by Russ Held the Repuplcian Sports Desk

     Elisha Homich was feeling grand Monday night.
     The senior guard-forward led her Ludlow High School girls basketball team to a big 53-43 Suburban League win at Amherst.
     Oh ... and she also scored the 1,000th point of her career.
     "We got the win," Homich said after a 20-point effort. "That was the big thing, a win at Amherst."
     Homich finished off a conventional three-point play in the third quarter to reach the milestone. She set the program's all-time scoring mark 10 days ago.
     "It's a relief," Homich said. "It's great to get it and it's over with ... done."
     Ludlow (13-3) improved to 5-2 in league play as it stayed close to leader East Longmeadow (13-2, 5-0).
     "It helped that we were more concerned with winning, because we knew we had to if we had any chance to catch East Longmeadow," Homich said.
     Kayley Miller added 13 points for Ludlow, which trailed 24-20 at halftime. Ludlow outscored Amherst 18-7 in the third quarter to take a seven-point lead into the fourth.
     Alyssa Leonard scored 19 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for Amherst (8-9, 2-3).
     The Hurricanes play at East Longmeadow Friday, and are home to Hampshire and Chicopee Comp next week. They need to win at least two in order to qualify for the Division I tournament.