The Quakertown senior is only the sixth girls basketball player in Panther history to achieve the 1,000-point total.
By Gary Weckselblatt
When Carolyn Sipprell walks into the Quakertown Community High School gymnasium, she often looks up at the banner with the names of the Panthers’ 1,000-point scorers.
Her goal at the beginning of her senior season was to join the group of five girls basketball players who preceded her to that rarified achievement: Daniella Ciccarone (2010), Colleen Gavin (2009), Jen Carlson (1989), Anita Serge (1980) and Miram Afflerbach (1930).
Carolyn, in the midst of a marvelous campaign season, notched point number 1,000 on January 31st to join that select group. She did so with a career-high 30-point effort in overtime against Wissahickon, a 52-49 Panther triumph. On Tuesday night against Abington her accomplishment was celebrated by the home crowd.
Coach Brittany Bamford called a pre-planned timeout after Carolyn’s bucket gave Quakertown an early 4-0 lead. Coach handed her a souvenir basketball as teammates cheered. Carolyn gave the ball to family members at the game.
“She deserves this recognition more than anybody,” Coach Bamford said. “I’m very proud to be her coach. This is something she should be very proud of.”
Against Wissahickon, Carolyn scored her 1,000th point on an assist from Kayla Sicher using a screen from Katie Catalano. The three seniors have formed the core of this season’s success.
Carolyn’s scoring trajectory has resembled Apple stock during a bull market. She scored 7.9 points per game as a freshman, 9.6 as a sophomore and followed that up with 14.7 as a junior and nearly 19 this year.
“The main thing is confidence,” she said. “As a freshman I didn’t want the ball. Now, my teammates are relying on me to score.”
She also credits Coach Bamford and assistant coach Jay Detweiler for her improvement. “I would not be here in this position without their support,” Carolyn said. “My teammates as well, because they impacted my scoring opportunities.”
Gary Weckselblatt, QCSD Director of Communications, writes about the people and the programs that impact the Quakertown Community School District. He can be reached at 215-529-2028 or [email protected].