Fans in the stands acknowledge Moniteau senior Alazia Greaves after she sunk a free throw for her 1,000th career point against Karns City Tuesday. Warriors' senior Kristina DeMatteis also scored her 1,000th career point this season. Seven Butler County area players have reached either 1,000 or 2,000 career points this season.

CHERRY TWP — For Kristina DeMatteis and Alazia Greaves, scoring 1,000 points was more a sidelight than a highlight.

Basketball is only a portion of their athletic legacy at Moniteau High School.

“Both of them are typical of the athletes in this school,” Warriors girls basketball coach Dee Arblaster said. “Our kids play two or three different sports.

“Being a small school, that's the way it's always been at Moniteau.”

DeMatteis is a power forward, Greaves a point guard when it comes to basketball. They've combined to lead the Warriors to a 17-3 record and contention for the District 9 championship.

Of course, they've been winners before.

In softball, DeMatteis hit .536 as Moniteau's catcher and Greaves hit .373 as the team's center fielder/third baseman. The Warriors finished 24-2 last spring and reached the PIAA championship game.

Greaves competed in the high jump and long jump for the track team, qualifying for the state meet in the former. DeMatteis averaged 46 for the golf team that won the KSAC championship last fall.

Greaves' career-high in points in basketball was 44 against A-C Valley this season. DeMatteis struck for a season-high 28 points against North Clarion.

“I figured the 1,000 points were coming, but it wasn't something I kept track of,” DeMatteis said. “We weren't counting it down or anything like that.”

Greaves admitted that scoring 1,000 “was a goal, but I didn't know if it would happen.

“It's pretty cool we could do it in the same year.”

That's happened twice before at Moniteau. Dee Slater (now coach Arblaster) and Lil Baptiste both reached 1,000 as teammates in 1984. Michelle Yeager and Autumn Kramer did so in 2001.

DeMatteis and Greaves became the first Moniteau girls to reach 1,000 since Alyssa Deal in 2006. They are only the sixth and seventh Warriors to ever do so.

“I don't think that's sunk in yet,” DeMatteis said. “That will probably hit me when I'm all done with sports here.

“It's been strange ... For a while, I couldn't wait for basketball to get over with. It can be a grind. Now I don't want it to end. We want to get to the state playoffs.”

“At least win a state game or two,” Greaves agreed.The two will be going their separate ways next fall. Greaves will be heading to Westminster to play basketball and major in nursing. DeMatteis will be joining her twin sister, softball pitcher Kennedy, on the softball field at Gannon University. DeMatteis will stidy pre-law.DeMatteis and Greaves are carrying 3.8 grade point averages.“Both are great kids,” Arblaster said. “They excel in the classroom. They're captains and they work hard in practice.“They are leaders and excellent role models for our younger athletes.”And both have gotten plenty out of their athletic careers at Moniteau.“Friends. That's the biggest thing we've gained,” DeMatteis said.That's why each spring, Greaves does track practice from 3 to 5 p.m. each day, then softball from 5 to 7 p.m.“I want to be there for both teams as much as I can,” she said. “If it's a big softball game, I'm there. If it's an important track meet, I'm there.“Basketball is my favorite sport and I'm looking forward to playing in college. But I'll definitely miss doing all the other sports.”

Kristina DeMatteis, who scored her 1,000th career point earlier this season, looks to make a move around Karns City's Mackenzie Craig.