Our favorite Danielle Atkinson stat — and Lancaster Catholic’s senior guard had a bundle of them — is this one:
85-10.
That was the Crusaders’ overall record the last three seasons with Atkinson firmly entrenched in coach Lamar Kauffman’s backcourt.
Eighty-five victories in three seasons, including three L-L Section 4 titles, a pair of L-L championships, a District 3-AAA crown and a trip to the PIAA-AAA title game in her sophomore season — followed by a trip to the state quarterfinals a year later.
During that time, Atkinson established herself as one of the best open-court defenders in the L-L, and she was rock in Lancaster Catholic’s trapping and pressing attack, pestering the other team’s point guard and/or top scorer into turnover after turnover.
Atkinson’s D often led to easy buckets at the other end, and by her senior season, she became a dangerous outside threat, knocking down 39 3-pointers while scoring at a 14.2 clip, tops on the team.
With Atkinson leading the charge, the Crusaders went 25-4 this past season, reaching the district semifinals and the PIAA playoffs.
She capped her career with 1,149 points, and Atkinson will play at the next level; she’s narrowed her list of college suitors to DeSales, Juniata and Elizabethtown.
Atkinson closed out her prep playing days last weekend in the 38th Roundball Showcase at Harrisburg Christian, where she scored 8 points in the South’s 80-51 win over the North.
We played five questions with Atkinson after the game ...
YOUR MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT PLAYING HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS — “Wow, there were so many, but probably playing in the state championship game in my sophomore year. Before the game we all really came together and we knew it was our last game of the season no matter what. So we just wanted to play our hearts out, even though some of us were hurt (Atkinson and all-state G Porscha Speller both played, but both had nagging injuries). That was a great group and such a cool experience to play at Penn State for a state championship.”
BEST PLAYER YOU DEFENDED IN YOUR PREP CAREER — “There were a lot. Really, pretty much anybody we went up against in the state playoffs was really good. Archbishop Wood was really good. Susquehannock was really good. There’s a lot.”
BEST GAME YOU EVER PLAYED — “The only reason I played really well in any game was because my teammates were helping me out. So my most memorable game was probably when I scored my 1,000th point because my teammates were getting the ball to me at the end. It was pretty crazy.”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR DEFENSIVE PROWESS — “When I played CYO at St. Leo’s they told us that if we wanted to play for Lancaster Catholic, we had to play good defense because that was Coach Kauffman’s system. Sophomore year I worked really, really hard because I knew that if I wanted to get on the court, I had to play great defense so Coach Kauffman knew I was ready to play.”
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF — “I am most proud of this season because I was a senior and one of the team leaders and the girls never gave up when we were in tough games and I’ll always remember how well we played together. That’s going to be the toughest thing to give up … that, and playing for Coach Kauffman.”