Lady Tiger Senior Laci Collens Scores Thousandth Career Point

Kingsville Lady Tiger senior basketball player Laci Collens reached a milestone by scoring her 1,000th career point during a home game against Northland Christian on Thursday, Nov. 30.

Collens entered the game needing 13 points to reach the 1,000-point mark. After scoring seven points in the first quarter, Collens connected on a two-point basket and a three-point shot to put her at 12 points in the final minutes of the second quarter.

The milestone moment occurred late in the second quarter when Collens converted a free throw after being fouled.

“I was hoping to get it in the second quarter,” said Collens after the game. “That’s what I was hoping for, and then it kind of got to only a few minutes left. I was a little worried it may carry over into the second half, but I pulled it out.”

Collens would convert the second free throw on her trip to the charity stripe for Kingsville’s final point of the first half as the Lady Tigers headed into the locker room with a 23-15 lead.

Kingsville girls basketball coach Kierston Howerton welcomed Collens to the Kingsville High School 1,000-point club as Howerton reached the same mark during her 2006-07 senior season.

The head coach and the packed house of fans in the Kingsville gym celebrated Collens’s 1,000th point which occurred after a slow scoring start to the game by both teams, and a missed shot on the senior guard’s first attempt on the night.

“I was like, oh gosh this kid’s nervous, but she’s an athlete,” said coach Howerton in regard to Collens’s initial missed shot. “She’s got the passion for the game, so we weren’t worried that she wouldn’t have made it. We all were making bets on if she would get it in the first quarter, or the second quarter. She had seven in the first, and then, she got the 1,000th on the free throw. She said she didn’t want to do it on the free throw, but she ended up getting it on the free throw anyway.”

When and how Collens would reach the milestone scoring mark was a topic of conversation both before the game, and as the contest played out.
“One of my teachers actually told me today that it would be hilarious if my 1,000 points came on a free throw because then everybody would be on edge the entire time, so I was just thinking this is so funny how it’s ending on a free throw,” said Collens. “I’m usually pretty confident with free throws.”

Collens was not phased by her first missed shot of the game which was followed by 25 total points on the night.

“I miss a majority of all the shots I take, so it was like, go onto the next one and the other one will fall,” said Collens.

When the opportunity to reach the 1,000-point mark came as Collens stepped to the free throw line, coach Howerton allowed the moment to play out for the senior.

“I didn’t want to make her anymore nervous,” said coach Howerton. “She gets nervous before the game, but once it starts, she’s just ready to play. She’s the top scorer every night, so we weren’t worried. I just told her to breathe and just do her thing.

“I just want to say how proud I am of Laci,” added coach Howerton. “Everybody knows her as an athlete, but she’s also a very good person and a teammate. Her work ethic and getting a 1,000, that’s exciting. I scored mine here, too so just knowing the work that she has to put in and that she does, and the patience she has with her teammates goes a long way. We got her a banner and a ball, and all that. I wanted to make it extra special just because I know what it takes to score the 1,000. She’s probably one of the hardest workers and a great athlete. I just want to say how proud of her I am.”

The second made free throw from Collens put her at 14 points scored in the first half. She added six points in the third quarter, and followed that with five points in the fourth quarter with her final points of the game coming on a three-pointer.

“I started the game pretty nervous just because we’ve never played this team,” said Collens. “I wasn’t really sure how that was going to go. The game started off pretty slow, and I was a little worried that we may not pick up the tempo or speed, but it worked itself out. We kind of picked it up.

“It didn’t seem real at all literally until today,” added Collens. “I was just waiting for something to set it back because it just seems like a big deal that it may not ever happen, but it was cool that it did.”

The Lady Tigers ended the game with a win by the final score of 59-32 over Northland Christian to put the Kingsville basketball team’s record at 2-2 early in the season.