SA’s Raulston hits 1,000-point milestone

Published 8:20 am Friday, February 20, 2009

COURTLAND—Although she claims tennis to be her sport, Lindsay Raulston is also a pretty darned good basketball player. Monday night, she became the second girls’ basketball player in the history of Southampton Academy to score 1,000 points.

In the Lady Raiders’ 49-40 win over Amelia Academy, Raulston scored her 1,000th point on a layup at the 5:01 mark of the second quarter. Her bucket gave SA a 14-11 lead and spurred on an 8-point run, which put the Lady Raiders in control. She finished the game with 16 points.

Raulston has played varsity basketball since eighth grade and is averaging about 16 points per game and leading the team in rebounding with 10 per game.

Raulston also plays volleyball where she was All-Conference and All-State this year. She was last year’s Virginia Commonwealth Conference champion in tennis at number one singles. She also plays year-round competitive tennis on weekends.

Within the Southampton Academy offensive scheme, Raulston plays unselfishly and is looking to give up the ball, despite her scoring average.

“I used to be a point guard when I was shorter. I am playing forward, but when we need a ball handler, I’m playing ball handler,” she said. “I don’t like to have the ball that much or shoot that much. I like passing to other people.”

“She’s done a great job playing with the format that we run,” said Burdette Gatten, SA head coach. “We play six players and she is one of four players that does not come out of the game.”

Raulston is also a good free throw shooter, averaging over 70 percent from the foul line. In Monday’s game, she sunk 6 of 8 free throws in the final two minutes.

“She has been one of the top free throw shooters on the team since the beginning of her varsity career,” Gatten said. “We like to get the ball in her hands.”

Rauslton said she enjoys the team play of this year’s squad.

“We are really close and have been playing together a long time. We really play good team ball,” she said.