MIDDLETOWN >> She’s not the first Lake County player to score 1,000 points during her varsity basketball career and she won’t be the last, but Middletown High School senior Ashlyn Welton is the first county player to receive the new 1,000-point pin commemorating the achievement.
Welton took possession of her pin Thursday night during a team practice.
The 1,000-point pins are available to all county players who have reached that career milestone in the past and will be presented to all those who do so in the future. Four other players could join here this season — Kelseyville’s Riley Goff and Kyle Ellis, Upper Lake’s Natalie Karlsson and Clear Lake’s Taylor Helms.
Only once before in county history have as many as four players scored their 1,000th point in the same season. Welton become the 39th player to do so on Jan. 5 when she recorded her 1,000th and 1,001st points with a basket midway through the second quarter of the Mustangs’ 41-33 league win over Lower Lake at Middletown High School.
Welton opened her freshman season at Middletown (2012-13) at the junior varsity level but was promoted to the varsity squad for the final eight games. She has been a mainstay with the Mustangs ever since, averaging in double digits in both points and rebounds most nights. Her career average is 14.3, slightly below the 14.5 she is averaging this season for the Mustangs (3-0, 10-4) through their first 14 games.
Since Welton’s first full season with the varsity in 2013-14, the Mustangs have been a force. They finished second behind Cloverdale in the North Central League I standings her sophomore season and won the league title last year with a 13-1 record. They enter tonight’s road game in St. Helena tied with Kelseyville for the league lead at 3-0.
Welton’s career high both for points and scoring average was last season when she scored 406 and averaged 15.6. She is the fifth Middletown player to reach 1,000 points and needs just four more points to become the school’s all-time scorer among girls, a record belonging to Kat Cardoza (1,035). Tyler Hunt is Middletown’s leading scorer with 1,230.
