During the Varsity Girls Basketball team’s first SPC game against St. John’s, junior Sibelle Zambie scored her 1,000 point for Greenhill.

Varsity Girls Basketball Coach Darryn Sandler did not tell the team that Zambie was close to hitting the 1,000 point mark.

“Only the coaches knew she was only 7 points away [from scoring 1,000 points],” Sandler said.

After the win against St. John’s, the coaching staff announced her accomplishment to the team.

Zambie joined the team her sophomore year, as she spent her freshman year playing for Plano West High School while attending Shepton High School. She found her transition different than most. However, she still spoke positively about the transition as well as the coaches.

“The team just welcomed me with open arms, and I think we really connected right from the start,” Zambie said. “I love Coach Sandler, and he’s just the best mentor and leader that I could ask for.”

Sandler praises Zambie on her shooting skills as well as her overall team player attitude. “She’s a really good passer, she is solid on defense, [and] a very good leader…she is mentally tough, which I think is critical to play at the level she plays.”

In addition to Zambie, Varsity Boys Basketball player, freshman Jaxson Thompson hit a milestone of his own. He scored more than 500 points for Greenhill this year.

Thompson came to Greenhill in sixth grade. He started playing basketball when he was five years old for his church’s recreational league.

In addition to the recreational league, he has been playing club basketball for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team Drive Nation for around four years.

This year, Thompson started on varsity for the basketball team. He was the only freshman to do so this year.

“It was fun, and it was a cool experience,” Thompson said. Through the ups and downs of a regular season, Thompson had to find a balance between the late game times and the rigor of his first year of high school.

“In AAU we never really had to play games, at like 7:30,” Thompson said.

Varsity Boys Basketball Coach Parker Ainsworth described Thompson’s milestone as a sign that Thompson has set himself up for success.

“He’s got the potential to score 2,000 points, you don’t do that if you don’t get 500 as a freshman,” said Ainsworth.

Ainsworth has seen Thompson as a natural talent from a young age. Thompson’s hard-working drive and passion for basketball are both skills that Ainsworth sees in the young player. “He always had a knack for putting the ball in the basket,” said Ainsworth.

Although the coaches and players are proud of their respective accomplishments, they did not focus all of their attention on it. Sandler mentioned that as soon as it was announced and the team congratulated Zambie for her accomplishment, he shifted his focus to the next game.

In the moment, both players did not realize that they had hit those milestones.

“To be honest I didn’t even realize I had 500 points until a week or so after I did it… [I was] randomly checking stats one day,” Thompson said.

Despite not noticing it in the moment, Zambie still does feel proud of her accomplishment, and she feels like it reflects her hard work over the years. “It’s just special,” Zambie said.