Just 12 points away from reaching 1,000 for her career, it almost seemed like a foregone conclusion that St. Joseph senior Katie Matrise would reach the milestone at some point Tuesday night.

It was just a question of how and when it would happen.

Matrise answered both with 10 minutes, 9 seconds left in the first half when she drove to the basket for a layup to punch her ticket into the prestigious club. Matrise finished the night with 30 points to give her 1,018 — and counting — in the Lancers’ 80-64 Metro Classic Conference victory over visiting Racine St. Catherine’s at Madrigrano Gymnasium.

“It’s honestly surreal,” Matrise said. “I don’t have that many words. It was such a goal for me for so long, and I just feel so grateful that I finally accomplished it.

“I was thinking before the game, ‘I wonder how I’m going to get it, a jump shot or maybe a layup?’ I guess it just happened like that.”

Less than four minutes into the game, Matrise already had six points, including a 3-pointer off an inbounds play. She added another trey from the top of the key and a free throw to set up the milestone layup.

The fast start was nice to see and likely helped maybe calm a few pregame butterflies, St. Joseph coach Jason Coker said.

“You could tell she was antsy, she was nervous,” he said. “She did a great job. She came out right away like we hoped she would. She is our spark plug and our leader. It’s important to see her come out like that right away.”

Coker couldn’t have been more pleased or proud for what Matrise accomplished.

“The last year and a half, she’s been a fantastic player to coach,” he said. “She’s really even a better teammate, if that’s possible. She always helps the younger kids.

“Coming into this game, all of her teammates were really supportive and excited. I think there were times where they were more excited than she was.”

Matrise was quick to credit her teammates for all of their contributions.

“I couldn’t have done it without them, because basketball is such a team sport,” she said. “They’ve helped me so much to get this goal, and I’m really grateful for them.”

Matrise joins a long list of former St. Joseph stars among now in the 1,000-point club.

Former teammate Sidney Cooks, who graduated in 2017 and is now at Mississippi State, is second all-time in Kenosha County among girls behind 2019 Shoreland Lutheran graduate Chelby Koker with 1,920 points.

Koker, now at Northern Illinois, scored 2,448 career points.

Other former Lancers in the club are Julie Pignotti (2004) with 1,389 and Erin Higgins (2009) with 1,246. Jamie Gray, who graduated from Bradford in 2000 but also played at St. Joseph, scored 1,441 career points.

Being mentioned in that group is special, Matrise said.

“It’s so cool to be in that club with such great players,” she said. “I just looked up to them for so long. It just feels so good to finally be with them, too.”

The St. Joseph fans in attendance included plenty of family, friends and classmates, but Matrise’s No. 1 fan — her father, Frank Matrise Jr. — was missing, at least physically.

Matrise died earlier this year, and while he’s certainly missed daily, his daughter said she knows her father was with her every step of the way Tuesday night.

“My dad was my biggest fan, and he’s still my biggest fan,” she said. “I know that he’s watching down, and he’s so happy I got this. He probably had the best seat in this house out of everybody. I know he’s got the biggest smile on his face.”