When it comes to individual goals for high school basketball players, many athletes will list 1,000 career points as a goal to try and reach and surpass. What do you do when you reach that goal in only your sophomore year? You just reach even higher and set your sights on even bigger accomplishments. Altamont Lady Indians junior guard Grace Nelson has made quite a name for herself in just over two seasons of play. Playing what equated to just half a season of basketball during her freshman year in 2021 due to COVID-19, Nelson made her name known right from her first varsity game, scoring 40 points in her Varsity debut and she would finish her first high school season with 459 points. It would then take just under two months into her sophomore season before Nelson would reach the 1,000 career point threshold in a National Trail Conference game against South Central on January 6, 2022. After adding another 366 points after that game to end her sophomore season with 1,389 career points, Nelson would next set her sights on the Altamont Lady Indians basketball scoring record of 1,510 held by former Lady Indian standout and coach Peggy (Goeckner) Bueker since 1989. And it didn’t take long for that record to fall this season as Nelson would score 22 points in Altamont’s win over host Newton at the Bob Kerans Tournament to stand at 1,514. And while most athletes may never have the chance to even meet or get to know the person whose record they are beating, Nelson sees hers almost every school day as Bueker is now in her first year as Principal of Altamont High School. Being able to have that connection with the previous record holder, Nelson says it was truly an honor to be able to reach that major milestone.
Now with two major milestones out of the way, the next accomplishment or milestone in Nelson’s sights is the overall scoring record held by Ryan Armstrong since 2017. With that record only being on the books for five years, Nelson says she was able to grow up watching Armstrong and looked up to him as a basketball player.
After scoring a career high 56 points in the Lady Indians conference game against Effingham St. Anthony on Monday, Nelson has greatly narrowed down the number of points needed to reach and break Armstrong’s scoring record in just the first month of her junior season. With having a player like Nelson on her team, Lady Indians Coach Katie Lurkins says she is fortunate to have been able to watch Nelson grow as a player through the years and celebrate her accomplishments. What stands out more to Lurkins than the scoring records though is that Nelson’s ultimate goal comes back to the team and working to try and help her teammates reach the pinnacle of girls basketball in the state, the IHSA Girls State Tournament.
With that commitment and dedication, the next 15 or so months of high school basketball are sure to include many more milestones for Nelson as she continues to add to some lofty numbers that could stay at the top of Altamont basketball history for many years to come. And what does the future hold for Nelson after she completes her career as a Lady Indian? The options are increasing all the time as Nelson has already received a number of collegiate offers from schools such as Eastern Illinois University, Northern Illinois University, University of Tennessee-Martin, Indiana State University, Valparaiso University, University of Southern Indiana, Southern Illinois University -Edwardsville, Indiana Wesleyan University and Lindenwood University.
As for the Lady Indians girls basketball team, anchored by Nelson’s average of just over 34 points per game and the play of Claire Boehm, Peyton Osteen, Kylie Osteen, Remi Miller and many more Lady Indians, Altamont has gotten out to a 7-1 start to the season with three of those wins coming over 2A schools Vandalia, Flora and Newton as well as a win over 3A Effingham. After an upcoming run of NTC games with a couple non-conference games tossed in along the way, Altamont will face some more big school tests with play in the Mattoon Holiday Tournament as they look to finish out the first half of the season with a strong December.
Full extended interview with Grace Nelson:
