Hannah Hidalgo finally got a chance to take a deep breath as she stood on the court following Paul VI’s game against Camden Catholic.
She admitted that the pressure of securing a personal milestone -- 2,000 career points -- weighed on her over the past couple of days heading into Thursday night’s game.
Hidalgo needed 29 points against Camden Catholic, and with 3:09 left in the contest, she reached the mark by hitting a free throw.
For everything she’s accomplished during her prep career, which includes being a top-five player in the country, signing with Notre Dame and being named a McDonald’s All-American, scoring 2,000 points was just another check mark off of her bucket list.
Hidalgo scored exactly 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as No. 2 Paul VI defeated Camden Catholic 61-39 in an Olympic Conference matchup.
Hidalgo is just the 32nd player in South Jersey history to reach the mark and the second player this week from the area to net 2,000 points, joining Woodbury’s Alexis Davis, who did it Tuesday against West Deptford.
Hidalgo is the third player in New Jersey this season to reach the milestone, joining Davis and Tenafly’s Rylie Theuerkauf.
“I knew it was coming up, but I’m just glad we got the dub, especially against a rival team,” Hidalgo said. “I had a bucket list before I even got to high school as to what I wanted to do. This was definitely one of the things. First was 1,000 and then 2,000, so this is definitely one of the things I checked off my bucket list. It’s great to be able to check this off.”
It was tough sledding for Hidalgo to reach the mark on Thursday against a physical Camden Catholic team.
She admitted she missed shots she would normally make and chalked it up to the pressure of the accomplishment. But she fought through it, with 13 points in the first half before scoring 13 more points in the third quarter.
All three of her points in the final quarter came from the charity stripe, and her father and coach, Orlando Hidalgo, took a timeout following her last points of the night. Orlando has had a front-row seat coaching Paul VI for the last two years as well as working with her throughout her life.
“It’s an amazing thing to see it happen in front of my eyes,” he said. “Her growth, all the accolades that have been coming with her hard work, to me, it’s a blessing. I give all glory to God because those kinds of things we know are not easy to come. To be honest, I don’t have any words to express it because a lot of times I’m in awe.”
Former Paul VI coach Lisa Steele, who is now the athletic director at Winslow High School, was at the game.
Steele coached Hannah during her first two seasons, watching her blossom as one of the top young players in the state. Steele said she got teary-eyed watching Hidalgo crack the 2,000-point mark.
“It’s something that she’s talked about since she was young,” Steele said, “and it’s something that, God rest his soul, Don Polk, when he told me about her, he wasn’t kidding. He was spot on, and she was able to take her talent, combine it with her goals and just remain focused to achieve it.”
Hannah said she’s accomplished most of her goals since stepping foot at Paul VI.
Scoring 2,000 points, being named a McDonald’s All-American and being one of the top players in the country were all on her bucket list.
There’s just one thing missing from it, and it’s something she is going to be chasing over the next month: a state title.
“That’s the list thing on the bucket list,” she said. “State championship. That’s the last thing.”
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You can reach Luis Torres at ltorres@njadvancemedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter @ByLuisTorres.
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