Adrie Newton admits she’s not exactly a pure 3-point shooter.

“I shoot them, but I don’t usually make them,” the Leavitt senior said.

So when the Hornets’ top post player was closing in on the 1,000-point mark in her team’s opener, she had the perfect and most memorable way to do it.

“When they told me I was five points away, then Kristen (Anderson) and I decided I’d shoot a 3 because that would be fun.”

Now, for Newton, shooting a 3 and hitting one might be completely different challenges. After all, Newton admits she only hit two all of last season. Newton’s prowess is in the post and on the boards.

“I knew if I missed it, it wasn’t a big deal,” Newton said. “It was only early in the fourth quarter. I was like past the 3-point line by like four feet. I didn’t think I’d make it because it was too far away. I was just trying, but if I didn’t get it, I’d get it still, but we wanted to try to get it exactly at 1,000.”

Anderson set a screen for her and, even with a defender closing fast, Newton launched her bid. When it hit net, Newton became just the third player in Hornets history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

“It was like it was in slow motion,” said Newton, who leaped into the air in celebration and was subsequently mobbed by her teammates. “It felt like the ball was moving really slow and then it went in. I didn’t think they’d stop the game unless the whistled got blown. But I just looked around and everybody was coming out at me. It was really exciting.”

Newton joins Liza Barker and Courtney Anderson as the only other Leavitt girls to score that many points.

She had been told in the preseason that she was 24 points shy of that exclusive club. That put a little pressure on with a home opener against Maranacook.

“I was kind of nervous before the game because I wanted to get it when I was playing at home, but more importantly, I just wanted to win. So it didn’t matter if I got it in the first game or the second game.”

She scored 10 points in the first quarter but hadn’t quite rid herself of the nerves.

“After the first quarter, Coach told me how many points I had,” said Newton. “I knew I needed 14 more. After that I started getting nervous again and missed like five layups.”

She quickly closed the gap in the third, setting up the historic shot in the final quarter. Newton admits it is a relief to have the feat out of the way. Now she can focus on helping the Hornets defend the Class B title. Leavitt, which lost two starters from that team, has opened the year 5-0 and look poised to be a force in Western B again.

“I think it’s really going good,” said Newton, who has been looking at schools like Springfield, UNE and Simmons in hopes of studying physical therapy. “A lot of our bench players and subs are stepping up this year. They’re really improving. That’s going to be key for us this season.”

On The Mend

Oxford Hills was without standout guard Abbie Eastman after she badly injured her ankle against Cony last Friday. The Viking lost that game to the Rams and have subsequently dropped games to Brunswick and Mt. Blue.

Eastman has been walking on her left ankle more in recent days and hopes to be back in action soon.

“It’s feeling better,” the junior guard said. “We’re not really sure (when). I’m still going to the doctor’s and stuff.”

It is unlikely Eastman will play in the Vikings Christmas tournament action at the Augusta Civic Center early next week, but the next regular season game for the Vikings isn’t until the following Friday.

“She steadily recovering,” said Oxford Hills coach Nate Pelletier. “She’s getting a lot of movement back and trying to get the swelling down.  We hope to have her next week. We’ll see how things go. In the meantime, it allows kids to step up in different roles and be able to be comfortable dribbling the basketball.”

Eastman was injured when she drove to the basket against Cony. She landed hard on her ankle and couldn’t finish the game.  There was great concern that the injury could have been serious.

“I was very relieved,” said Eastman. “I thought it was worse than it was. It hurt a lot. “

She not only watched the Vikings lose that game to Cony, but has also had to sit and watch the losses to Brunswick and Mt. Blue. Eastman is anxious to get back onto the court.

“I hate it but the team’s really doing well and they’re pulling it together,” she said.