Root finishes HHS career with milestone point total

Houston girl’s basketball coach Jim Moore has plenty of praise for what Kaitlyn Root accomplished in her career. The biggest feat was her 1,061 career points.

But Moore says the best compliment he can give his senior forward has little to do with the game.

“She is an all-district, all-conference and possibly even an all-state athlete, but she is an all-American kid,” Moore said. “She has left her mark on our program and set the tone for future Lady Tiger athletes on how to work hard and accomplish their dreams.”

Moore said it was Root’s work ethic that made her the most recent 1,000 point scorer in program history. She is the third player – joining Kylee Elmore (2015) and Sarah Kelley (2016) – to accomplish the feat in the past four years.

Root, a forward with a strong midrange game, reached the mark with a strong senior campaign. She scored double figures in 26 of the team’s 28 games and had 20 or more points 14 times.

She averaged a team-best 19.8 points per game on 52 percent shooting from the floor. She also made 75 percent of her foul shots.

{{tncms-inline alignment=”right” content=”<p>Kaitlyn Root scored nearly half of her 1,061 career points her senior season. Here’s a game-by-game look:</p> <p>Fordland 13</p> <p>Licking 21</p> <p>Clever 16</p> <p>Newburg 31</p> <p>Norwood 8</p> <p>Liberty 15</p> <p>Dora 20</p> <p>Liberty 25</p> <p>Mountain Grove 22</p> <p>Cuba 21</p> <p>Sullivan 13</p> <p>Cabool 12</p> <p>Thayer 18</p> <p>Couch 22</p> <p>Thayer 15</p> <p>Conway 12</p> <p>Mansfield 23</p> <p>Norwood 24</p> <p>Willow Springs 34</p> <p>Salem 23</p> <p>Ava 19</p> <p>Hartville 22</p> <p>Plato 18</p> <p>Mountain Grove 26</p> <p>Thayer 8</p> <p>Conway 10</p> <p>Liberty 25</p> <p>Licking 10</p> <p>Total 526</p>” id=”1acbdbe1-4c36-411c-8308-8fd58b762027″ style-type=”bio” title=”STRONG FINISH” type=”relcontent” width=”half”}}

“Her 1,000 points is no fluke,” Moore said. “She earned every single one of them – often times being double- and even tripled-teamed.”

But Moore said Root was more concerned about team’s success than her individual accomplishments.

“She would just as soon dish the ball off to a teammate and see them score,” Moore said. “She definitely has a team-first mentality and was always willing to do anything I asked of her to help the team win.”

Root scored four points on the varsity level in 2014-’15 as a freshman. She became a starter the following season and averaged 8.0 points – for a total of 193 – for the Lady Tigers’ district championship team.

Root scored 342 points as a junior – averaging 11.8 points – before ending her career with an impressive senior campaign.

“Kaitlyn is one of the top three hardest working kids I have ever had the opportunity of coaching,” Moore said. “She constantly put in extra work after practice or over the summer to develop her game.”

It led to a spot in the exclusive 1,000 point club.

Kaitlyn Root scored nearly half of her 1,061 career points her senior season. Here’s a game-by-game look:

Fordland 13

Licking 21

Clever 16

Newburg 31

Norwood 8

Liberty 15

Dora 20

Liberty 25

Mountain Grove 22

Cuba 21

Sullivan 13

Cabool 12

Thayer 18

Couch 22

Thayer 15

Conway 12

Mansfield 23

Norwood 24

Willow Springs 34

Salem 23

Ava 19

Hartville 22

Plato 18

Mountain Grove 26

Thayer 8

Conway 10

Liberty 25

Licking 10

Total 526