Senior Geena Stephens and junior Deondre Campbell both recently reached remarkable milestones in their high school basketball careers: scoring 1000 varsity points.
“1000 points means that you had a really long, consistent and successful career,” girls basketball coach Brian Guilfoyle said. “And it is extremely special when a player does it.”
Stephens reached 1000 points in a 59-40 win at Westminster on Jan. 10, in which Stephens scored 13 points.
“It happened in the second quarter and I called a timeout so that she would be recognized by the announcer,” Guilfoyle said.
Campbell got to 1000 by exploding for 39 points in a 60-53 win against Hillsboro at Parkway West on Jan. 23, including nine 3-pointers and a nearly full court buzzer beater.
“Fans were taking pictures and videos and parents gave him a standing ovation,” teammate Francis Ntimba said. “In the locker room he was Gatorade dumped.”
However neither player was able to truly celebrate in the moment as they each still had to play the remainder of their game.
“I was really happy but I knew I had to stay focused so we could finish the game strong,” Stephens said.
But after the game when they had time to reflect on what they had done, they felt the true significance of their achievement.
Stephens is only the eighth girl in Central basketball history to score 1000 points in their career, and Campbell is only the ninth boy.
“It felt like a great accomplishment,” Campbell said. “Especially since I’m still in my junior year and I still have another year left to play with my team.”
Boys basketball coach Rick Kirby believes that Campbell has a chance to unseat Walter Moore (1684 points) as Central’s all time leading scorer.
“He’s a warrior and a gritty competitor who exemplifies my philosophy on the court,” Kirby said. “He’s a tough, hard nosed player who is not afraid to dive for a loose ball or take a charge.”
Likewise, Guilfoyle has high praise for his captain.
“I love [Geena’s] work ethic,” Guilfoyle said. “She works extremely hard during games and in practice and she always puts in extra time in the gym.”
Both players thank their coaches for training them and for always believing in them, especially after a bad game.
“My coaches taught me to never give up and to have patience even when I’m struggling,” Stephens said. “And they also taught me to believe in myself, no matter if I miss a shot to keep on giving 110% effort.”
Even though this was a major accomplishment, Stephens and Campbell have already moved past it as they compete to make this season successful for each of their teams.
“I have sort of put it in the past,” Campbell said. “Those 1000 points don’t win my team a conference or district championship so right now I’m looking forward to competing and trying to better myself as a player and help my team get better also.”
Stephens is going to play basketball next year at Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri.
“I feel good,” Stephens said. “My coaches helped me prepare but I definitely will be working really hard in the offseason to improve.”
Campbell, being a junior, has a little more time to make a decision about college, but he wants to continue playing basketball as well, and is interested in Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri.