Gehlen Catholic senior Rysaiah Sitzmann joined an exclusive club as part of Gehlen’s 58-50 win over Alta-Aurelia at home on Thursday night. Sitzmann scored 28 points in the game and eclipsed 1,000 for her career making her just the fourth Jay to reach the mark.
Sitzmann needed 15 points heading into the game to reach the milestone, so she knew it was reachable. She says that she wanted to get it but did not want it to make her play bad and hurt the team.
Her efforts did not hurt the team as she scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to help the Jays come from down six at the start of the quarter to winning by eight. Sitzmann says getting to reach a milestone like this in front of the home fans was special.
Gehlen Catholic head coach Brandon Schaecher says reaching a big milestone like this does not come easy. He says there have been multiple times over the last four years where he has had to pull Sitzmann out of the gym.
The 1,000-point club includes a couple of Jays that Sitzmann watched growing up and one that she played with as a freshman. She says joining that club was something she always wanted to do.
Sitzmann has grown from that freshman looking up to the seniors to being the one the freshmen look up to now. Coach Schaecher says it has taken time for her to do that with her words, but she is now one that can speak up and lead in that way.
Three games remain in the regular season for the Jays before the regional tournament. Sitzmann says continuing to improve is the goal for the Jays with not much time left.
Gehlen Catholic improves to 9-10 overall with the win. They are back in action tonight at home against Remsen St. Mary’s in a game you can hear on KLEM Radio.
