ELKO DAILY FREE PRESS: A Broken Record: Altenburg sets new EHS scoring mark
This entry was posted on 1/14/2008 7:38 AM and is filed under Girls Youth Basketball, Girls Basketball News.
Below is an excerpt reprinted from the Elko Daily Free Press
A Broken Record: Altenburg sets new EHS scoring mark
By MARTIN HARRIS - Sports Editor
Monday January 14, 2008
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Elko great Dyann Rogers, who held the Elko basketball scoring record for 22 years, hugs Taylor Altenburg after Saturday's game and presents her with a game ball. Altenburg broke Rogers' record of 1,671 points. (Photo by Martin Harris/ Elko Daily Free Press) |
ELKO - Saturday's game will probably not make Taylor Altenburg's prep highlight reel, but it exemplified her career of persistence and with her 12th point of the night, which was a free throw with 1:00 minute left in the third quarter, the senior set a new standard of excellence for Elko High basketball.
The made free throw, something she'd done 491 times prior to that moment, put Altenburg ahead of Dyann Rogers on Elko's all-time scoring list with 1,672 points. After struggling to score only three points in the first half, she kept attacking the Fallon defense and finished the night with 21 points and 1,681 for her career.
“It's nice to be in the same standings as Dyann because she's a great player. She's phenomenal,” Altenburg said. “My name by hers feels great more than anything else because she's a great athlete.”
She also gave a lot of credit to her teammates.
Rogers, who set the mark in 1986, was the backbone on three Elko basketball state championship teams. She said she was prepared for this day to come.
There was no doubt she was going to break it,” Rogers said. “It's great. Records are meant to be broken. That's what Tim Gilligan told me when I broke his record.
“It's kind of bittersweet but Taylor's definitely deserving of it. I've seen all the work she's put into it.”
Altenburg said she was not keeping track of the record and did not know she was on the cusp of breaking it until Elko coach Karen Hoem called a timeout after the free throw and told her.
Coach Hoem, however, suspects she knew.
“I think she felt the pressure,” Hoem said. “I got the vibe she felt it.”
Altenburg has plenty of time to establish a new mark that may never be reached. She came into the program during its rebuilding stretch and from Day 1 of her freshman year she has been a key part of the offense. She started her first varsity game on Nov. 30, 2004, against Lowry. The opportunity to start varsity as a freshman is not afforded to many 4A athletes.
Altenburg scored 13 points in the Lowry game and has not let off the gas since then.
“It was a given that she'd be the building block,” Hoem said about Altenburg's arrival. “During the offseason between her sophomore and junior year, we tailored a lot of offenses around her.”
Hoem said she doubts the mark Altenburg sets will ever be broken.
Altenburg's offensive repertoire has grown each season. After focusing on her inside game early in her prep career, she has become a lethal outside shooter this season. During her first three seasons, Altenburg knocked down 46 3-pointers. She already has 33 this season.
Scoring is not the only record Altenburg could hold by season's end. Through 11 games, she had 895 career rebounds and was 92 away from Lauren Beckman's all-time mark.
While Rogers' scoring record has been eclipsed, Altenburg will not take away her career steals record. Rogers tallied an amazing 541 steals. Krystal Thacker stands second with 380 and Altenburg is third with 300 through 11 games this season.
The senior also has a chance to finish in the top five in career assists.
Of course, all the records are not as important to Altenburg as her team's goals.
“I'm more concerned with us winning. My main goal is for us to go to state,” she said.
With a 4-0 start in High Desert League play, Altenburg and the Lady Indians are well on their to reaching that plateau as well.
