Photo courtesy of Salina South Athletics

Paityn Fritz didn’t see it coming, and even when she found out there was no time to savor the moment.

Her Salina South girls basketball team was locked in a tense Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League battle with Hutchinson last Friday at the South gym when the public address announcer shared the news.

“They announced it during the game, and it was kind of a surprise,” Fritz said of learning midway through the first quarter that she had just reached 1,000 points for her high school career. “But I was focused on the game, so it didn’t really hit me until later.”

“It would have been better if we had won.”

A heartbreaking 42-40 South loss did not diminish the accomplishment for Fritz, a 6-foot-3 senior center and four-year starter. For one thing, the Cougars are enjoying the best season yet for their eight-member senior class with a 12-7 record that included a 51-45 victory Tuesday night against Maize.

Fritz leads the way for South, averaging 16 points and 8.7 rebounds.

“I think everyone’s enjoying the season a lot better, and we’re playing more as a team throughout these last games,” Fritz said of the Cougars, who also take a 6-3 Ark Valley Chisholm Trail League Division I record into Friday’s road game against first-place Maize South. “Last year we struggled coming back from winter break, but this year we came out on top against Hutch at their place, which hadn’t been done in a while, so that was a good milestone for our team.”

Fritz, who also averaged 13.5 points and 8.7 rebounds as a sophomore and 15.1 points with 8.5 boards last season has been a mainstay for South from day one.

“There’s no question Paityn has been a big part of our team and our program for four years,” said South coach Justin Ebert. “So, getting to that 1,000-point mark is kind of a nice tip of the cap and a career accomplishment.”

“She’s been a big part on our offensive end and seeing her accomplish that is something that she can take pride in.”

Fritz also has excelled beyond the basketball court, receiving all-conference honors in volleyball during the fall, and as a standout on the softball team in the spring. In fact, she has signed to continue her softball career next year at UNLV, after also receiving some Division I interest in basketball as well.

“The nice thing about P, and this is kind of a rarity as high school sports are getting more developed, is she’s a three-sport athlete,” Ebert said. “This year she’s going to be a four-sport athlete and actually throw for track and field in the spring.”

“And she wants to be involved. She wants to help her school and she wants to represent Salina South. So, it’s nice whenever girls like that have those opportunities to play high-level college softball but still are able to compete (in other sports).”

Before Fritz turns her attention to softball and track in the spring, she has some unfinished basketball business that has nothing to do with individual accolades.

“My main goal is to win the games, and I feel like if I’m scoring and other people are scoring, then we’re going to win,” she said. “It’s a good accomplishment for me to get 1,000 points, but my main goal is to win.”

“I feel like the teams we can match up with, we can have a really good chance of making it to state. We just have to keep pushing and getting better and work as a team and continue to play as a team.”