Spotlight shared among sisters as Grunseth hits the 1,000-point mark

Tuesday was a special night for Gilman senior basketball player Grace Grunseth as she hit the 1,000-point milestone for her career with her 14th and final point in a 56-49 win at Greenwood.

Her sophomore sister Emma, however, made sure Grace did steal the entire spotlight.

Emma got the assist as Grace hit a short shot from the left block to hit the 1,000-point mark late in Gilman’s Eastern Cloverbelt Conference victory. Both sisters put up some good numbers as Grace had 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. Emma had a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double.

“Coach (Tammy Weir) called for me to be in the middle and everyone else on the outside,” Grace said. “We were swinging the ball around. I remember two girls were grabbing, trying to stop me. They got me a pass inside and I was able to make an easy bunny shot. I didn’t realize I had gotten it. I was thinking I had five more points or so to go. My parents were excited that it was my sister who was the one that threw it to me.”

The 1,000-point milestone is something Grunseth said she knew was coming and it was on her mind, but as most good players do, she wasn’t thinking about it during the game.

The focus instead was slowing down an underdog Greenwood team that came out strong offensively and pushed Gilman hard in the first half and played physically defensively.

“The refs weren’t calling much and they were very aggressive,” Grunseth said.

As she stated, not knowing she had hit the milestone, it took her a moment to figure out what was happening when a timeout was immediately called.

“Before the game, I knew I could get it, but once we started playing I didn’t realize it,” she said. “Coach called timeout, people were cheering and I was getting hugs. I didn’t realize it at first, then I did realize it.”

Grunseth has been a mainstay in Gilman’s lineup since breaking onto the scene as a freshman in the 2016-17 season. She averaged just over nine points per game that year, nearly five rebounds and three steals and over two assists. Being more than a scorer has remained one of her strengths throughout her career.

She remembers scoring four points in her first game Nov. 17, 2016 against Loyal on a free throw and a 3-pointer. She couldn’t quite remember which came first.

Grunseth also earned honorable mention all-state volleyball honors this fall and is an accomplished softball catcher and hitter. As for now, she just hopes the Pirates can pull together in the second half of the basketball season and end with a bang.

“We’ve actually just talked about that,” she said. “Coach said against the top four teams in the conference, we beat Neillsville and lost to the other three. We’re hoping we can beat those top four as the season goes on. It seems like we lose close game after close game. If we can play to our potential, we can put ourselves in a pretty good position yet in the

conference.”