Saturday, Feb. 18, senior Halli Poock walked onto the court of the Bob Siddens gym with 1980 career points to her name. Poock sat just 15 points away from breaking Nina Smith’s record of 1994 career points. Smith, a 1999 graduate played varsity basketball all four years of her high school career, similar to Poock’s career. 

With a three point shot in the last few minutes of the second quarter against Ames, Poock gained her 15th point of the game and the 1995th point of her career, passing Smiths’ record. “It’s a goal I’ve had my eye on since freshman year so to see it unfold is kinda unreal, but I couldn’t have done any of it without my teammates over my four years,” Poock says, sharing this victory with the rest of her team.

At the start of the game, Poock was just 20 points short of hitting a personal goal of hers, 2000 points, a goal that has never been made by a female basketball player at West High. Poock gained her 1000th point in the beginning of her junior season. 

Playing varsity over the course of the past four years, Poock has put a lot of time and effort into the sport. She says that without the support of her family, teammates and coaches, she would not have gotten to where she is today. “Basketball has been something I have put a lot into, not only me but my family also,” she says.

“I owe a lot of it to all the different coaches I’ve had over the years and teammates. You learn a lot playing with different people and playing for different coaches, especially Dr. Pappas,” Poock says. 

As Poock’s senior year grows closer to an end, she has broken not only records on her own, but records with her team. The girls basketball program has broken a regular season record with 21 wins and counting, and they have been ranked 19th in the nation.

AJ Cassidy, the Assistant Coach for the girls varsity team, has been coaching Poock since she was a freshman, also helping with her club team in middle school. “Shes a lot less annoyed by me,” Cassidy jokes, as their time has gone on for the past seven years, Cassidy mentions that Poock has ‘always had it.’

Cassidy says he is proud for Poock and happy for her, “I think the girls are happy for her too, and the best is yet to come as Dr. Pappas always says.”

Poock is currently a D1 commit at Bradley for women’s basketball and has been noticed multiple times as a top 100 athlete in the nation. Playing varsity for her entire career, Poock has helped her team become ranked 19th in the nation and make their way to the state tournament for three consecutive years, including a semifinal second place finish in 2022.