Springfield International Charter School player becomes 1,000 point scorer

SPRINGFIELD, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - In this week’s Friday Night Frenzy feature story, we spoke with a basketball player from Springfeld International Charter School who hit a milestone most players only dream about.

“A few of my friends have told me they had to restrain themselves from coming on the court, so I think they were pretty happy for me,” said Alicia Mitchell, a junior at Springfield International Charter School.

Mitchell told us she was 28 points away from reaching the 1,000 point milestone for her career before their home basketball game on January 10 against Greylock.  She said she had mixed emotions going into the game.

“I didn’t want everyone to come to the home game for me to not hit it, so I was nervous thinking about that, but once the first quarter ended, I stopped thinking about it. I knew I was going to hit it and I was excited,” Mitchell added.

She was right and dropped 31 points in the process. She told Western Mass News that her love for the sport began back in second grade, when she wanted to be like her older sister.

“I remember my dad would coach her and I would go to the practices and run with the team and I wanted to play and warm up with them,” Mitchell explained.

Mitchell has been a member of the varsity team since seventh grade. She told us hitting the milestone would not be possible without the help of her teammates.

“It either comes to me or it doesn’t. I know that if I don’t have it, one of my teammates is going to,” Mitchell noted.

Coach Tyrone Reid told us the whole team’s unselfishness has been a key to their success.

“Everyone kind of contributes. You don’t know who it’s going to come from every night. They game plan to stop Alicia and then we have other players who can score in big numbers,” Reid explained.

The Bulldogs are currently 9-2 for the season. The team lost in the Final Four of states last year.

“We were a foul away from making the championship last year and we returned most of our players and got new ones, so that is the goal: to win a state championship,” Reid said.

“I think it would be really nice to win it all this year, to have all our names on the banner and finally, the girls team isn’t ‘so bad.’ We’re not. We’re good, so that would be nice to have this year,” Mitchell said.

“Do what I can to help them in their next chapter. Whether that is playing college basketball or doing whatever they want in college, anything I can do with getting them to the next level,” Reid added.

Mitchell told us she wants to play college basketball, but she has unfinished business this season and her entire senior year ahead.

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