Not everyone gets 1,500 points in a high school career, especially when that person misses more than 20 games in her junior season, but that is what Whiteface’s Allison Martha has done.
Last season, Martha’s broken hand was part of a string of injuries the Lady Lopes had to work through.
“I didn’t know my hand was broken until I hyper-extended my knee,” she said. “When I went to the doctor about that, they said, ‘Oh, and you have a broken hand, too.’” Martha has 1,501 points since her freshman year. She went over the 1,500 mark on January 27 in a home game against the Anton Lady Bulldogs.
Martha said she loves basketball and is glad the team is healthy and playing well, but she doesn’t think basketball is in her college future.
Martha’s mornings start at 5:30 to get ready to be at the gym 30 minutes before practice. She’s been doing that since seventh grade, but says she enjoys being at the gym alone.
“It brings me peace,” she said.
Martha is not just a shooter, though.
“Allison is what every coach wants,” said Whiteface Head Girls’ Basketball Coach Gary Simmons. “She is the complete team player.”
Simmons cited her 900 plus rebounds and 500 plus steals.
“She’s averaging around 5-6 steals a game,” said Simmons.
Simmons also complemented Martha’s attitude beyond basketball.
“She’s a great young lady,” he added. “She cares about her school, her family and her community.”
She plans to go into nursing, but is undecided as to where she wants to go to college.
Martha’s father, Roy, said he had hoped she might go on, but they weren’t going to try to force her.
Not having basketball will be different. Martha said she has been playing basketball since she could carry a ball.
It is not as though basketball is Martha’s only activity. She was the football homecoming queen, serves as the school mascot and is involved in cross country, tennis and track.
She is also a member of the Exploring post at the Whiteface Volunteer Fire Department.
“I’m ready for a new chapter,” she said, “but my parents are sad.”