Molony nearing end of spectacular run

Mallory Molony will soon cross the finish line of her fabulous high school basketball career.

Molony, a senior at Bishop England, played in her final regular season game Thursday night at Cane Bay and is now preparing for the Class AA playoffs that begin Tuesday.

Molony's name appears so many times in the BE record book that you have to wonder if school officials didn't have a rubber stamp with her name ordered up special.

She is the school's all-time leading scorer, regardless of gender, with 2,035 points and tops the girls record book with 939 rebounds and 320 steals.

Molony scored her 2,000th point the hard way. Last week, in a game against Woodland, she went into the contest thinking she needed 17 points to reach the mark. She had 19 at halftime and thought she had the magical milestone. She thought wrong.

"At halftime, I found out I needed 29 points," said Molony, a 5-10 forward. "I was worried. I didn't know if I could get it."

Molony finished with 30 points, making it the 12th time in 126 varsity games that she scored at least 30 points.

"It was exciting to get 2,000 points," Molony said. "It took a lot of work."

Molony's parents both excelled in sports at Bishop England when the school was located on the Charleston peninsula. Her father, Kevin, played football, while her mother, Kristin, was a star on the volleyball team.

Mallory began playing basketball in the fourth grade, and that meant practicing night after night. Dribbling, free throws, jump shots, rebounds: Molony worked and worked until she cracked the starting lineup her eighth-grade year, and she has been a permanent fixture ever since.

She's also been a regular on all-region and all-state teams. She will conclude her career with four all-state seasons.

She's been a model of success. And she's been a model of consistency, continuing to get better every year. She's a sharpshooter, hitting 47 percent from the field for her career, including 33 percent from 3-point range. She's hitting 80 percent from the foul line and is at 90 percent this winter.

Molony has an offer from Converse College, but doesn't want to go to an all-girls school. She's had interest from other schools, but nothing that has grabbed her attention.

"I'm starting to get a little burned out, and I still haven't gotten an offer that would make me want to play basketball," Molony said. "My main goal in college is academics. I might go to college and walk on. If not that, I can play intramurals, where there's not a lot of pressure."

Molony has thrived under pressure at the high school level. Last year, she hit a shot at the buzzer to give the Bishops a thrilling playoff victory over Woodland.

She also had some outstanding performances during the 2006-07 season to help the Bishops to a 23-5 record and an appearance in the Class AA Lower State championship game against eventual state champion Lee Central.

"We've had some good ones, boys and girls, come through here, but no one topped 2,000 until Mallory came along," Bishop England coach and athletic director Paul Runey said. "We had Marion Salerni, Lee Wilson, who went on to play at UNC Charlotte, and Dennis Williams, who played at Georgia and went on to play pro ball. None of them had the four-year run that Mallory had. Of course, Mallory has had a five-year run."

And now, that run is just about complete.