One could argue that the moment when LeBron James metamorphosed from uber talented up-and-comer to legitimate NBA superstar was during Game 5 of the 2007 NBA playoffs, when James scored the final 25 points of the game for the Cavaliers, single-handedly piloting Cleveland to a series-changing overtime victory against Detroit. He finished the game with a then career-high 48 points.
That was a heck of a performance, but James' 25-point run can't even hold a candle to what one Kentucky prep girls basketball star achieved: She scored her team's first 40 points.
Yes, that's right: A Kentucky teen scored every single one of her team's first 40 points. As reported by the Lexington Herald-Leader, Ashland (Ky.) Fairview High senior Kayla Day scored all 29 of her team's points in the first half, pacing the Eagles to a 29-26 lead against Prestonburg (Ky.) High. Then Day opened the second half with her team's first 11 points.
Put the two totals together, and Day somehow rattled off all 40 of her team's opening points. The Ashland Independent reported that Day finished the game with 49 points, nearly equal to the team total put up by Prestonburg in Fairview's 67-55 victory.
Incredibly, as great as Day was, she could have been even better if she had made all her free throws. The senior finished 15 of 25 from the field and 14 of 22 at the foul line.
For her part, Day said she didn't even realize she was on such a run until after the game was over. By that point she was ready to call it a day after fighting her way through double and, often triple-teams throughout the second half.
"I was like, 'Did I really do that?'" Day told the Independent.
"I didn't really think about [the points]," Day said. "I wasn't sure if anyone else had scored, but that's not what I cared about. I was just glad we were ahead."
Her team finished ahead, too, thanks almost entirely to Day's heroics and the intense on-court attention they garnered from the Prestonburg defense. While Fairview coach George Bellamy told the Herald-Leader that he didn't realize Day had scored all of his team's points in the first half, he wasn't particularly surprised.
Bellamy was sure about one thing:
"The good thing about it, she did it in a competitive game," Bellamy said. "I know I've never seen anything like it in my life, and I guarantee you I'll never see it again."
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