Memorable Milestone: Taliah Scott scores 2,000th career point, credits teammates for milestone
Monday night was a moment that St. Johns Country Day superstar Taliah Scott has been dreaming about for years as she scored her 2,000th career point during the first quarter of a dominant win against Parker.
Scott entered the game nine points away from crossing the 2,000-point threshold but didn’t force shots early in the contest. She facilitated for her teammates and allowed the game to come to her.
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Her first bucket of the night was a deep three-pointer, the next came on a breakaway layup. She scored again on another fast-break layup, absorbing contact before finishing at the rim.
Even with the milestone within reach she didn’t demand the ball or put-up bad shots. She waited patiently and reached the milestone on short jumper after an out of bounds play.
The bucket that gave @thetaliahscott 2,000 career points.
What an accomplishment for the @SJCDS_VGBB superstar. pic.twitter.com/MwI61x1uw0— Juston W. Lewis (@JustonLewis_) December 5, 2022
Once she hit point 2,000, a timeout was called as fans held signs and cheered for her. She was presented with a commemorative basketball that she plans to put in a display case next to her 1,000th point ball after having her teammates sign it.
“It just shows all the hard work I put in. I've been dreaming about this,” Scott said after the game. “When I hit 1,000 points, I was like, ‘Man, I want to hit 2,000 points.’ I did it as a sophomore. So now it’s just like, wow, I really hit 2,000 points. I'm really writing my name with a group of amazing athletes, too.”
Scott is ranked as a top-15 prospect and is a five-star guard committed to Arkansas. She has cemented herself as one of the best hoopers in the nation. Last year, she led Florida with an average of 31.5 points per game.
But it’s not all about the points for her as she leads the Spartans through her final season.
‘She could average 50 points’
“Taliah could average 50 points, easy. Easy. She could average 50 points, but she understands that basketball is a team sport,” head coach Yolanda Bronston said after the game.
Scott finished with 33 points against the Braves but had a game fleshed with unselfishness. Though she knew most of the people in the gym came to see her score, she spread the ball around.
She tossed outlet passes to start fast-breaks, threaded one-handed darts to cutting teammates and opted for swing passes to find open looks for others. It’s an underrated part of her game that she relishes, according to her.
“It's not all about scoring. A lot of people get that wrong about me,” Scott said when asked abut her passing ability. “They think I'm just a scorer, but I like to play the complete game. I like to play defense, I like to rebound, I like to pass. I like to get excited as my teammates make shots. It's about the whole game and I enjoy playing the whole game and not just scoring, even though that's fun, too. I like watching my teammates eat, too.”
Scott’s active hands on defense forced a lot of turnovers and gave the Trojans the ball back. She was able to glide into the lane for rebounds on both sides to secure extra possessions for her team.
Late in the game, Scott set up one of her teammates for the first points of their career. All of SJCD’s players celebrated the bucket but it looked like Scott was the one cheering the most.
It’s all a part of the complete game that she mentioned.
“A lot of folks think that all she wants to do is score but she takes pride in her other stats as well,” Bronston said. “She takes pride in assists, she takes pride in rebounding, she takes pride in steals. That's just the type of player that she is. A lot of people don't really know that about her.”
Focus on remainder of season
According to Scott, while the season is going on it’ll be difficult to come to terms with the milestone.
“I’ll probably think about it more once the season ends,” she said. “I'm worried about trying to win, trying to lead my team. I'm more worried about in-season, not just individually, but after the season like when I'm about to go to college and I graduate then it's really going to soak in then for me.”
The Trojans are 3-3 this season with each of their losses coming by a combined four points. As they continue to play this season, Scott’s overall play—not just her scoring abilities—will be crucial to their success.
“She just goes out to play ball. It just so happens that she can score at all three levels, you know, but that's not her main focus,” Bronston said. “She wants to come out and be the best that she can be for her team and win games. It just so happens that her role is to put the ball in the hole and she's pretty good at it.”
Juston Lewis is a sports reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on Twitter at @JustonLewis_.
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Taliah Scott reaches career milestone for St. Johns Country Day, Arkansas
