By: Nate Calvin
Entering a crucial NWOAL game on January 19th against the Swanton Lady Bulldogs, Allye Minor was just 16 points away from reaching 1,000 points in her Lady Golden Bear career. After scoring six points in the first half it was obvious it was going to come down to the end of the game to see if she reached the milestone in front of the home fans or she would have to wait until their game at Bowling Green two days later.
In the final seconds with Bryan on their way to the win to stay undefeated in NWOAL play, Minor was fouled on a drive to the basket with 2.5 seconds to go in the game and she headed to the line needing one free throw to reach 1,000 points. Minor would sink the first of two free throws to reach 1,000 points as she was mobbed by her teammates before hitting the second foul shot to finish the game with 17 points as Bryan walked away with a 56-43 win over Swanton.
She becomes just the fourth player in the history of the Bryan girl’s basketball program to reach 1,000 points. Kathy Musser (Lamberson) was the first and she also happens to be the Bryan Junior Varsity coach. Casey Stevenson and Hannah Schimoeller are the other two Lady Golden Bears that are on the list of names of 1,000 points scorers, a list that now includes Allye Minor.
“Allye has worked very hard to reach this milestone”, said Bryan Head Coach Todd Grosjean. “She has invested a lot of time and made many sacrifices to reach the 1,000 points club. Her game has improved each season and has always been an intense competitor”, added Grosjean.
Minor has received numerous accolades over her basketball career including being named Honorable Mention All NWOAL as a freshman, 2nd team All-League as a sophomore, and last year as a junior receiving 1st team All-League recognition. She has displayed her athletic ability at Bryan not only on the basketball floor, but she has also been successful in soccer and track. Minor was 2nd team All-League as a junior in soccer and this past fall she earned 1st team All-League honors as well to complete her senior season with the Lady Golden Bears soccer team.
Basketball isn’t over for Minor after high school as she will be moving on to Siena Heights in Adrian to continue her career next season. The impact she has made to the Bryan program is very obvious to her coach. “I’ve had the pleasure of coaching Allye the last three seasons. She has been a great role model for our younger players and has been a huge part of the success the girls basketball program has seen the last couple of seasons”, he said.
With Bryan currently tied for the top spot in the NWOAL standings with Delta at 3-0 and big games still to come against Delta and league perennial power Archbold, it’s safe to say Minor and her Golden Bears teammates will definitely have a say in who wins the league title this year.
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
