CHESAPEAKE — Sarah Rucker scored her 1,000th career point Thursday night. It only seemed like she scored them all in the same game.

Rucker, a 6-foot-3 senior center, not only reached a milestone but finished with 35 points as the Chesapeake Lady Panthers beat the Symmes Valley Lady Vikings 49-38 Thursday in a non-league game.

Rucker made 16 of 19 field goal attempts and added 3 of 4 from the foul line. She scored the first basket of the second quarter to give her 1,000 career points.

“It was an exciting night for her. She didn’t press and it just came for her. She’s a good post player with good hands and a good touch around the basket,” Chesapeake coach John McClung said.

“The other girls wanted her to get (the milestone) and they looked for her not only at the beginning of the game but at the end when Symmes Valley got within five points.”

Rucker scored 6 points in the first quarter as Chesapeake took 9-8 led. Emily Bowling had all 8 of the Lady Vikings points.

Chesapeake went up 24-16 at the half as Rucker scored 13 of 15 points in the quarter.

The Lady Panthers went up 37-24 at the end of the third quarter, but Rucker got in foul trouble and had to sit out.

“We had two goals,” Lady Vikings coach Lisa Bryant said. “One was to get Rucker in foul trouble and the other was to try and limit the amount of time Rucker got the ball.

“We did get her into foul trouble, but although Tiffany did a great job on defending her, she still hot her hands on the ball down on the blocks and converted her shots.”

Symmes Valley (4-4) used 5 points by Tiffany Bryant while Bowling went 4 of 4 at the foul line to cut the deficit to 5 points.

But Rucker returned and scored 10 points as the Lady Panthers began to pull away to the win.

“Symmes Valley was scrappy. They hurt us on the offensive glass. They’d get the rebound and we’d foul and put them on the line,” McClung said. “We put Sarah back in and started to pound it inside.”

Rucker had 13 rebounds and 7 blocked shots to go with her 35 points. Lexy Staton ahd 7 assists and 6 steals and Holly Black 7 assists for Chesapeake (5-4).

Bowling led the Lady Vikings with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Bryant added 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

“I’m proud of my kids and the effort and hear they shows. They never quit and came within four midway in the fourth quarter. My girls have nothing to hang their heads about tonight,” coach Bryant said.

Symmes Valley88813=38

Chesapeake9151312=49

SYMMES VALLEY (4-4): Tiffany Bryant 3 0 5-10 11, Hailey Pelletier 1 0 1-4 3, Emily Bowling 7 0 6-11 20, Kayla Saunders 1 0 1-3 3, Natasha Pointer 0 0 1-2 1, Chelsea Wall 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12

0

15-30

38. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 35 (Bryant 10, Bowling 9, Pelletier 8, Pointer 8). Turnovers: 10. Steals: 14.

CHESAPEAKE (5-4): Rachel Harris 4 0 0-0 8, Holly Black 1 0 1-2 3, Paige Nelson 1 0 0-0 2, Lexy Staton 1 0 0-0 2, Sarah Rucker 16 0 3-4 35, Totals: 22 0

2-8

49. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 23 (Rucker 13). Blocked shots: 13 (Rucker 7, Harris 3). Assists: 19 (Staton 7, Black 7). Turnovers: 24. Steals: 9 (Staton 6).