be out there.”

Demirciyan had no problem with that.

“I mean, we won the game,” she said. “That’s all I care about. I mean, it’s a team sport, not a single-player sport, so as long as we came up on top, it was fine with me and I’m cool with doing it on Monday, especially home against one of our rivals.”

Demirciyan opened the game with an eight-point first quarter and was on pace by halftime with 12 points. She finished shooting 8-for-21 from the field and 2-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc.

It’s ironic that her scoring is being highlighted because Demirciyan is much more than a scorer. She’s an all-around player, and that was evident again Wednesday when she registered 10 rebounds, nine assists and four steals.

Golden doesn’t like to compare players from different eras, but he acknowledged that Demirciyan rates among the best to ever wear a Greenport uniform.

“In my 35 years here, we’ve had some good players,” he said. “She certainly ranks, I would put her in the top 10, without a doubt, no questions asked, certainly. Probably top three, top five.”

Greenport stormed out to a 29-3 lead on 11-for-17 shooting. That run featured three straight baskets (the first two being threes) by Demirciyan and successive three-point plays by Lily Corwin (11 points) and McFarland (12 points, seven assists).

Bayport (2-3) had only three points on its side of the ledger for the game’s opening 12:47. An Amelia Woods bucket in the paint gave Greenport a commanding 31-7 lead in the third quarter’s opening minutes.

“When we were in the locker room before the game, our coaches were just like, ‘Come out with intensity and you’re gonna win this game,’ ” McFarland said. “And that’s what we really did.”

Woods logged 29 minutes, hauling in nine rebounds for Greenport, which also received good defense from Haley Skrezec and Ella Luhrs.

“If you’re going to play your PT [playing time], you got to play tough D,” Golden said. “The offensive stuff takes care of itself. The defense, no substitute. You saw like Ella Luhrs diving on the floor. I mean, that’s how we have to play.”

Natalee Frabizio scored 13 points, Ava Meyn had 11 and Maggie Kennedy grabbed 11 rebounds for Bayport.

And now Demirciyan has another game to look forward to, another chance to realize a cherished goal. Has she given thought to what she might feel like scoring a 1,000th point?

“Yeah, I’ll definitely be excited,” she said. “That’s a moment I’ve been waiting for for a long time.”

That wait may be nearly over.