The audience attending the Trinity Lutheran girls basketball game Thursday evening was able to witness a sophomore varsity player achieve a career milestone.
Bailey Tabeling made a 3-point shot early in the third quarter of the game to have her total career points enter quadruple digits.
Going into the game, she had to score 15 points to break 1,000 career points. Her 3-point shot put her one point above that number.
“It felt nice. I’ve been working toward it. Honestly, I don’t think I could have done it without the support of my teammates, family … all the fans at Trinity. It made it so much more fun,” Tabeling said after the 67-35 win over Floyd Central.
Trinity girls basketball head coach Mike Lang said this was an impressive achievement for a sophomore player.
“You don’t see many sophomores achieve this, not many at all. I can’t even begin to imagine or think of the last person to hit this as a sophomore year,” he said. “We got a lot more games in front of us, so this is going to continue to go up. I’m really proud of her. Her teammates are proud and happy for her. Just a good accomplishment tonight.”
Lang called Tabeling a “natural scorer” and said her reputation as a player goes beyond her ability to score.
“She’s leading the team in assists. She’s working hard on her defense. She wants to be known as an all-around player, not just a scorer, and I think she’s doing an outstanding job in becoming that,” Lang said.
When Tabeling made it to 1,000 career points during the game, a timeout was called, and her teammates rushed to hug and congratulate her on her achievement. Lang then gave her the game ball, and Tabeling resumed play.
Tabeling was tied for the leading scorer for the game with 23 points with her teammate, senior Sydney Jaynes.
Trinity is 17-3 for the season. Next, the Cougars play against Jennings County at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.