Gov. Mifflin's Stella Mollica is a 1,000-point scorer like few others in Berks girls basketball history

Mar. 5—Stella Mollica's time at Gov. Mifflin won't be defined by the milestone she just reached.

It was more about how she got there.

Scoring was never the point for Mollica. The senior was too valuable to take off the floor. She was vital to so many wins. That resulted in enough minutes and games to eventually reach 1,000 career points.

It was serendipity really. A well-deserved reward for playing the right way.

"Freshman and sophomore year, this was never really a thought in my head," Mollica said. "Making it so far each year with my team helped me get here. It just kind of came."

Mollica scored 10 points to help fifth-seeded Mifflin defeat No. 4 Ephrata 57-33 in the District 3 Class 6A girls basketball quarterfinals Thursday night. A 3-pointer in the third quarter put her in the club.

There's never been a 1,000-point scorer quite like Mollica. A 5-5, pass-first point guard? Those are usually role players. Mollica is a two-time All-Berks selection. She's a star.

A long, winding road brought her to this magical four-digit number.

Mollica didn't have a point in her first game. She didn't average 10 points until she was a junior. She only scored more than 20 points twice in her entire career.

Shots were turned down in favor of passes. In favor of team success. Two county championships, four District 3 playoff appearances and two PIAA berths are on Mollica's resume.

Mollica started from Day 1 and has played in every one of Mifflin's 107 games over the past four seasons. All those nights scoring 10, 12, 14 points added up.

"Do the math," Mifflin coach Mike Clark said. "If we win, your chances are more and more. Stella bought into it. All she wants to do is win. Sometimes I think we're more into the 1,000 points than they are. That's the way Stella was."

So much of Mifflin's success over the past four seasons was connected to Mollica. She helped the 2019 and 2020 teams win county titles with different cores. The Mustangs were the only team to finish the league schedule undefeated this winter.

Mollica is the thread that ties the past four years, and 76 wins, together.

"Everyone sees what happens on the court but that's really only half of it," junior Elisa Fiore said. "Every day in practice she's hustling, she's working hard, she's encouraging us. That's probably the biggest thing."

Mollica was quick enough to get to the rim and strong enough to fight through taller players in the paint. She was smart enough to anticipate passes and turn steals into layups.

Most of the time taking a shot was a last resort. She did it after all other options were exhausted.

"She's the most unselfish, best teammate you could ask for," senior Jocelyn Grosch said. "She has been playing for four years. I've never seen her get benched. To take her this long to get to 1,000 shows how good of a teammate she is."

Even down the stretch of her senior year, when making it to 1,000 was no guarantee, Mollica usually resisted the urge to force it.

Mifflin has four other all-division talents in its starting lineup. The Mustangs' success is built on spreading the wealth. It's built on Mollica making the right decisions.

"I've played with such great players," she said. "I've been able to assist them and get them in the right position. I feel like that's my spot on this team."

There are now 135 Berks members of the 1,000-point club in girls basketball. The list is an imperfect measure of the best players to pass through the county.

Mollica belongs on that list. Stories about the past decade can't be written without prominently mentioning her name.

"She makes all of us feel like we're as good as she is, which obviously isn't true," Fiore said. "She makes us feel that way. That's really important. She's like a second coach."

Mollica became the 11th Mifflin player to reach 1,000. Only four others have done it since 1996.

In the aftermath of her achievement, Mollica posed for more pictures and gave more hugs than she could count. She was presented with a poster and a bouquet of flowers.

It was a role reversal.

Mifflin was giving back to the player who spent four years giving the ball to everyone else.