COURTLAND—With a jumper from the left sideline Monday night, Gabby Gatten became the first girl to score 1,000 career points at Southampton Academy.

Gatten hit the jumper in the first quarter, the first points of the game scored by Southampton Academy in a 45-30 win over Blessed Sacrament Huguenot.

Gatten, a junior, reached her 1,000th point in a little over 2½ seasons. She is averaging about 20 points per game this year. The Lady Raiders are 14-1 overall and lead the Virginia Commonwealth Conference at 10-1.

SA head coach Burdette Gatten, also Gabby’s father, said his daughter works hard at the game.

“She can score inside and outside, and she has a lot of off-the-dribble moves. She works a lot on it in the back yard, most every day over the summer,” he said. “She likes the game, and she enjoys the players around her.”

He said the VCC is more balanced this year than usual, making it tougher to score.

“She sees trailing-and-one and box-and-one, a lot of different defenses denying her the ball, yet she still averages about 20 points per game. She should be stronger next year,” he said.

Gabby has played basketball since age 8, starting at the YMCA and on to Amateur Athletic Union summer leagues and SA. Her first two seasons at the school, she was scoring primarily on layups and drives to the basket. She has worked on her jump shot and has added that to her repertoire.

“I love the game and love working hard at things,” she said. “I would love to go to college and play basketball because it would be weird not playing. I have been playing for so long.”

The Lady Raiders are looking toward the state playoffs with a No. 4 ranking in the Virginia Independent Schools Division III poll.

Gabby said it has been an enjoyable season.

“The people who play this year are close. We have been playing together forever. We play good team ball,” she said.