Senior Madison Marshall scores 1,000th point for Kinkaid

Senior Madison Marshall scored her 1,000th point for Kinkaid’s girls varsity basketball team on Feb. 2, joining a small, elite group to ever do so. 

The team was nearing the end of its season, with 10 days until the winter Southwest Preparatory Conference (where they took second place). So the game plan was relatively simple. 

“We just had to do what we do best and let the rest fall where it may,” she said. “The focus for us since the beginning was to improve ourselves as a team rather than focusing on winning.”

Self-improvement and winning can go hand-in-hand, as seen at that Feb. 2 home game, a resounding 66-20 victory over Kinkaid’s rivals, the St. John’s Mavericks.

Before the game, Marshall’s friends tried keeping her expectations low by telling her she still had to score 20 more points and that the 1,000-point mark was far away.

“I was honestly thinking that I still had some ways to go if I wanted to even hit that high of a number,” she said. “Honestly, there wasn't much that was going through my mind when I scored it because I was genuinely surprised.”

Katie Whiteley (left) and Lyllian Walton (right) hug Marshall after she scores her 1,000th point.

Marshall’s biggest source of joy isn’t the four-figure point total but the people she shared her achievement with. 

“Of course, winning the game and getting to 1,000 points was amazing, but I think the fact that I got to share it with the amazing people I had surrounding me made it feel even better,” Marshall said. “I love and cherish everyone on the team — the coaches, supporters, and my wonderful, amazing teammates — and couldn't have asked for a more amazing team to do it with.”

Marshall has played basketball for much of her life, and her high school basketball journey has seen her improve drastically.

“During freshman year, I was mainly working on building my confidence and just constantly practicing my skills,” she said. “My sophomore year was focused on getting better and stronger after an injury. And during junior year, it was all about working on my leadership and kind of also learning to take charge of my abilities.”

Marshall smiles, surrounded by her teammates who made posters and brought bouquets to commemorate the special achievement. 

On the basketball court, she has seen her role shift through the years. 

“My main role this year is to be a leader through either my actions, my knowledge from previous years, or my voice,” Marshall said. “But as a player, I feel like my role this year has been the "green-light" shooter and also defender (but that's mainly because one of our goals as a team is to be a hardcore defensive team).”

Her final high school basketball season has been an opportunity for Marshall to both lead and relax. 

“I've learned a lot about myself as a person and basketball player this year,” she said.