Warsaw senior Dayton Groninger scored her 1,000th career point Friday night.

GOSHEN – Gracious, classy and humble.

That’s how Warsaw basketball star Dayton Groninger handled success and failure both Friday night.

No one who knows her would have expected anything less from the stellar senior either.

Groninger capped her amazing high school hoops career in history-making fashion in her final game in the orange and black.

The standout senior guard became just the sixth player in the illustrious history of the program to top 1,000 points for a career.

Groninger, a smooth 5-10 backcourt ace, scored nine points as Warsaw lost 54-27 to No. 7 Northridge in a semifinal game of the Class 4-A Goshen Sectional. She finishes her prep career with 1,003 career points, good for sixth all-time in program history.

“It’s a small victory for me,” said Groninger following the final game of her Warsaw career. “It’s hard for it to come after a loss like this.

“It does mean so much to me though to be one of the 1,000-point scorers. It’s very humbling to be in a group with such great players. I know that all of my hard work paid off.”

Groninger, who will play at Indiana Wesleyan University next season, hit a driving layup with 3:45 to play in the third quarter Friday night to put her over the 1,000-point plateau. She had a team-high nine points and five rebounds versus the Raiders.

Groninger joins a select group of former Tigers greats. The list of career scoring leaders is led by former Miss Basketball Jaclyn Leininger. Also on the prestigious 1,000-point list are Julie Seiss, Hillary O’Connell, Dana Creighton and Angie Johnson.

Dayton Groninger makes a move in sectional play Friday night.

Groninger led Warsaw to a 20-4 mark this season. She led her team in both scoring at 16.5 points-per-game and rebounding at 8.5 per contest. She was also tops on the team in 3-pointers and assists and ranked second in steals.

Groninger was also the top scorer last year as Warsaw recovered from an 0-9 start to finish 11-14 and as sectional runner-ups to eventual state champion Penn. The Tigers also won a sectional title her sophomore season in 2015, when Groninger also led her team in scoring.

“It couldn’t happen to a better young lady,” said Warsaw coach Michelle Harter on Groninger’s personal milestone. “It says a lot about Dayton and how hard she has worked. She just continued to get better offensively. It also says a lot about her teammates and all they did to help her achieve 1,000 points.”

Groninger was one of six seniors to play for the final time Friday night. The group also includes Madi Graham, Page Desenberg, Kenzie Welk, Mariah Rivera and Abby Glass.

“These girls are some of my best friends,” said Groninger of her classmates. “We’ve been playing together since the fourth grade.

“These kind of relationships we have built from basketball are ones that you can’t find. It’s very sad that it’s over, but the season was a lot of fun this year.

“The memories that I have with these girls is amazing.”