With a three-game road swing ahead for the Belmont High School girls basketball team, Sophia McClendon targeted Friday night as the best possible time to mark a career milestone.
With McClendon officially a dozen points (more on that later) from becoming the fourth member of the program’s 1,000-point club, a critical Middlesex League matchup — and double-header with the boys — on Belmont Youth Basketball Association night provided the backdrop. In front of her parents, brother and her community, McClendon reached the coveted number as the game-winning free throw with 40 seconds to play in a 42-41 win at Wenner Field House.
“There were a lot of tears shed because it was a big accomplishment that I waited a long time for,” McClendon said. “It was a great atmosphere. Not only was I playing my favorite sport but I was around a lot of people I cared for.”
A 5-foot-10 guard and four-year starter averaging 16.4 points, 7 rebounds, and 1.8 steals per game, McClendon joined Sheila Lyons (1986), Kristen Sullivan (1990) and Lauren Yanofsky (2006) in the school’s girls’ hoops 1,000-point club. Lyons (Providence College), Sullivan (Saint Anselm) and Yanofsky (Bates) all played college hoops. McClendon plans to play basketball collegiately at the Division I level. She takes all advanced placement (AP) and honors classes and will likely go on the pre-med route with designs on becoming a physician.
“I just love learning about human anatomy and how to better human bodies and stuff like that,” McClendon said. “Whenever I’m around doctors who care about recovery [like during a six-month intensive rehabilitation following a severe ankle sprain sustained during the playoffs her sophomore year], I see myself in that field as well.”
McClendon, who was born in New York City and moved to Belmont in fourth grade after a pit stop in Cambridge, plans to play collegiately as well at the Division I level. The family moved to Massachusetts for her mother, Lakshmi Clark, to work at Harvard Law School. She now serves as the Dean of Students at the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
First-year Belmont coach Antonia Macklin described McClendon as “an amazing young lady and student-athlete.” Not only is McClendon a standout player, but she’s helped the program during the coaching change.
“She wears Belmont High on her sleeve,” Macklin said. “It’s great to have her as a senior on the team with her leadership and the kids who look up to her.”
Macklin said McClendon and the team’s two other seniors, twin sisters Leah and Erin Attridge, act as “big sisters” for the young team. McClendon “literally loves” Macklin, who earned high school All-American honors at Boston English High School and later went to the Final Four with the University of Iowa.
“Overall, I’m just excited that I have the opportunity to coach a young lady like Sophia,” Macklin said. “She’s very passionate about the game and wants to get better. I’m honored to be able to be a part of her journey.”
Former coach Shantell Jeter, who guided the team during McClendon’s first three seasons, echoed many of the same sentiments.
“She’s a great kid who her teammates truly love and she loves them just as much,” Jeter said. “It’s been exciting to see her really come out of her shell and play with more confidence than ever, and I can’t wait to see where she goes next.”
About the record itself: there might have been some miscalculation with potentially a dozen or more games missed, McDlendon said, but officially, she had 12 points to go before 1,000 entering the Winchester game. After celebrating immediately after the accomplishment with her teammates, the Marauders held on for victory. Her friends and the school janitor made her signs, and she celebrated with everyone after the final buzzer. McClendon’s little brother, Ethan, is a fifth grader at Chenery and a future Marauder to watch. Her father, Andre, played Division Ihoops at Fordham.
“It doesn’t change the way I’m going to play,” she said. “Yes, it’s a great accomplishment.”
Winners of four straight entering this week, McClendon and the Marauders (7-4) eye a return to the MIAA Division I tournament. They ranked No. 23 in the most recent Power Rankings. The top-32 teams, and those with a record above .500, qualify.
“It’s not like OK, I got 1,000 points, I can chill now,” McClendon said. “We still have a lot of work to do and games to win. My first priority is the team and making sure we win.”
While McClendon looks to keep adding to her career scoring mark, she also realizes her high school basketball is winding down.
“I just want to cherish and appreciate the little moments along the way,” McClendon said.
