Somerset’s Eve Housley had a night she would never forget on Jan. 27, 2025 when the Lady Eagles traveled to Chestnut Ridge.

But it was pretty close to being cut short by the time the third quarter came along.

“The biggest thing I remember was that I was in foul trouble,” she said. “It was pretty close the whole first half and we were losing. I was being put in mainly on offense and hit threes. I didn’t even realize I was scoring that much. I shot a lot of foul shots, I was making a lot of foul shots. I was told after the game I was like ‘what, really?’ It’s crazy to me.”

Her dad — Bill Housley who recently resigned after completing a second stint as the Lady Eagles head coach — couldn’t believe it, either.

“I was subbing her in and out, offensively, defensively, to make sure she didn’t foul out,” he said. “I did not even realize it until after the game. One of our players that was keeping our stats said, ‘you know, I think Eve had 60 points.’

“I couldn’t believe it because it was a competitive game, I was so wrapped up in trying to win the game that I didn’t realize she had that many points.”

That evening Eve Housley scored 60 points — 24 of them on eight three-pointers — with eight rebounds as Somerset won in overtime 70-58.

“She put Somerset girls basketball on the map,” Bill said. “She followed up the Chestnut Ridge game with 36 points against Penn Cambria and 30 points. Those are against very good teams. She’s done this against very good competition. The LHAC (Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference) west section is loaded with top caliber teams.”

She will now be the first representative from Somerset County in Friday night’s Altoona Mirror Classic at Penn State Altoona’s Adler Arena.

The girls game will tip off at 6:30 p.m.

That night helped her get recognized by Sports Illustrated as their National High School Athlete of the Week.

Basketball runs in the family for Housley’s as she has followed in the example of her sister, Paige, and brother, Luke.

“When she was just a little girl, I was the jayvee coach,” Bill said. “She started coming to the gym and practices when she was just little. When she got older as she was watching her brother and sister play, even playing against them in our driveway, it helped as well.”

Eve finished her career atop Somerset High School’s scoring list with 1,720 points, breaking a mark that went back to 1988 on Valentine’s Day this past February. During her junior season, she averaged 25.5 points per game, was third team all-state in Class 4A and first team LHAC.

Her sophomore year she was named second team LHAC and throughout her career never averaged less than 14.5 points per game. She is the second girl in school history to reach the 1,000 point milestone.

Eve intends to call it a career after being a three-sport athlete with the Lady Eagles, including being on the volleyball and track and field teams. She will be attending IUP this fall where she intends to major in Marketing.

While her days on the hardwood are coming to an end, Eve is proud of the fact she will be the trailblazer for Somerset County basketball players making it to this event.

“It’s really awesome being the first to be a part of something like this,” she said. “It shows how my success has brought a bigger light to our county and people know there are good players coming out of it. It’s cool to know that I’m going to be the first.”

Her dad couldn’t be prouder of the person she has become both on and off the court.

“The type of person that she is, and the competitiveness that she has not just in sports, but in her school work,” he said. “She’s a straight-A student, she puts a lot of work into her studies. It’s nice to see that she’s such a well-rounded person.”

Eve hopes that as the years go by that more kids will be inspired to pick up a basketball at Somerset.

“I just hope that younger kids or anyone sees that they can achieve something great, even when their school isn’t the best record wise,” she said. “Giving them that faith that they can do it, too.”