Plymouth’s Rayshon Ward & Joie Grassi Climb over 1,000 Career Points

By David Wolcott, Old Colony Memorial (Plymouth)

PLYMOUTH, Mass. -- Plymouth basketball players reaching 1,000 career points is spreading like wildfire.

Blue Eagles senior JayQuan Leonard reached the milestone mark last month, and a couple of Plymouth North graduates have recently done the same at their respective colleges.

Rayshon Ward hit 1,000 career points at Bridgewater State University in November, and Joie Grassi, now a junior at UMass-Boston, hit the milestone last month on the road against UMass-Dartmouth.

All three talented players hit the milestone mark on the most basic of basketball plays - the free throw.

“It was pretty cool to do it on a free-throw,” said Ward, a senior who became the 30th BSU men’s basketball player to reach 1,000 points. “I think I’ve improved my overall game since high school and I’ve tried to become more of a complete basketball player.”

Ward has started every BSU game over the last three years after coming off the bench as a freshman. He averaged 15.3 points per game as a sophomore and 17.1 as a junior. He’s at about that same mark this season for the 7-12 Bears and had 19 rebounds Saturday night in 78-67 win over Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Ward’s served a number of roles with the Bears over his four years in the program. He was more of an outside shooter in prior years, but this season the 6-foot, 8-inch player has taken over at center and has become a team leader as a captain.

“There’s a lot on my shoulders as a captain. It’s been a learning experience and I just try to come to practice every day and be a good leader,” Ward said.

Ward will graduate from Bridgewater State in the spring with a degree in Communications. Playing pro ball overseas is an option he’s keeping open.

“It is a possibility,” Ward said. “My coaches think I could do it, but what I need to decide for myself is if I want to make the commitment needed to travel across the world to play professional basketball.”

Just like when she did it at Plymouth North, Grassi reached 1,000 points as a junior with the Beacons. She ended up as the second-leading scorer in Plymouth history and may finish on top of UMass-Boston’s scoring list. Olivia Murphy ’16 is the player to catch with 1,546 career points.

Grassi is getting close to the top five in career points and is already in the school’s top 10 in career made three-pointers, free-throws as well as blocks. Like Ward, she believes she’s become a more complete basketball player since arriving on campus at UMass Boston.

“I think I’ve been able to improve pretty much every area of my game” since high school, the Criminal Justice/Sociology major said.

Grassi put up some strong numbers this season, and her name is all over the Beacon score sheet each game. She leads the team with 15.1 points per game but doesn’t have to make all the offense with two other teammates averaging 13 points per contest. Grassi’s also doing a good job on the glass with 8.4 rebounds per game and is dishing out 2.2 assists per game.

Beacons Head Coach Kristina Baugh has asked Grassi to do just about everything since she arrived on campus. She played the 4/5 forward spot and shot from the wing as an underclassman. This year she’s been more of a center for UMass-Boston, which was cruising along with a record of 16-4 going into Saturday’s home game with Rhode Island College.

“I feel comfortable playing either spot,” the 6-foot tall Grassi said. “I’ll go wherever the team needs me to be.”