Division Avenue High School senior Madison Gillis achieved her goal by breaking the school’s basketball record on Feb. 1 during a girls varsity basketball game against Roslyn High School. Gillis scored 23 points during the game, reaching 1,151 points and breaking the girls basketball record at Division Avenue, previously held by Noreen Duffy. Duffy held the record of 1,147 points.
“Basketball has always been one of my passions,” Gillis told the Levittown Tribune in January. “I’ve always worked hard to become better and succeed. Now that I’m succeeding at it and hitting milestones, I feel like my hard work is paying off.”
In January, Gillis was the second student from Division Avenue High School to ever score 1,000 points, with Duffy being the first. She was the first student we featured in our “Athlete of the Week” series.
“She is the most determined player that I have ever had,” head coach Steve Kissane said. “As good as she is player-wise and as smart as she is, she is also to me one of the most diplomatic people in the world because she balances me, her friends and her parents. She handles it all so well. In all my years of coaching, she is truly one of my top five favorite people to coach and favorite kid to talk to.”
The school moved Gillis to the varsity level in the eighth grade. From there, she excelled. For the 2018-2019 season, she’s emerged as a team leader, one who is now being recruited to play at the college level.
Gillis comes from a family full of basketball heritage, too. Both of her parents played college ball, influencing her to excel at the sport she grew to love.
With three offers to choose from at the NCAA level to play women’s ball, Gillis has a tough decision to make moving forward. She will certainly continue to play basketball, and is ready for the next milestone.
