Patience pays off as Butler girls basketball’s Amelia McMichael reaches 1,000-point milestone

February 01, 2025 Last Updated: January 31, 2025 11:34 PM Sports

BUTLER TWP — Brushing by her coach on her way to a seat on the bench, Butler’s Amelia McMichael might have been wondering if her time was coming.

She was sitting at 17 points at that point in Friday’s game against Seneca Valley, two away from 1,000 for her girls basketball career. She had to wait until she was subbed back in to reach the figure.

Butler's Amelia McMichael (32) looks at the scoreboard after scoring her 1,000th point in a girls basketball game against Seneca Valley Friday, Jan. 31, 2025, at Butler High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle

MORGAN PHILLIPS

“You’re going to get it,” Golden Tornado coach Mark Maier told her. “Don’t worry.”

McMichael, a senior and West Chester women’s basketball commit, sat in class nervous earlier in the day, thinking whether it would be the night she’d get there. She stopped being tense as soon as she walked onto the court, but that didn’t take away from the feeling of having a magnifying glass hovering over her.

McMichael finished with a game-high 22 points. Seneca Valley went on to win 57-53 and clinch its first WPIAL section title in 48 years.

“I just took one dribble and shot it,” she said. “It was just a regular layup. Once it went in, I was really, really excited.”

As was the crowd, which jumped to its feet in applause.

“I told her, ‘You let the game come to you, you’ll get 1,000. If you force it and every shot you take is off-balance, you’ll miss ’em,’” Maier said. “Look what happened: she made it.”

Before the Raiders’ Legacy Joseph-Short got settled for a free-throw attempt about a minute later, the public address announcer informed those who hadn’t caught on that McMichael had accomplished the feat. She received a standing ovation while she stood outside the lane.

“I didn’t really like all the attention,” McMichael said bashfully. “I mean, I was excited. I was like, ‘Oh gosh, everyone’s looking at me. Make sure my hair looks OK!’”

Maier pointed out it took McMichael only three years to reach the plateau despite playing stiff Class 6A competition.

“As soon as I stepped on the floor my sophomore year — first varsity game — I set a goal, and my goal was to get 1,000,” McMichael said. “I did that.”

McMichael had kept note of what she needed since.

“At the start of the season, I needed 300,” McMichael said. “Each season, I averaged around, like, 350. So I was like, ‘OK, if I just keep doing what I’m doing, I’ll get it.’ I looked back, I think, three weeks ago, and I was like, ‘OK, I need to average, like, 20 a game to get my 1,000 on this night.’”

She’s the 10th Butler girls basketball player to reach the milestone and first since Oliva Bresnahan in 2010.