Photos by Scott DeCamp | CatchMark
HOLTON — Competitive as she is, the only thing that would have made Thursday night better for Ryann Robins is if her Holton girls basketball team had defeated North Muskegon.
The Red Devils standout will have to settle for etching her name into the history books and achieving a couple of major feats.
Robins reached the 1,000-point milestone and became Holton’s all-time leading girls scorer in a 41-31 home defeat to North Muskegon in West Michigan Conference Rivers Division action. Both achievements came by way of the free-throw line.
With 4:23 remaining in the first half, Robins made two free throws to reach 1,000 points in her career. A timeout was called and she was presented a banner in front of the Red Devils bench. Norse players and coaches cheered Robins, too, and ran over to give her fist-bumps.
With 2:50 left in the game, Robins hit two more free throws to break Amy DeLong’s career scoring record at Holton (1,010 in 1990-93).
Robins, a 6-foot center and three-sport standout, finished with a game-high 15 points and 21 rebounds. That puts her at 1,011 career points with at least three more games to play. The 3.95 student and daughter of Jayson and Rochelle Robins intends on studying nursing in college. She’s a softball all-stater, who also plays volleyball, although she’s not sure about playing sports in college.
“People have always told you, ‘High school flies by,’ but I don’t think it set in until I actually got here. And then volleyball ended and I’m like, ‘Oh, my goodness. I have two more seasons and I’m done — like, high school is over,'” Robins said.
“I don’t think I could have even made it through high school without playing sports because they are just so big in my life and in my family. It’s kind of scary, like, for real — if I’m being real,” she laughed. “It is a little scary to move on and try something new but I’m kind of ready for it, too.”
Robins thanked her teammates, coaches, and family for being the “reason I do what I do and can do what I do.”
Two of those teammates, seniors Layla Cannady and Abbie Fowler, sparked Holton (12-7, 5-5 WMC Rivers). Cannady scored five points, while Fowler had five assists and five steals.
North Muskegon (11-7, 6-4) used a 15-6 third-quarter scoring advantage in building a double-digit lead. The Norse finished it off to cap a regular-season sweep. On Jan. 9, North Muskegon beat Holton in overtime, 52-49.
Thursday night, freshman Delaney Young made a trio of 3-pointers and paced North Muskegon with 14 points. Senior Marilyn Gaston had eight points for the Norse, while senior Grace Philpot and sophomore Sylvia Skujins added six points apiece.
North Muskegon and Holton could see each other a third time this season, as both are in the Division 3 Shelby district.
