Malloy racking up the points for Parkston

PARKSTON — Parkston girls’ basketball coach Rob Van Laecken has seen plenty of basketball in his 35 years of coaching.

But Van Laecken saw something new when Marie Malloy scored 40 points in Parkston’s 55-52 win over Hanson on Dec. 12.

“It is one of the most outstanding performances in the history of our program,” said Van Laecken of Malloy’s performance. “She took it amongst herself for us not to lose, and it was an absolutely remarkable performance.”

At one point, Malloy scored 16 straight points in the second half to put Parkston in the lead.

“I think that’s the time she took it upon herself and she got in the zone,” Van Laecken said. “She put us over the top … I don’t think she was going to let us lose.”

Malloy was unaware at the time that she scored 16 straight points in the win over Hanson.

“I didn’t really notice,” she said. “I was in the game so much that I really didn’t pay attention. I just wanted to win.”

Malloy’s offensive output dipped in Parkston’s next game, but not by much. The senior guard scored 32 points in the Trojans’ 56-43 victory over Chamberlain Friday, giving her 72 total points for the week.

For her efforts, Malloy has been named The Daily Republic’s athlete of the week, an award that’s voted on by the newspaper’s sports staff.

Malloy was surprised she scored 72 points in the past week.

“I didn’t know I was scoring that much,” she said. “I would rather get my teammates involved more, but I do what it takes to win, I guess.”

Both of Malloy’s performances helped Van Laecken tie and set the record for career wins in girls’ high school basketball history with 552 victories.

“I wanted to get Van Laecken the record,” Malloy said. “It meant a lot and I am happy for (Van Laecken) that we could get him the win. It was really exciting.”

Malloy is one of the key reasons Parkston is 5-0 and ranked No. 4 in Class A in the latest South Dakota Sportswriters Association poll.

According to Van Laecken, Malloy is averaging 30 points per game this year.

“Her game is at a level it has never been at before,” he said. “She has always been quick to the hole, but she has a great jump shot. She has worked hard to get where she is at.”

Before the season began, Malloy signed a letter of intent to play basketball for the University of Sioux Falls.

Even though Malloy is scoring at an impressive clip, she thinks her point totals will be going down as the year goes on.

“I am proud of it of how much I have accomplished,” she said. “But getting the team more involved is going to be key because teams are going to try and shut me down.”

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