Shelby Babin’s hard work, dedication and spirit paid off Wednesday night, as Mascenic’s senior basketball captain capped off her four years with honor. Babin put home her 1,000th career point in Mascenic’s 61-28 victory over Concord Christian, knocking down a jumper to pop the confetti from the capacity crowd in the Vikings’ gym.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Babin said in the locker room after the game, taking a break from the procession of admirers taking pictures with her under the silver “1000” balloons on the gym wall. “It’s kind of mind-blowing. Freshman year, I would not have thought I would be at this point.”
She might not have known it then, but to those close to her, the signs of greatness were always there.
“Back when I was playing with her, she was our leading scorer, even back then,” said older sister Jordyn, who played her own role in pushing her younger sister to new heights. “She just has that drive. She knows what she wants and she goes after it. She’s willing to put in the effort no matter what, and she has the love for the game – that played a big part in it.”
The 1,000-point milestone may have seemed out of reach in her freshman and sophomore years, but as she matured in her junior year – and embraced her new coach Sean Young’s system – the buckets started to come in bunches. Babin scored nearly 700 of her points from the start of her junior season through Wednesday’s game, and her coach’s praise rained down on her like the confetti from the crowd.
“In my 22 years of coaching, I’ve had some really special players that have played for me,” Young said Wednesday, “but I believe she is the most deserving. I’ve had five 1,000-point scorers since I’ve been coaching – she’s the most deserving of all of them. She’s done it the right way. She hasn’t always been surrounded by the most talented, she’s been the huge focal point for teams, she’s had to distribute.”
As Babin grew, pushed herself, and improved, the Vikings followed suit. Mascenic went under .500 her freshman year; in 2018, the girls snapped Sunapee’s three-year winning streak and went 10-8 with a playoff spot as the 12th seed, and last year, the Vikings earned the 10th seed at 9-7. This season, Mascenic’s 10-4 with four games left, including another game against the Concord Christian team they blew out Wednesday. A career-best team record, a home playoff game, a playoff win? It’s all on the table for the Vikings this year, and Babin’s the driving force behind it, averaging 19.8 ppg and operating at a level of play Mascenic hasn’t produced in 25 years. The last girl to score 1,000 points at for the school, Shannon Cunningham, did it in 1995; on Wednesday, the packed gym saw the red-white-and-blue 1,000-point banner unfurl to reveal Babin’s name up there with Cunningham and Stauffeneker and Gibson and Rines and the rest of the Vikings’ legendary scorers.
“I feel pretty honored,” Babin said. “There are some amazing players that I watched over the years.”
Babin scored the seven she needed to hit 1,000, and another seven, to finish the game with 14; Alannah Johnson and Annika Martel scored 10 each and Kylie Millea nine as the Vikings cruised to an easy victory.
“My teammates, they got me open quite a bit,” Babin said. “They’ve helped out a lot…They put in a lot of effort so I want to give everything I can for them.”
That combination of competitive spirit and humility are what makes Mascenic’s senior star a great player and a tremendous person.
“I couldn’t be any happier for her,” Young said. “She’s a better human being than she is an athlete, which is special.”
Mascenic’s next game is Tuesday at 6 at Sunapee (11-3).