WEST CALDWELL- In becoming just the eighth player in Caldwell girls basketball history to reach the 1,000-point plateau Addy Keenan certainly takes pride in reaching such a major individual milestone; however, there are other goals that are more prominent in her mind as the 2025-2026 season continues to unfold.
“It feels good, and I don’t reach 1,000 points without my teammates who I am grateful to for always setting me up,” said the Chiefs junior backcourt ace. “The most important thing for me looking ahead is helping our team achieve certain goals this season including winning a county tournament title and capturing a Group 2 state championship!”
Keenan, who scored her 1,000th point on a 3-pointer from the right corner to cap a 23-point output in last Saturday’s 58-30 homestanding, independent victory vs. Wayne Hills, was coming off a superlative 28-point effort in leading Caldwell past West Essex, 58-38, in the finals of the West Essex Area Holiday Hoops Festival.
For her recent efforts, which also include becoming a part of Caldwell basketball history, she is the Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athlete of the Week.
Addy’s mom Amanda, the team’s eighth-year head coach, and a former standout point guard on former coach Ken Trimmer’s superb mid-1990s Lady Chiefs hoops squads, was fortunate enough to play with two of the program’s 1,000-point scorers in Kathy Miller (1996) and Kirsten Risotti (1997). She also worked with another member of the exclusive club in former assistant coach Kelli Josephsen (2009), and also coached two more 1,000-point scorers in Brielle Guarante (2021) - who is currently a senior standout for the Moravian University women’s team - and L.J. Sanderson (2023).
“I’m fortunate to have been around many of the 1,000-point scorers in school history, and they were all wonderful players,” said Coach Keenan. “Watching Addy now reach that milestone is great, but I also know that she is always thinking first and foremost about her goals for the team.
“When she came into the locker room after hitting her 1,000th point last Saturday all I heard from her were her thanks to teammates for helping to make it all happen; and I think that is great.
“Our team has that ‘team-first’ mentality which is something that we have continued to emphasize and is reinforced because of the great chemistry these girls have developed over the past couple of years, and boosted by the hard work they have put in together during the off season as well.”
The Chiefs, who are competing this season in the Super Essex Conference’s top division, the American, earned a terrific road win on Tuesday afternoon (Jan. 6) edging University, 47-43, in ovetime, in Newark while improving to 6-0 and 2-0 in the division.
Caldwell's biggest home week of the season happens next week when it entertains West Orange on Tuesday night (Jan. 13) before hosting a talented Arts squad on Thursday (Jan. 15) in an attractive SEC crossover contest.
While the season continues to move briskly along, Keenan has already received a Division I offer from Wagner College, has visited NJIT and recently spoken with Hamilton College, which is a member of the high-academic and basketball-strong New England Small College Athletic Conference.
She has put in an immense amount of time working on her game, including playing with her AAU travel team, the Jersey Gemz, at national tournaments including the EWBL Nationals in Chicago and Kentucky, and also going to exposure events such as the Boo Williams Game Changer Combine held last September in Minnesota.
Plus, she also made sure to join her Caldwell teammates in the Mount St. Dominic Summer League where the Chiefs were edged by SEC-American Division power and defending Essex County Tournament champion West Orange in the July playoff final.
“Addy has definitely put the time in as far as working on her game all year long in order to try and become the best player she can be,” said her mom. “She is a very good student as well and I’m sure she’ll find a good opportunity in order to play college basketball, but fortunately we still have her here on our team for another season to go.”
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