MARQUETTE – It was no surprise. Hunter Viitala knew it was coming.

Still, when the Marquette Senior High School senior guard scored her 1,000th career point on Monday night, it wasn’t something to forget.

“It was very special,” Viitala said after notching 23 points in a 64-46 MSHS win over visiting Gladstone to run her career total to 1,016. “I’m glad I could do it at home.

“I was nervous (about it) throughout the day, but during warmups, I started to relax.”

Perhaps appropriately, she notched her milestone point off a steal and layup, the bucket coming with 55 seconds left in the first quarter.

Viitala is Marquette’s all-time steals leader with 258, including 59 this season after coming up with three against the Braves.

“I kinda wanted to get the anxiety of the whole thing done early and then just be able to play,” she said.

Viitala trails MSHS all-time scorer Shelly Chapman, who scored 1,341 points for the Redettes from 1974-77.

“It’s a neat accomplishment (for Hunter),” MSHS head coach Ben Smith said. “It’s not every day you see it happen.”

At one point of the third quarter, Viitala scored nine unanswered points to send the Redettes to a 52-21 lead they stretched to 58-26 early in the fourth until Smith emptied his bench.

“She’s an unselfish player,” Gladstone head coach Karl Dollhopf said of Viitala. “And a lot of people don’t see the work that goes into being a 1,000-point player.

“Not only does she score 1,000 points, but she’s real good defensively, too. She has great instincts and a very high motor.”

Viitala added five rebounds and three assists to her game totals.

Lizzie Kurin contributed 10 points for the Upper Peninsula’s Class ABC No. 1-ranked Redettes, who improved to 12-0 overall and 4-0 in the Great Northern Conference.

Alexis St. Cyr led the Braves (7-3, 2-2) with 15 points. Teammates Caitlyn Leisner and Ashley Edwardsen added nine apiece.

“We got off to a decent start the first three minutes,” Dollhopf said. “But when (Marquette) got some separation, the flood gates opened.”

Viitala notched 13 of her points in the first half to help give MSHS a 35-16 advantage. Maddie Connon and Terese Ledy chipped in five points apiece.

“We did a good (job) of not forcing the issue against their zone,” Smith said. “We moved the ball well. We had 15 assists on 24 baskets. Everyone looked to make a play.”

Baskets by Destiny Beckwith and Kurin gave MSHS that 58-26 lead with 6:06 remaining, but the Braves caught fire against some MSHS reserves and outscored the Redettes 18-6 the rest of the way.

St. Cyr notched six points, while Edwardsen and Leisner added five each during the surge.

Marquette won the JV game, 55-29.

Craig Remsburg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 251. His email address is cremsburg@ miningjournal.net.