The Asbury Park Press sports awards will recognize the best Jersey Shore athletes June 13 at the Count Basie Theatre. Mets legend and hall of famer Mike Piazza is this year's guest speaker. Get your tickets at sportsawards.app.com. Ryan Ross
It wasn't that long ago that Point Pleasant Beach native Katelynn Flaherty was launching 3-pointers from 30-feet out, becoming the first Shore Conference player ever to top the 2,000-point mark as a junior.
Then Flaherty became the all-time leading scorer in Michigan basketball history, hitting 410 shots from beyond the arc, second-best in NCAA history, during her career.
And on Thursday night, Flaherty showed the nation just how prolific a shooter she is, winning the Marine's Women's 3-Point Championship at the Final Four in San Antonio, Texas.
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In the championship round, Flaherty connected on 14 of her 16 shots to secure the title.
Now, Flaherty is projected as a top-30 pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft by DraftSite.com.
This past season, Flaherty averaged 22.9 points per game, hitting 118 of her 279 3-point attempts (42.3 percent), while connecting on 89.6 percent of her free throws.
Michgan lost to Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
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The Jersey Shore, however, was represented at the 2018 Women's Final Four, with Flaherty's former high school teammate, Marina Mabrey, leading Notre Dame against unbeaten Connecticut on Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.
Stephen Edelson: [email protected]; @SteveEdelsonAPP