CMSV hoops duo join exclusive club

When Christina Barone took off her Tottenville High School basketball uniform for the final time at the end of a solid career with the Pirates, there were a couple of unknowns she had to deal with. Where would she be heading for college and would basketball be a part of her future?

“In high school I really didn’t think about playing college basketball,” said Barone, Mount St. Vincent’s senior guard. “So when I came here I really wasn’t expecting much.”

Barone’s teammate, senior guard Brittany Carroll, said the person she’d most like to meet is none other than Dr. Seuss.

“I think it would be interesting,” said Carroll, another Staten Island import from Curtis High School. “I’m a little different.”

Fast forward four years and Barone is now happy she decided to continue to play basketball at Mount and Carroll, yeah, she’s different all right, as she and Barone pulled off the rarest of feats by becoming twin 1,000-point career scorers earlier this month for the Dolphins. The two former high school rivals – now best friends and roommates – pulled off the feat one game apart to become just the seventh and eighth players in Mount St. Vincent history to hit the thousand-point mark.

“We were hoping it was going to happen in the same game but I got to it one game after Christina did,” Carroll said.

The two high school rivals had a friendly relationship away from the Public School Athletic League (PSAL) competition, even becoming teammates on the Staten Island Rebels AAU team. That little taste is what gave the Dolphins duo the idea of becoming teammates at the Mount.     

“Me and Brittany played travel basketball together so we knew each other well from high school and we were always friendly with each other but I never imagined playing with Britt,” Barone said. “I know when I was being recruited by Mount they were also looking at Brittany. So I told her it would be so cool if we went together. So we both decided to visit the school together and then we both decided to come here. But I never imagined it would work out like this. I think it’s pretty cool.”

What the tandem have accomplished in their three-plus years at the Mount is impressive indeed. After the Dolphins’ 90-40 victory over York College in their most recent game on Dec. 13, Barone and Carroll have helped lead the Mount to an overall record of 62-30 in their careers, while posting a Skyline Conference mark of 35-15 along with winning a Skyline Conference Tournament crown and earning an NCAA Tournament appearance.

“In high school I wasn’t really a scorer because we had a lot of scorers on our team so I just passed a lot,” Barone said. “I didn’t score that much. But coming here I got a lot more than I expected. I’ve started since I got here freshman year, we won a [Skyline Conference] championship and to also get 1,000 points is really awesome.”

The seeds for joining the exclusive 1,000-point club were sown for the pair two seasons ago when a former teammate and another Staten Island native – Kelly Fraser – logged her 1,000th career point. That’s when Barone and Carroll started dreaming of etching their own names in the Mount record books.

“When our friend Kelly Fraser got it we started talking about it, how we got a chance because we’ve been playing since we were freshmen,” Barone said. “Coming in as a freshman and starting really helped because we got a lot of points in the beginning. So we thought we had a really good shot at getting it.”

Barone was the first to join the 1,000-point club when she hit the mark in a road game at St. Joseph’s Long Island on Dec. 6.

“I had just missed getting it on the previous play with a layup but [the ball] hung on the rim for a bit before it fell out,” Barone said. “But my whole team was already cheering because they thought it was going in. So on the next play I was like, ‘Ok, I have to get it now.’ So on our next play the adrenaline was going and I dribbled down and I passed it. But I got a pass back and I stepped back to take a three-pointer and it went in. That was my thousandth. My parents were there and they brought balloons and people brought flowers for me. It was really nice.”

Two nights later it was Carroll’s turn to scribble her name in the Dolphin record books. After scoring 23 points in the previous contest, Carroll came into the Dolphins’ home game against Yeshiva needing just five points to reach 1,000 points. After scoring three early points, the stage was set for Carroll to join Barone.

“I knew I needed two points and we were on defense and someone on our team actually got a tip and knocked the ball away,” Carroll said. “I grabbed it and dribbled it all the way up the court and I got an and-one [three-point play]. So that was a cool way to get it. They stopped the game and everyone was cheering but then I had to take a free throw. But once I took the free throw coach [Laura Pruitt]called a timeout and then my team was able to run out and celebrate with me. That was cool.”

And one of the first to reach her in that celebration was roomie Barone.

“When Brittany got it the next game I felt like I got it again. I was so happy for her,” Barone said. “That was a great celebration because we had all our friends in the stands. It was awesome.”

It was fitting, perhaps, for Barone to be the first to reach the 1000-point plateau as Carroll’s Curtis teams regularly defeated Barone’s Tottenville team in their high school days.

“We always beat them and I always reminder of that,” Carroll said laughing.

It’s rare for a Mount St. Vincent team to boast a single 1,000-point scorer. But to christen two in a span of two games is off-the-charts rare. And it took a few days for the duo to fully digest what they had just accomplished.

“Me and Britt were laying in our beds the other night and I said, ‘It’s so crazy. We’re only the seventh and eighth people ever to get this here. It’s not even double digits yet,’” Barone said. “That’s when we realized how awesome this was.”

There are still 15 regular-season games to be played for Barone and Carroll, 15 more chances to add to their growing point totals as they try to add to already stellar careers. 

“I never thought about a career like this, not at all,” Carroll said. “It’s just so awesome to be one of only eight to do this. I hoped for a career like this but I didn’t know if it was actually going to happen.”

As for Barone, the one who wasn’t sure a college basketball career was in the cards for her, the end of her career is coming way too quickly.

“It’s gone by way too fast. I can’t believe I’m a senior and half the year is gone and I only have 15 games left,” Barone said. “I can’t believe how fast it has gone. I can’t imagine my life after basketball now.”