• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

O’Leary reaches the 1,000 point mark

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Offense of defense, Parker's Catie O'Leary seems to be able to get a hand on the ball.

JANESVILLE — Catie O’Leary has joined an elite club.

The Janesville Parker senior is one of only three players in the storied history of the school’s girls basketball program to score more than 1,000 points in her career.

That’s pretty impressive when you consider the other two members of the club.

Jennah Burkholder (Hartwig) is Parker’s all-time leading scorer with 2,033 points. Hartwig led the Vikings to the 1993 state title while being named the state’s Co-Player of the Year.

Mistie Bass (Williams) is second on the list with 1,906 points and is considered one of the greatest girls high school players in state history. Williams led Parker to back-to-back Division 1 state championships in 2000 and 2001, and is the only three-time Associated Press state Player of the Year.

O’Leary has 1,226 points and is not likely to catch the top two, but her status has been cemented among Parker’s all-time best.

“When Catie puts her mind to the task, she’s as well-rounded a player as I’ve ever coached,” Parker coach Tom Klawitter said. “She put in the time and made herself the player she is today.

“Catie will find success at the next level because she’s a scorer. And what program (collegiate) doesn’t need that?”

The 5-foot-10 O’Leary, daughter of Harry and Connie, is the two-time Big Eight Conference Player of the Year and an Associated Press first-team all-state selection a year ago.

Although she had plenty of collegiate offers, O’Leary signed to play basketball with Loyola University, a Division I school located in downtown Chicago. The Ramblers are 6-10 this season but currently have a seven-game losing streak.

Loyola has lost nearly as many games this season as O’Leary has lost in four years at Parker, but that can’t hide her enthusiasm about playing college basketball.

“That has been my dream since I got serious about basketball in seventh grade,” O’Leary said of playing in college. “I don’t like losing, but the way I look at it is that, hopefully, I can go in (to Loyola) and play right away, and maybe help turn things around.

“But right now, I’m concentrating on my last year at Parker and trying to help get this team back to state. I played at state my freshman year, and that was the most fun I’ve had. Getting back there is what this team is working for.”

The Vikings are 8-3 this season, including 7-2 in the Big Eight, one game behind Middleton and Verona.

If O’Leary doesn’t lead the Vikings to the school’s fourth WIAA state title, will that taint her legacy?

It shouldn’t, according to Janesville Craig girls coach Mark Marsden.

“There is absolutely no way you can take anything away from Catie as a player if Parker doesn’t win state,” Marsden said. “”I’ve coached against Burkholder, Bass and O’Leary, and you can’t compare them because they were all different players and had different players around them.

“Burkholder was as athletic a player as Parker has ever had,” said Marsden, who coached against her while at Beaver Dam. “And Bass was just impossible to stop in the post.

“But Catie might be the best player that I’ve ever faced because she presents so many more problems when trying to defend her. She has NBA range, can go to the basket and probably leads the state in free throw attempts.”

O’Leary averaged 19.4 points a year ago and is up to a robust 23.2 points per game this season. The scoring machine had a career-high 32 in an overtime loss to Verona earlier this season, and surpassed the 1,000-point mark in the second game of the season against Madison East.

An honor roll student, O’Leary should surpass 1,500 points and is averaging 15.1 points per game in her illustrious high school career.

Welcome to the club, Catie O’Leary. Friends and foe alike know you’ve earned it.