Girls’ Basketball: Perkiomen Valley’s Grace Galbavy surpasses 1,000 career points against her former team

It’s not terribly uncommon for a high school basketball player to surpass 1,000 career points.

But the circumstance in which Perkiomen Valley junior Grace Galbavy reached the 1,000-point milestone Thursday night was anything but common.

Playing against Upper Perkiomen, the school where her high school career began, Galbavy put up 26 points to eclipse the mark on Perk Valley’s home floor, carrying the VIkings to a 79-19 Pioneer Athletic Conference cross-division victory.

“I thought it was just such a cool experience that everybody on that court, no matter what team they’re on, played a part in me scoring my thousand points,” Galbavy said. “It felt like it felt like the right team to play on the right night.”

Galbavy, the reigning Mercury All-Area Player of the Year, needed 24 points on the night and passed 1,000 at the 3:15 mark of the third quarter on an and-one. She hit the free throw after being celebrated by her teammates to cap her special night.

“It’s a great accomplishment, obviously, but it just made me realize I couldn’t do it without all my teammates,” Galbavy said. “I’m just blessed to have those people around me who want to see me succeed. I’m blessed every day that I get to have people like that around me.”

Galbavy scored 463 points during her freshman year at Upper Perkiomen, prior to transferring to Perk Valley. She scored 398 as a sophomore while helping PV win the PAC and District 1-6A championship and reaching the PIAA 6A second round.

The confluence of events to be playing her former teammates at home – something that happens only once every two years – on her milestone night wasn’t lost on Galbavy.

“What are the odds that we happen to play them at home and it’s my thousandth point?” she said. “God is great because I don’t know how that could happen.”

There was some level of urgency because Perk Valley next travels to Florida on Dec. 26 to compete in the KSA Events Holiday Basketball Tournament in Kissimmee, Fla.

“We’re going to Florida next so it would have been disappointing if my family couldn’t have been there and obviously all my friends,” she said.

The one-sided matchup saw Perk Valley lead 30-6 after one quarter. The rest of PV’s stacked junior class also figured into the win with Grace Miley chipping in 12, Quinn Boettinger 10 and Bella Bacani and Lena Stein scored nine apiece. Erin States scored 13 for Upper Perk.

Perk Valley is out to a 7-0 start, including a win over Delaware state champion Sanford last weekend.

Galbavy was appreciative of the scoring recognition, but her sights are set on something bigger.

“A thousand points are great. But I’ll be happier when we win a state championship,” she said. “That’s really the goal going forward.”

Perkiomen Valley 79, Upper Perkiomen 19

Upper Perkiomen 6 3 5 5 – 19

Perkiomen Valley 30 18 26 5 – 79

Upper Perkiomen: Kearney 1 0 2-2 4, Heiser 0 0 0-0 0, Davidheiser 1 0 0-0 2, States 3 2 1-2 13, Fabian 0 0 0-0 0, Langenback 0 0 0-0 0, Salassa 0 0 0-0 0, Cahill 0 0 0-0 0, Marshall 0 0 0-0 0, Thyberg 0 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0 0-0 0, Guffey 0 0 0-0 0. Totals 5 2 3-4 19.

Perkiomen Valley: A Stein 0 0 1-2 1, Bacani 4 0 1-1 9, Smith 1 2 0-0 8, Nemic 0 0 0-0 0, L Stein 3 1 0-0 9, Fowler 0 0 1-4 1, Miley 5 2-2 12, Boettinger 5 0 0-0 10, Galbavy 10 1 3-3 26, Taylor 0 1 0-0 3. Totals 28 5 8-12 79