JERSEY - Jersey Panther Tessa Crawford joined an exclusive club recently. In the opening round of the 48th Annual Carrollton Tournament, her Panthers took on the Marquette Explorers.
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Although not winning the game, Crawford scored the 1,000th point of her high school career, as a junior.
"I've dreamt about it since like the 5th grade and I never thought I could get it, but I'm happy I did," she said after earning the highly sought-after milestone.
"It was a good moment for her," Panthers' head coach Ron Twitchell said. "It was a proud moment for her, her family, our school, and just for me to be her coach."
"Nobody works harder at the game than her," he added.
A few games later and her current point total is up to 1,049. She plans to keep going all the way. She says she hopes to become the school's leading scorer in her senior season.
She'll need to keep up her blistering yearly scoring pace if she wants to do it.
She's chasing 2021-graduate Clare Breeden who scored 1,555 points sitting third in all-time scoring at Jersey and the Mortensen sisters. Amy (Mortensen) Chase sits second with 1,592 points while sister Katie (Mortensen) Cannon holds the record with 1,670 points. The Mortensen sisters set those records 25 years ago.
In her freshman season, Crawford scored 116 points followed up by a massive sophomore year in which she added 476 points and averaged 17 a game.
This season, through 27 games, she's up to 457 points. It will take an impressive senior year if she wants to break the record.
Crawford also plays tennis for the Panthers and very much enjoys the second sport as well.
She hasn't made any decisions about college and is currently unsure if she will continue playing basketball at the next level.
