During the second half of the 2022-2023 girl’s basketball season at Bonita Vista High (BVH), shooting guard and junior Mahliya Wilson (1), point guard and senior Alyssa Alvarado (2) and captain, point guard and senior Kaylyn Buchanon-Lamb (3) scored 1,000 total points in their basketball career. 

Girls’ varsity basketball head coach Tristan Lamb notes how teamwork sets the three players from others and how each of the individual’s playing style complements the other. For example, Wilson is a great all-rounder—capable of scoring from close range, mid-range and three-point range and is good on both offense and defense. She overall offers a variety of skills.

“[Wilson is] probably one of the best players in the county. She’s a prolific scorer and she can score from all three levels. She’s a hard nosed basketball player and great defender,” Lamb said. “She has a jump shot and is great at attacking the basket.”

Wilson says that she’s happy with hitting 1,000 points scored, considering she is still a junior, but is still working on improving her game. She believes that each game is an opportunity to improve and to play better and more consistently.

“I’m waiting to hit my 2,000th [career point]. I’ll feel better when I hit that. My goal was to hit 1,000, but the main goal is to hit 2,000 by my senior year,” Wilson said. “You always have good games and bad games, but I try to play consistent and keep it consistent.”

Alvarado is a player with the ability to shoot the ball and score consistent three-point shots, making her a threat to the opposing team. Lamb says that she compliments both Wilson and Buchanon-Lamb due to her shooting ability.

“As soon as she crosses half court, she’s a threat,” Lamb said. “She’s a great three point shooter and probably one of the best to come out of the school. I had a great time coaching her; she’s one of those kids that’s a spot-on shooter and always does the extra work to get her shot off.”

Wilson also states that she’s able to create open shots for Alvarado by clearing the floor for her, further emphasizing their great chemistry together and creating the best possible plays.

“I’m more of an ‘attacker mid-range’ in the key and she’s [Alvarado] more of an ‘outside perimeter’ type of player. So when I attack, it’s easy to ditch out for her to get the wide open shot because I create a lot of commotion in the key,” Wilson said.

Alvarado describes her journey to 1,000 points as difficult since she didn’t get much playtime in her freshman and sophomore year. However, she states that she is grateful for being able to reach the point she is at, knowing that not many people get this opportunity and how difficult the journey can be.

“It’s pretty cool. I know that a lot of people don’t get to make it there, so it was cool to see three of our teammates be able to achieve that,” Alvarado said. “[But] it was pretty rough, a lot of my points came from my junior year and senior year.”

Buchanon-Lamb is another very well-rounded player and is a top player in all categories, including scoring. Lamb states that Buchanon-Lamb is a great defensive player and is able to take the ball up the court, but also has the ability to rebound and steal.

“[Buchanon-Lamb is a] very, very high IQ player and a very smart player. She knows how to get the ball up the court and share the ball. She can score real fast and she’s our best defensive player,” Lamb said. “She leads in assists, rebounding and in steals.”

Buchanon-Lamb says she owes a lot to her teammates and that they work a lot harder together. She finds Alvarado and Wilson to be easy to work with, since their wide variety of strengths and weaknesses compliment each other well.

“I think it’s the team dynamics. We really work hard together and that influences me as an individual too,” Buchanon-Lamb said. “Alyssa, since she’s a three-point shooter and it’s really easy to get the ball to her. Mahliya is an on-ball scorer, so it’s really easy to work together with them.”

The moment when a player reaches their 1,000th career point is a special one, and the place where it happens will always be remembered. According to Lamb, Alvarado and Wilson both achieved the milestone during an away game while Buchanon-Lamb achieved her milestone during a home game. The celebration can be different based on the venue.

“As a team, we celebrate. If they do it on the road, like Alyssa and Mahliya did theirs, we celebrate when we get back to the next home game,” Lamb said. “If they do it at home—Kaylyn was the only one that actually got her 1,000 points at home—we call a timeout, we stop the game. The girls run out to the court and cheer for her and the crowd goes crazy for her. So it’s a good thing for them.”

Three individuals scoring 1,000 career points on the same team is something that doesn’t happen often, according to Lamb. Lamb is proud of the girls’ accomplishments as he coaches them as individual players and as a team. The journey to a thousand points took many years of hard work and dedication, it is a remarkable milestone for each of the players.

“I’m proud of them because it’s not often you get three players that can score 1,000 points all on the same team. Their ability to overcome adversity and be able to all share the ball, play on the same team and be proud of each other for being successful,” Lamb said. “They all push each other and they all work hard. Especially those three.”