“There were two minutes left and I knew I needed a 3, so I just stepped back and shot it,” she said.
Henry also joined another exclusive club — her extended family’s 1,000-point club. After the game, the senior posed for a photo with more than 20 family members, many of whom also starred on the basketball floor.
“There was definitely a little more pressure, especially seeing them all here and wanting to be a part of it,” Claire Henry said. “It’s cool to have that and share it with everyone.”
Henry joins a long list of 1,000-point scorers in her family that includes her mother, Carrie Ferguson Henry, who scored 1,000 points at both Southeastern and Capital University. The list also includes aunt Jeanine Ferguson Erwin (Southeastern), uncle Mike Ferguson (Southeastern) and cousins Jenna (Southeastern) and Jessica Erwin (Bethel College) … and possibly others.
“Aunts, uncles, cousins,” Henry said. “I don’t know the exact number, but I know it’s a lot. … My grandparents loved it and raised them all on basketball. We’re die hard basketball people.”
Henry joins all-time leading scorer Allie Turner and Henry’s former teammate Reagan Ware on Greenon’s 1,000-point list.
“I think seeing (Ware) get it makes you want it that much more,” Henry said. “I don’t really remember my cousins getting it, even though I know I was there for it. I remember Reagan’s (1,000th point) and that game and it made me want it even more.”
Greenon coach Nick Minnich described Henry as an unselfish player who’d rather feed her teammates than score points. She’s averaging 12.5 points per game, 6.8 rebounds and leading the Ohio Heritage Conference with 4.6 assists per game.
“She’s not a scorer, she wants to pass the ball,” he said. “If she could have 20 assists in a game, she’d rather do that.”
The senior has stepped up her game in other areas but scoring this season, improving per game averages in nearly every category this winter. She’ll finish her career with more than 300 assists, 470 rebounds and 280 steals, Minnich said.
“She’s a basketball player who can do everything,” Minnich said. “1,000 points means a lot more when you’re not shooting it every time down the court. She’s making the right passes, averaging (4.6 assists) per game. Things like that are more important to her than scoring.”
The Knights (14-4, 10-2 OHC South) have won three straight after dropping back-to-back games to OHC North squads Mechanicsburg and Fairbanks. They’re three games up on Southeastern (11-6, 7-5 OHC South) with four games to play and travel to South Charleston on Wednesday with a chance to clinch their second OHC South title in four years.
The key has been the Knights young roster stepping up, Henry said.
“The underclassmen from last year to this year have stepped up and taken a huge role on, which has just completely changed from last year,” she said.
The last title came in Henry’s freshman season. As her career winds down, she often reminds the underclassmen to enjoy their time on the court at Greenon.
“It’s crazy to think it’s almost over,” Henry said. “You have to take every moment in. … As a freshman and sophomore I thought, I’ve got three years. It goes by so quick.”
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