Canyon girls basketball’s Talia Taufaasau remembers running shooting, passing and ball-handling drills with her dad in the street in front of her house.
When she notched her 1,000th career point against Fairmont Prep at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Phoenix, Ariz. on Dec. 21, she received a congratulatory text from her dad. All had seemed to come full circle.
But that’s not the case if you’d ask Taufaasau, who is one of three Foothill League girls basketball players to tally 1,000 career points or more this season.
“I wouldn’t say I’m satisfied,” said Taufaasau. “Like it’s a cool milestone to reach but it’s still early in the season for my senior season, so I think there’s a lot of other things I could do, whether it’s an assist record or a lot of steals.”
Her teammate, Rachel Bowers also reached the 1,000 mark in the same game. Bowers said that the accomplishment has boosted her confidence in games.
“Now that I know that I’m capable of doing that in high school, I think it just makes me more confident in games,” Bowers said.
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Hart’s Annie Christofferson surpassed her Foothill League counterparts with 1,500 career points on Dec. 30 against Thousand Oaks.
It’s easy to see that Christofferson is a natural shooter, but she insists that’s only the half of it.
“I definitely was blessed with a talent for basketball, but a lot of hard work has gone into doing what I do,” she says. “I have a lot of coaches that have helped me over the years … working hard is part of who I am and I definitely try to get up as many shots as I can whether its in practice or out of practice.”
While each of the players has a distinct playing style, all possess the ability to predict where a shot will fall the moment the release is complete.
“A lot of times, just from the release, I can tell if it’s going in or not,” Christofferson said. “I’ve just developed that sense, that feeling if it comes up right.”
Taufaasau and Bowers provide competition for each other every day in practice and Christofferson trains with Taufaasau in the offseason.
“It’s definitely cool to become friends with everyone, but it also is motivation to get better,” said Christofferson. “You see how hard working these girls are and how good of players they are.”
Bowers is the only one out of the trio that has committed to a college for basketball. She’ll be headed for Boise State, while the other two are keeping their options open for the time being.
No matter where they end up, though, all three have already made an immediate impact on the Foothill League.
