Senior Aubrey Langdon (11) closes out on a Kings shooter. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.

Senior Aubrey Langdon (11) closes out on a Kings shooter. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.

<p>Junior Rachel Morgan (10) shoots a layup vs. Kings. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.</p>

Junior Rachel Morgan (10) shoots a layup vs. Kings. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.

<p>Milford High School senior Violet Shuluga and her coaches, including head coach Matt Tolliver, on left, hold a sign noting her 1,000 career points, while teammates hold similar signs. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.</p>

Milford High School senior Violet Shuluga and her coaches, including head coach Matt Tolliver, on left, hold a sign noting her 1,000 career points, while teammates hold similar signs. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.

<p>Milford High School senior Violet Shuluga, pictured in the front row holding a basketball, with coaches and teammates behind signs noting her feat of scoring 1,000 career points. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.</p>

Milford High School senior Violet Shuluga, pictured in the front row holding a basketball, with coaches and teammates behind signs noting her feat of scoring 1,000 career points. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.

<p>Milford coach Matt Tolliver addresses his team during a timeout vs. Kings. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.</p>

Milford coach Matt Tolliver addresses his team during a timeout vs. Kings. Photo by Dick Maloney, Sun Sports Correspondent.

<p>Clermont Northeastern senior Connor Yeager (45, with basketball) broke the 1,000-point barrier Jan. 17, 2025, vs. Blanchester. Photo courtesy Clermont Northeastern Athletic Department.</p>

Clermont Northeastern senior Connor Yeager (45, with basketball) broke the 1,000-point barrier Jan. 17, 2025, vs. Blanchester. Photo courtesy Clermont Northeastern Athletic Department.

Her point total counting up and the game clock winding down, Milford High School senior Violet Shuluga was battling time – at least for one night – Jan. 16 vs. Kings on Ted Dixon Court.

Shuluga entered the game with 972 career points, 28 short of 1,000. She had never scored more than 25 in a game, and only eight when the Eagles and Knights met at Kings Dec. 5, 2024. Then, the points started adding up. Thirteen in the first half; nine more in the first 11 minutes of the second half. Five points away, 1:48 remaining; then to 998.

The game well in hand by this point – Milford led 39-20 at halftime – the Eagles had one goal: get the ball to Shuluga. She posted up several times, but Kings’ swarming defense forced bad shots. Finally, with about 20 seconds remaining, Shuluga took matters into her own hands. She received an inbounds pass in the backcourt, dribbled past the timeline and calmly launched a three-point attempt that settled through the net and into history. Her teammates and students rushed the floor.

Officials waved off any remaining time (a couple of seconds). Milford had a 65-38 win on a night that would already be remembered by all involved.

“I thought it was a perfect night, perfect night with everything that was going on,” head coach Matt Tolliver said, referring to the team’s annual Game of Hope event – a fundraiser for The Cure Starts Now Foundation, in honor of former Mount St. Joseph University player Lauren Hill, who died of cancer in 2015.

Fittingly, with teams whose primary colors are red (Milford) and blue (Kings), purple dominated. Players, coaches and fans wore purple shirts with “The Cure Starts Now” logo on the front and #playfor22 (Hill’s number) on the back. Purple balloons and ribbons lined the stands and walls. Milford’s uniforms were white trimmed with purple – almost violet.

“It means a lot to me, especially because tonight was a big night for … our community, just the Game of Hope. It means a lot for us. We’ve been doing it for 10 years, so that was great to do it tonight, and kind of just represents my … gratitude for being able to play every day,” Shuluga said.

Shuluga wasn’t planning to steal the spotlight. Both she and Tolliver admitted they thought the milestone was more likely to be reached Saturday, against McNicholas.

“At halftime, she had 13, and we asked her, ‘If this game gets into a blowout, (do) you want to go for it tonight, or do you want to wait until Saturday?’” Tolliver said. “And she said, ‘Let’s go ahead and get it over.’ You know, this is stressful for a kid. She was going to do it, but … you don’t want it affecting her game overall and everything.

“She deserved it. It was such a big crowd, you know? We don’t get to play in front of the crowds this big that often, so everything about it was just perfect.”

“I was definitely planning on it being next game for sure,” Shuluga said.

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