OK, I just returned from North Salem where Haldane won 60-50 in a thrilling game that was played at a very high level. I’ll get to the game in a bit, but let’s start with the record:

Brittany Shields, to absolutely no one’s surprise, was incredibly calm despite needing 13 points to break the school’s all-time scoring record. I say this was no surprise because she’s played in so many big games and in front of so many people…she’s exactly the type of player who wouldn’t be fazed.

Shields and her teammates overcame a hot start for the Tigers, who scored 15 points in the first six minutes. Like they always do — and it is remarkable how consistent they are after all these years — the Blue Devils and their star plugged along. Shields had six points in the first quarter to give her team an 18-17 lead at the break.

In the second quarter, Shields and Avery Zuvic led Haldane on a 16-2 run. The last basket was a layup by Shields, and it gave her team a 34-19 lead and left the senior one point shy of the record.

It didn’t take long for her to break it. With a little under a minute left, Shields stole the ball and dribbled the length of the court for a layup that broke the record.

Shields finished with 22 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in what was a terrific all-around performance. (She actually threw a halfcourt chest pass off the dribble for a basket that had the teenage guys from North Salem sitting near me in utter disbelief.)

“It was definitely exciting, but more importantly it was a relieving to get it over with now,” she said. “We can focus on our big games. We have Ossining and Greeley next week and then obviously sectionals, so now we can focus on that.”

Shields broke the record of Jenn Moran, a ‘94 graduate who had 1,776 points. Moran, who is 31 and now lives in Beacon, has known Shields since she was a little girl and she was emotional after the basket.

“I cried,” she said.

Moran wasn’t sad. She said she was happy someone broke the record, but especially Shields, who now must be considered one of the best — if not the best — player in school history. In fact, as I watched the game I thought about how there are a lot of Division I teams missing out. Shields may not be the fastest or the tallest, but the way she can play with both hands, the way she dribbles and the way she can finish are talents you can’t teach college players. They’re just there.

Anyway, on to more from the game…it moved quickly, especially in the first quarter. North Salem played very well to start, but fell behind during that second quarter run. The Tigers recovered behind Jill Olimpieri, who had 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and 6-foot-6 sophomore Danielle Fiacco, who, with all her inexperience, is someone to watch. She had 14 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks in a very disruptive performance.

After all that, Haldane led by just six, 47-41, but showed great poise by scoring nine straight points to bring the game back from the brink. Zuvic (14 points), a center, and PG Emily Marsh (eight points, three steals) were at the forefront of the fourth-quarter run, as was Shields.

I’ve now seen Shields play in the state final as an eighth grader, win Section 1 tournament MVPs as a freshman and sophomore, and blow past 1,000 points as a junior. Now she’s broken the record, although I think there’s still more to come.