Staff photo / Dan Hiner Western Reserve’s Kylee Ramsey, third from right, is surrounded by her teammates after scoring her 1,000th career point in a game Friday afternoon against Bristol at Western Reserve High School.

BERLIN CENTER — Only four minutes into Friday’s game, the Western Reserve girls basketball team stormed the court. The players made their way to Kylee Ramsey, who jumped into the crowd of teammates.

Ramsey scored her 1,000th career point on a 3-point attempt, making her the seventh Blue Devil to reach the milestone. And as an added bonus, the Blue Devils extended their winning streak to 11 games with a 59-33 win over Bristol at Western Reserve High School.

“I knew it was coming up at some point, but didn’t really prioritize it because we have bigger goals this year – get to districts and regionals, and potentially make a run at state,” Ramsey said.

Despite the difference in record, the Panthers (5-13) gave Western Reserve (20-1) a fight in the first quarter. The visitors briefly led 9-8, but a six-point run in the final minute gave the Blue Devils a 15-10 lead at the end of the first.

The Blue Devils carried that momentum into the second quarter. They dominated the frame, outscoring the Panthers 19-3 to take a 34-13 lead into the break thanks to some second-chance opportunities.

“With the atmosphere, with everybody being a little extra amped up, we played with a little bit of jitters for a while,” Western Reserve head coach Steve Miller said.

Western Reserve was in complete control throughout the second half, and both teams started introducing bench players by the four-minute point in the fourth quarter.

Ramsey led all scorers with 20 points, including a team-high three 3-pointers. Quincy Miller added 13 points, and Kylah Busch finished with seven.

Lauren Church knocked down a game-best four 3-pointers as she finished with 16 points to lead Bristol. She was the only Panther with double-digit points.

Friday’s victory marked the first 20-win season for the Blue Devils since 2021. They also became the first team in program history to record 20 wins during the regular season.

“We’re different. We’re extremely quick, we’re really fast, we transition really well,” Miller said. “So have I had teams that play a little bit better defense? Probably. Have I had teams that executed sets and everything better? Probably. But this is a different style of team.

“I like this team because they’re a true reflection of me. Their grittiness, their toughness, their refuse-to-lose mentality. They’re fun to watch, they’re exciting to watch, they practice hard every day at practice. They have reached a lot of goals, but they still have a lot of high expectations.”

KIDS IN THE CROWD

The game took place at 12:30 p.m., and the gym was filled with students of all ages. After the game, the students were dismissed back to their classes.

But for a couple hours, the student section was filled in its normal spot as teachers and younger students filled in the rest of the room. In total, roughly 600 attended the game to watch the Blue Devils make history individually and as a team.

“We’ve been blessed. Community comes out, travels with us all the time, but to have all the student body, all the faculty here today, that was truly fun,” Miller said.