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Griffin Sets All-Time Assists Mark for Eagles

 On Saturday afternoon, Kelley Griffin entered the record books and cemented her place in the lore of Bellbrook Girls Basketball. 


When the game stopped to recognize her accomplishment (she received a painted basketball that read “All-time assists record” painted on it), Griffin didn’t know what was happening. The point guard – who is aware of where her teammates are at all times – had no idea where she was on the all-time assists leaderboard. 


Turns out she’d just made it to the top of the list. 


Kelley Griffin
On Saturday afternoon, Kelley Griffin entered the record books and cemented her place in the lore of Bellbrook Girls Basketball. 

When the game stopped to recognize her accomplishment (she received a painted basketball that read “All-time assists record” painted on it), Griffin didn’t know what was happening. The point guard – who is aware of where her teammates are at all times – had no idea where she was on the all-time assists leaderboard. 


Turns out she’d just made it to the top of the list. 


“I just thought they (Monroe) called timeout,” Griffin said. “They presented me with the ball, I took a picture but I had to put it out of my mind. We still had a game to finish.”


It speaks to exactly the kind of teammate she is. As if the assists didn’t already speak volumes. 


Griffin wrested the all-time assists title away from Jana Gross. Gross had 444, set between 2004-08. Entering the year, Griffin already had 408 assists.


Griffin wasn’t totally surprised by the accomplishment, though. She said her teammate Taylor Scohy, who scored the bucket that led to her 445th assist, told her at the beginning of the season she was closing in. Scohy’s father updates the statistics for the girls basketball team.


When the timeout was called to honor the senior point guard, Griffin said the first thing she did was celebrate Taylor’s bucket with her.


“I went over and told her she was on fire,” Griffin said. “She was on fire from the beginning (of the game) so it was an easy assist.”


You don’t get to 445 assists easily. Griffin established herself as a weapon when she was a freshman for coach Jason Tincher. 


“She was always at all the camps and you noticed her early,” Tincher said. “She always had her head up, she was always looking for her teammates and she was getting better every year. 


“She got the start as a freshman and there was a learning curve, but she established herself right away.”


In addition to the all-time mark, last year Griffin set the single-season mark with 204 assists, averaging 8 assists per game. As a sophomore, she averaged 6.5 assists per game. This year, she is hovering around 7 per game. 


“It means a lot,” Griffin said. “Not only does it mean that I’m good but I’m surrounded by good players and teammates.”


Griffin can score, too. Though she probably won’t make the all-time scoring list at Bellbrook, that’s fine by her. It’s not her job.


“I love the long-court passes, but fitting it in a tight window, that gets me more hyped than scoring,” Griffin said.


The senior is a big part of the Eagles' success. Bellbrook is 6-0 this year and throughout her time on varsity, her teams have a combined 67-12 record.


“She’s easy to like and she’s fun to watch play,” Tincher said. “She sees things at times the way a coach would see them. She’s a good court leader. They say when your best players are your hardest workers then you are pretty well off. Well, we are pretty well off. She is the ultimate competitor. She makes me look good.”


For that matter, she makes her teammates look pretty good, too. 

Posted Tuesday, December 13, 2022