Hiwassee Dam – Two Hiwassee Dam basketball players hit a significant milestone in their respective Little Smoky Mountain Conference championship games Thursday night, as seniors Preston Hyde and Kiera Taylor both scored their 1,000th career points.
Taylor, who entered the championship against Highlands with 995 career points, broke the barrier on a 3-pointer early in the second quarter.
“It feels pretty great,” Taylor said. “It was definitely one of my goals ever since freshman year.”
Hyde hit the 1,000-point mark on a free throw with 3:27 left in the second quarter on his 16th point of the night. His team knew it was coming, with the whole Eagles bench holding their pointer fingers in the air to indicate he was only one away from hitting the hallowed mark.
“It’s been a childhood dream, and I’ve always wanted to do it,” he said.” I’ve put a lot of time and work in to get there, and I’m thankful for all my teammates and coaches who helped me get to the big milestone.”
Taylor and Hyde both had different journeys to the 1,000-point mark. Taylor has been Hiwassee Dam’s starting point guard since her freshman year, and she was a part of a Little SMC Championship team as a freshman and sophomore.
She was the Lady Eagles’ leading scorer last year averaging 13.5 points per game, and has slightly upped her scoring average to 15.7 points per game this year.
“I went to HD my whole life,” Taylor said. “It means so much to be able to represent my school like that.”
Hyde, an excellent 3-point shooter, entered this season with 501 career points and averaged 13.1 points per game as a junior. He knew 1,000 points could be a possibility this year if he stepped up his scoring, which he did. Hyde averages a team-high 19.5 points per game, helped by a hot streak down the stretch.
He scored 20 or more points in seven of Hiwassee Dam’s first 20 games, then scored 30 points three or more times over the next four games. He set a new career-high with 42 points on Feb. 3 against Highlands, then had 32 against Robbinsville on Feb. 6 and 37 against Blue Ridge on Feb. 9.
“The last couple games I didn’t think he was going to get it,” Hiwassee Dam boys basketball coach Mark Raper said. “Then he went hot as a firecracker.”