Sprouse sets school record for Eagles

There is a moment in time for an athlete when everything is working on all cylinders.

It's called being in the zone.

Keota High School's Addison Sprouse entered that rarified place last Tuesday, Jan. 8, during a home girls basketball game and set a school record.

The Eagles defeated South Iowa Cedar League foe HLV 56-28, but Sprouse nearly outscored the visitors herself, finishing with 26 points.

Oftentimes, an athlete is so focused they don't even realize they have entered the zone.

'It was a very humbling moment being taken out of the game and being told I broke the record,” Sprouse said. 'I had no idea I did.”

To accumulate that lofty total, Sprouse was very efficient. She took just nine shots, eight from beyond the 3-point arc and buried seven of them. She also went 5 of 6 on her free throws.

Nobody had ever made that many 3-pointers for Keota.

The old record holder was Madison Sieren, who is now an assistant coach for the Eagles. She held the record of six triples in a game.

'Records are meant to be broken and she's highly deserving of it,” Sieren said.

Sieren was the one who realized Sprouse had a chance to break her record.

'I did not realize she was even close to the record until Madison said she tied it midway through the 4th quarter,” Keota head coach and Addison's father Jeff Sprouse said.

She was able to get the seventh trey on a great screen set by Jillian Schulte on an out-of-bounds play.

'It's really cool to know I broke my assistant coach's record, especially because she was a fantastic shooter and that my Dad helped her, like he helped me,” Addison said. 'I wouldn't have even had this opportunity if it wasn't for my teammates and coaches.”

Sprouse is averaging 12.2 points a game during this, her senior season. She also leads the team in assists.

'The girls did an outstanding job of screening and passing for her,” Coach Sprouse said. 'To break that record, it takes an entire team working together, being ‘We before Me.'”

The dad in him said, 'I am very proud of Addison as she has really put in a lot of gym time working on her shot.”

The coach in him said, 'The best part of the record is that it happened during a win.”

Keota hosts Sigourney tonight.