Austin senior Shayley Vesel hit a major milestone, but unfortunately for her and the Packers it came in a 51-38 loss to Rochester Mayo, which is ranked No. 9 in Class AAAA, in Ove Berven Gym Thursday.

Vesel scored all 13 of her points in the second half as she surpassed the 1,000 point career milestone after she posed up and scored late in the game. The game was stopped to recognize Vesel’s accomplishment and she was mobbed her teammates.

“The past four years I’ve been working for it and the girls I’ve played with are unbelievable,” Vesel said. “They’re great people and they’re the ones that let me do this. I’m probably more mad about the loss and I don’t care about the thousandth point to be honest, but it’s fun to see them proud of me and I know my mom and dad and coaches are proud of me.”

Vesel has been on the varsity team since she was a freshman and Austin head coach Todd Johnson said she has come a long way as a player over the past four years. He remembers her as an athletic, but raw player in his first year coaching Austin in Vesel’s freshman year.

“I can’t imagine a coach in our conference saying that they would pass on Shayley being on their team,” Johnson said. “Not only can she drive and get to the basket, but she’s developed her jump shot. She’s put a lot of time in. It’s been an honor and a privilege to coach Shayley.”

The Packers (8-6 overall, 8-5 Big Nine) showed they can compete with the Spartans (15-2 overall, 11-2 Big Nine) in the second half Thursday, but Austin had just eight points in the first half. After Ruth Koang converted a three-point play to bring Austin within 6-5 with 13:31 left in the first half, Mayo answered by holding the Packers scoreless for a six minute stretch as it put together a 10-0 spurt.

“I felt defensively we played pretty well, but when you put up an eight [in a half], that’s just not going to cut it,” Johnson said. “They’re a very good basketball team and they’re the type of team that everyone else is trying to emulate.”

Austin pulled within 26-18 early in the second half, but it wasn’t able to get any closer.

“We challenged the kids in the second half to see how good they can play,” Johnson said. “It’s a matter of believing in yourself and we showed in the second half that we can compete with them.”

Mayo 20 31 — 51

Austin 8 30 — 38

Austin scoring: Shayley Vesel, 13; Ruth Koang, 11; Kelsey Sederquest, 7; Ashley Hawkshead, 3; Awenia Nywesh, 2; Rebecca Younis, 2; free throws: 72 percent (10-for-14); turnovers: 15