Alana Findley has been playing basketball at Fair Grove since her freshman year in 2015, and on February 5th she scored her 2000th point. The final basket was scored against Monett at home, and there was a large celebration from the crowd and her fellow teammates. At their next and final home game, Findley was presented with a decorated ball to recognize the milestone. The ball was painted by art teacher Stephanie Brown.

Findley not only has 2000 points to her name, but over 1000 rebounds as well. Head Coach, Jennifer Talbert explained, “She can fill up a stat sheet, but I feel like her leadership, humble attitude and her overall coachability has left the biggest impact in our program. She doesn’t care one bit about individual achievement, more than anything she just wants to win. She is the biggest cheerleader for her teammates and always goes above and beyond in everything she does.”

Findley also holds a large amount of respect for her team. She commented, “We all push each other to be the best we can. They always encourage me to keep shooting, even when I’m having an off day. They provide me so much support, and they all celebrated with me when I got my 2000th point. I definitely couldn’t have gotten it without them.”

The commemoration was planned by Talbert, the team, and the community. It came as a complete surprise to Findley as she stated, “I had no idea that was a thing. My 2000th point was just a lay up. I was curious why the crowd was making such a huge deal about a lay up, and then I looked up and saw the signs. I wanted to celebrate, but the game was still going so I just kept playing.”

Findley will be joining the Lady Panthers basketball team next season as a freshman at Drury University. Talbert concluded, “The consistent thing about Alana has always been her competitiveness and her work ethic. She goes hard all the time. That mental and physical toughness is going to make her into a great college basketball player.”