SMITHSBURG – No matter the situation, the Smithsburg team treats the basketball like it’s a homing pigeon.
“In our offense, the ball’s going to find you,” said girls basketball coach Todd Bono. “So, you better be ready to shoot.”
Mr. Spalding seemed to have a target on Smithsburg’s junior Claire Bono on Tuesday. He was herded and tunneled to her for many touches in the first half of the Leopards’ 67-39 win over Liberty. Then in the second half, it was Kara Hoover’s turn.
Claire Bono is one of many focal points on Smithsburg’s offense, but Tuesday was a little different. On this night, the objective was to get her over the 1,000-point mark for her career.
Bono, who entered the game with 981 career points, scored 20 in the first half to spark a momentary celebration before completing Smithsburg’s 37-15 advantage at the intermission.
“Oh, my goodness, it’s crazy,” said Claire Bono, who finished with 22 points. “I mean, I got to give it up to my team. They let me do what I got to do. They pass it to me. They look for me. The trust and my ability to score.
“I’m just grateful to get it, really. I know most people don’t get 1,000 points. Definitely a huge thanks to my team, giving me the ball. And once again, they trust me, like, do what I do best.”
The funny thing about it was although the Leopards were conscious of the situation at hand, they didn’t change the way they play. They always pass the ball to find someone, anyone with an open shot.
“Her teammates did a great job. They knew what the moment was, and they made the extra pass just to help her have her night, which is special.” said Todd Bono, who doubles as Claire’s father. “It’s a special group, and, you know, great teammates do that. I told in the locker room that Claire was very happy to have all of you as teammates. This is what makes our team special.”
Claire Bono opened her scoring with a pair of three-pointers – her admitted much improved aspect of her game – on her way to 12 first-quarter points to build Smithsburg’s 21-2 lead after one quarter.
“They were keeping track over here (on the bench),” Todd Bono said. “They knew it.”
The Leopards continued to look for Claire in the second quarter. The quest made their quest for a 21-0 record almost secondary.
The moment of truth came on a Euro step move late in the second quarter.
“Honestly, any way to get 1,000, I didn’t care how I did it,” Claire said. “I t was nice. I love getting it.
“I knew I was close, but I didn’t know if it was ‘I had to get one more bucket or what. But then everyone started cheering. It got loud.”
It was good for Dad, too.
“Super proud of her, you know,” Todd Bono said. “The game of basketball … It’s loving her back, and she’s going to be rewarded really. She’s had a lot of great things, great friendships, great teammates, and she’ll be able to play, hopefully, and continue after high school.”
Mr. Spalding checked off Claire and turned to Hoover in the second half.
The guard struggled early with her long-distance shot in the first half. Suddenly the ball started finding her.
Hoover hit an early layup to for a spark leading to a 75-second run when she made three 3-pointers, starting with 2:45 remaining in third period.
It allowed Smithsburg to play Liberty even in the period, even though the Leopards still owned a 53-30 lead.
“Kara missed her first three or four threes in the first half, but the ball’s going to find you,” Todd Bono said. “Then, all of a sudden, she got hot and hit three in a row. It was the same thing with Claire in the first half. The ball just went down for her. She was confident.”
Smithsburg finished off the game with a 13-4 run to start the fourth quarter to make sure the game was out of reach.
Hoover finished with 20 points to back Bono’s 22, while Skyla Mastronardi – Smithsburg’s other 1,000-plus career point scorer – added 14 points to go with 10 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and three blocks. Bono had five assists and six steals.
Allison Bald led Liberty with 16 points.
And now the celebration is over, Claire Bono is ready to do some homing of her own.
“This is definitely a big accomplishment, but I would say states is a bigger one,” she said. “I want to win a state championship. That’s my big one.”
