Technically speaking, Bailey Whitcomb scored the 1,002nd point of her high school basketball career in the 2017 Bellevue High School girls varsity basketball season opener. But 1,000 points is 1,000 points, and Whitcomb achieved a record that not many high school athletes can brag about.
According to Whitcomb, she had scored 999 points by the end of her junior basketball season. It didn’t take long for Whitcomb to pass the 1,000 point threshold in her first game of her senior season. It only took a few seconds. The home game against Calhoun Christian started, she scored a three-point shot quickly, and Bellevue called a brief timeout to recognize Whitcomb for her new record. Cheers rose up from the crowd, her team and her coach gave Whitcomb the congratulations she deserved, and the game went on.
Now in her third year as the girls varsity basketball team captain at Bellevue High School, Whitcomb has achieved more than just score 1,000 points. She’s become a leader, a well-rounded player, and a humble example of what it means to create goals and accomplish them. She’s received All-State honor recognition for basketball, she’s a member of the National Honor Society, and has been the student council president.
Leadership is about the positivity you bring to it, according to Whitcomb. She’s learned to be a leader on and off the court, and in the end she just wants to be an example to others for how to be leaders in their own lives.
“If you go into every game giving 110 percent, you can achieve anything,” said Whitcomb.
Whitcomb attributes most of her young leadership mentality to her coach, Kayla Whitmyer.
Whitmyer told the County Journal in a previous article, “The most important thing she’s done is she’s been a heck of a captain. It’s a big deal for a player to make the growth and achievements she has as an individual player along with the team achievements. She’s been one of the best leaders I’ve had the privilege to work with.”
Whitcomb has created a legacy that her fellow players and players to come can grasp and build on. She has the rest of the season and senior year to look forward to, and then she plans to attend college for nursing. Although she’s not sure she will play college basketball, Bellevue High School won’t soon forget the impact she’s had on the Bronco court.
