Badin’s Gerbus scores 1,000th point in 71-32 win

Rams defeat North College Hill, taking  their record to 10-3.

Badin High School's Kara Gerbus (45) is congratulated by her peers for reaching 1,000 career points against visiting North College Hill on Monday night at Mulcahey Gym. The Rams recorded a 71-32 victory. Contributed photo by Robert Leifheit

Leifheit Badin High School's Kara Gerbus (45) is congratulated by her peers for reaching 1,000 career points against visiting North College Hill on Monday night at Mulcahey Gym. The Rams recorded a 71-32 victory. Contributed photo by Robert Leifheit

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By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer Updated 10:38 AM Tuesday, January 24, 2012

HAMILTON — Kara Gerbus has been listening to her dad Walt’s basketball advice for nine years, so there was no reason to do anything different Monday night as she neared a career milestone.

“He told me to score early and often,” said Gerbus, who did just that, registering eight of her career-high 28 points in the first 2 minutes and 5 seconds.

And while all 28 counted equally in the scorebook, it was the 22nd point that held special meaning and brought the game to a halt so everyone in Mulcahey Gym could honor Gerbus for scoring the 1,000th point of her career.

“I was more excited than nervous,” Gerbus said following the 71-32 victory against North College Hill that raised the Rams’ record to 10-3.

“All week people kept coming up to me and saying ‘22 left.’ I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew I wanted to get it tonight.”

Gerbus went 12-of-16 from the floor and didn’t play in the fourth quarter. She had 16 of the 22 she needed by halftime.

Walking to the locker room after the second quarter ended, Badin coach Tom Sunderman joked to the scorer’s table that “I didn’t want her to get it yet because we didn’t want all the fans leaving at halftime.”

The milestone came with 6:20 left in the third quarter when Gerbus scored from the left block on an assist from childhood friend and fellow Badin senior Abby Fritsch.

“That worked out very nice,” said Walt, who coached both girls when they started playing CYO in third grade.

“Before that (Kara) played soccer, and she was horrible,” Walt laughed. “She didn’t run up and down the field or show any kind of dedication. When she said she wanted me to coach her in basketball, I told her ‘I will not accept that.’ She changed her attitude right at that point and came out for basketball and started scoring from Day 1.”

After the 1,000th point went through the net, the officials stopped the game to award Gerbus the game ball. She smiled and waved to the crowd and seemed unsure of what to do next.

“Sundy told me to go up in the stands,” she said. “I saw my mom (Donna) and little brother (Brian) come racing to come give me a hug, and it made me smile. Mom almost cried.”

In addition to her parents and younger brother, Gerbus’ grandparents Walter and Ann and her older brother Wally and his girlfriend, Badin grad Ashley Roberto, were on hand to celebrate the moment.

Gerbus became the third player in school history to score 1,000 points in a Badin jersey, joining Kim Kraft Richter (1,228) and Lizzy Sunderhaus (1,081).

Focus on the hometown teams Badin girls basketball

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