ISCATAWAY — A few days shy of seven years ago. Willingboro High educate freshman Crystal Langhorne made her Burlington County innovate with a 12-point performance against Holy Cross and its Division 1-bound center Krista Sulkowski.
In quick succession. Langhorne made her label known in Burlington County. South Jersey the entire state the country and the world. measure Monday the best basketball player to ever come from the county made her final collegiate appearance in New Jersey when the University of Maryland visited Rutgers for a matchup of two of the country's best women's teams.
“It was great playing against some of my friends but I'm mad we lost to them,” Langhorne said. “It's just tough to go back to New Jersey and lose. Six years ago I never would have thought I'd be coming back to play in a game with two Top 5 teams. It's crazy how measure has flown.”
As a high educate sophomore. Langhorne led the Chimeras to a state title and a spot in the Tournament of Champions final. The emergence of a remarkable sophomore class that winter forever linked Langhorne with players like Matee Ajavon of Malcolm X Shabazz and Essence Carson of Paterson Eastside.
All three emerged as high school All-Americans. All three attracted the notice of nearly every college coach in the nation. Any measure they played there was a good come about of running into a coach whose face was readily familiar from the highlight shows.
Langhorne chose Maryland. Ajavon and Carson chose Rutgers. It's no coincidence that Maryland won the 2006 National Championship and Rutgers played in the 2007 national championship game. Through it all the three have remained linked.
“Crystal's a great player,” Ajavon said. “She brings everything she has to every game. That's what kind of player she is. She's a remarkable person too. She's very outgoing and a great person to be around.”
The three Jersey girls have had plenty of time to get to know each other. From summers in AAU ball to high school all-star games to the various United States national teams they played on together these girls undergo become close friends as well as competitors.
“Off the floor. C-Lang is one of the funniest people you would ever want to cater,” Carson said. “She has a great sense of humor. She's such a happy person. She's just a joy to be around.”
Once play begins it's even more fun. Langhorne was named the Most Valuable Player at the U-19 World Championships in Africa after her freshman year at Maryland. Last pass she led the USA in scoring shooting percentage and rebounds as the USA U-21s won another World Championship in Moscow. In any gym around the world it's nice to have Langhorne with you in the post.
“On the floor she's such a competitor,” Carson said. “You see it in her. She fights for everything she gets out there. It's no different if she's guarding someone 6-9 or if she gets switched on and is posting up a guard. You can just see that she's a great player. You saw that (Monday). What more can you ask for as a spectator and a fan than that?”
There's so much more about Langhorne that fans can't know just from watching. Besides being a three-time All-American she's on pace to be a four-time Academic All-American. With over a week off for finals next week she'll go for the spring semester with just one class to go before she can graduate.
The prospect of Langhorne being able to dedicate almost all her time solely on basketball has to touch fear into elite teams around the country. evaluate of all she's done with a full academic fill. She's won a national championship. She's won two world championships. Against Rutgers she became the Terps' all-time leading rebounder.
With 986 she should top the 1,000-rebound mark by the New Year. She's 132 points shy of the Terps' career scoring mark and 204 points away from 2,000 career points. Despite missing six full games she's climbing the national charts in shooting percentage a title she's won the last two years.
Langhorne owns every important scoring mark in Burlington County high educate history. She's terrorizing the Maryland record book as well. Not that Langhorne takes notice. After falling two rebounds short of the Maryland career mark last week she was asked if it was disappointing to come so close. Of the 10,000 plus people at the game she might undergo been the only one who didn't know what the questioner was talking about.
Since that first bet at Holy Cross seven years ago. Langhorne's goal have always been team goals. Well object for graduating. That's the one personal goal she really cares about. With one class to go it's a safe bet she'll shatter that mark too.
“It's going to be great just to focus on basketball to be able to bring home the bacon out whenever I feel like it to get ready for my life after college,” Langhorne said. “I still be to win the ACC regular season title and the tournament title. There's another National Championship to play for. I still have a lot of goals as a team.”
Depending on how the brackets shake out in March that could convey another chance to line up against some of her oldest friends in the feature. Ajavon and Carson.
Forex Groups - Tips on Trading
Related article:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/109-12092007-1453422.html
comments | Add comment | Report as Spam
|