St. Joseph’s Naomi Crispin becomes 4th player in Centre County history to reach 2K points
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Naomi Crispin hit her 2,000th point in a league playoff game.
- She became the first player, boy or girl, in St. Joe’s history with 2,000.
- St. Joe’s is 21-2 and advanced to the league finals as Crispin seeks a state title.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy celebrated its first 2,000-point scorer Monday night during a girls basketball matchup against Juniata High School. During the game, senior guard Naomi Crispin etched her name into her school’s and Centre County’s basketball record books, just over a year after reaching 1,000 points.
Crispin, a West Chester basketball commit, became just the fourth basketball player in Centre County high school sports history to reach the 2,000-point milestone. She’s also the fourth member of her family — including her dad and assistant Penn State men’s basketball coach Joe Crispin —to reach 2,000 points in their high school career.
She entered Monday’s league playoff game needing only eight points to reach the milestone.
She accounted for the Wolfpack’s first two buckets and spread the wealth with a few assists to her teammates in the first quarter. Entering the second frame just a bucket short of the mark, Crispin slipped her defender and hop-stepped into the paint. With her dominant hand, she flicked a shot off the backboard and punched in her 2,000th point.
But as far as Crispin knew, her shifty moves in the paint merely extended her team’s lead to eight and brought the first frame’s momentum into the second.
“I’m not going to lie,” she said through a giggle post-game. “I don’t keep track of my points, so I didn’t know.”
The whole arena knew, though. Wolfpack coach Bethany Irwin called a timeout to relish the moment. She brought out a basketball with “2,000” written on it for a photo with the St. Joe’s star. Fans stood and applauded, and the student section cheered on their classmate as Crispin posed with Irwin at half-court.
Notably, Irwin has coached another 2,000-point player: her daughter, Kyla, at State College in 2016. Other members of Centre County’s 2,000-point club are Philipsburg-Osceola’s Halle Herrington, who broke the county’s all-time career scoring record in 2019, and Penns Valley grad Dana McDonald, who scored her 2,269th career point in 1989.
“I’m really happy for Naomi,” Irwin said. “She is a student of the game, constantly going to the gym, working on her game, and watching film to understand her game and her opponents. She has been a joy to work with.”
Crispin has been destined for success on the court. Her father, Joe Crispin, is the all-time leading scorer in Gloucester County, NJ, with 2,651 points, and notched 1,986 for the Nittany Lions during his college career. Her uncle and brother have also posted 2,000 points in high school.
When asked about any added pressure from her 2K-point relatives, the Wolfpack point guard shrugged and said this type of success is expected in her family, but she was still excited about it.
“When you have fun playing, it’s all going to come,” Crispin said. “When you put in the work, it’s all going to come. So, it was nice to see it come full circle.”
Along with fellow seniors, Crispin has led her team to a 21-2 record and helped Irwin to her recent 500th win as a coach. During Monday night’s win, the West Chester commit tabbed nearly 30 points and seven assists against Juniata, which sent her team to the league’s finals later this week.
With postseason games ahead, Crispin will have the opportunity to take a larger bite into 2,000 points and give Herrington’s 2,285 points a run for their money, but she has a different goal on her mind.
“Win a state championship.”
