OLMA senior scores 1,000th career point

Madelynn Bernhardt might someday consider being an interior decorator. 

In her four years of high school sports, the Our Lady of Mercy Academy senior has helped fill the Villagers’ gymnasium with championship banners, while adding her name to prestigious company on its basketball scoring list. 

But the four-year, three sport varsity athlete isn’t quite done just yet, even after eclipsing a major milestone in girls basketball this month. Bernhardt scored her 1,000th career point on Jan. 11 in a 55-48 victory over previously undefeated Egg Harbor Township. It’s something she has strived to accomplish even before her first day of school of freshman year.

“It’s been a goal for a long time,” Bernhardt said. “I started thinking about it in seventh and eighth grade. At OLMA there’s not a lot of 1,000-point scorers so I thought it would be really special to be one of them. I’ve looked up at the banner and I want to be on it. It would be really special.”

Bernhardt became just the third Villager to reach 1,000 career points and the first in 14 years. She now trails only 1989 grad Jeannine Heil (1,212 points) and 2010 grad Taylor Thompson (1,130). A strong push in the second half of the season could see Bernhardt atop the school’s all-time scoring list. Not bad for a well-rounded student athlete that chose to explore other sports instead of focusing on just one skillset.

“She’s a throwback,” OLMA basketball coach Brian Coyle said. “In a society where we specialize because we think kids are getting scholarships, Maddie has played three sports for four years and she’s an all-conference field hockey and lacrosse player too. So many kids would say that’s too much work. Nothing is ever too much for her.”

Bernhardt fell in love with basketball in second grade but chose to also follow her sister Caroline’s footsteps and play field hockey and lacrosse. After lacrosse season, she will graduate with 12 varsity letters.

“I like field hockey and lacrosse a lot because I stay in shape,” Bernhardt said. “I play defense in both of those sports so I feel like it helps me all around. And it lets me focus on other things so it’s not basketball all the time. It’s good for me.”

Caroline, a 2021 OLMA grad, is attending Rutgers University. Madelynn is also hoping to stay close to home as she’s “pretty set” on The College of New Jersey where she wants to play basketball and study exercise science.

Coyle believes Bernhardt will excel both in sports and academics in whatever path she chooses.

“I’ve been coaching girls basketball for 27 years and in all of these years, I don’t think I’ve had a better leader,” Coyle said. “The way she comes to practice and the way she talks so positively to the other girls. She just has that quality and she’s a once in a lifetime kind of leader. Then you get her on the floor and you see how hard she plays.”

And it’s not always about scoring. Although Bernhardt has more than 1,000 points on her resume, she finds other ways to help the team on nights when her shot is off or she’s seeing double teams. The added attention by other teams is a clear strategy and Bernhardt usually has a clingy defender shadowing her every move. 

“For sure. The whole time,” she said with a laugh. “It used to frustrate me but I’m used to it now and I can see what I need to do to get around that. I try to keep on moving to tire them out or make them miss a step.”

With fellow senior Savannah Prescott and freshman Khalia Lewis both averaging double-digits for OLMA, opposing teams have had a tough time slowing down the Villagers in the first half of the season. OLMA was 12-1 through its first 13 games and the aforementioned victory over Egg Harbor had the Villagers in the driver’s seat in hopes of attaining a Cape-Atlantic League National Division championship. It’s something Bernhardt has already experienced in field hockey and lacrosse. But there’s always room for another banner, right?

“Things have been great so far,” Bernhardt said. “We have some new players but since the first practice, I feel like I’ve been playing with them forever. It’s been going really smoothly.”

A great deal of that credit can be directed towards Bernhardt who has shown the younger players the way.

“She’s a great shooter, a great defender and she has really improved on getting to the rim,” Coyle said. “But as a person, there’s none better. She’s such a welcoming person and makes everyone part of the family.”