Senior Lauren Gilbert is on track to reach a rare goal, but is more concerned about achieving team goals.
Gilbert does not know exactly how many points she needs, but she is closing in on 1,000 points for her varsity career. In her first three years, she registered about 850 points, and shortly after the start of the season is at around 980 points.
“I think it’s an exciting accomplishment,” Gilbert said. “It really shows how much I progressed throughout my four years in high school.”
If Gilbert reaches this 1,000-point goal, she will be one of the few girls at Baldwin to reach 1,000 points. In the past decade, Belma Nurkic and Sara Walsh were the only two to accomplish the feat.
Gilbert started playing basketball in the second grade at Saint Gabriel on the school’s team. She also played on an advanced basketball club team, Metro, and has played on different AAU teams throughout grade school and high school.
Gilbert’s role model throughout her early basketball days was her father.
“My dad just put me into a bunch of sports when I was little,” Gilbert said. “I ended up just falling in love with the sport.”
Through the past couple of years, Gilbert has visited and had interest from many colleges around the East Coast. However, Gilbert has committed to play at Washington & Jefferson College next fall.
Gilbert, though, has other goals in mind for the upcoming season.
First, the girls hope to use team chemistry to support a playoff run.
The team hasn’t won its section in more than 30 years. The girls support each other in accomplishing this goal, Gilbert said.
“We haven’t won section in a long time, so hopefully we can sustain a winning record and win the title,” Gilbert said.
The team lost many seniors last year, so now they have to look for underclassmen to step up this year.
Gilbert feels that junior Abby Larkin can fill one of those roles. She believes that Larkin can help lead the team.
“She’s really quick, especially if she makes a mistake on offense,” Gilbert said. “She’s able to get back on defense and makes stops for us.”
Larkin thinks the team possesses a lot of team chemistry that can lead them to achieving a section title this year.
Larkin feels she has learned a lot from Gilbert throughout her high school career. She is also proud of Gilbert’s 1,000 point bid.