During a holiday basketball tournament last week, one Twin Lakes guard broke an Indiana state record.
MONTICELLO, Ind. (WLFI) — Olivia Nickerson has officially etched her name into the Indiana High School basketball record books.
In the Twin Lakes Holiday Tournament, Nickerson was six three pointers away from making history.
With 54 seconds left, she drained the three pointer that would put her as the state’s all-time leader for career three-point made field goals.
“Sometimes I know when it’s gonna go in and that one, I definitely knew, like, it felt really good coming off my hands, and then that’s when I, I don’t celebrate a lot, so my team was celebrating and I was just looking around, all awkward,” Nickerson said.
That shot was her 364th made three pointer, passing Aubrey Minix, who set the record back in 2009.
Minix came to the game and congratulated Olivia in person when she broke the record.
“That’s so crazy to me and it’s so amazing to just think, all this work I put in since I was a little girl and now I’m on the record books and I think it’s really cool,” Nickerson said. “But obviously we haven’t had all our goals yet, so I think it will just keep working this season.”
“Once she got within ten, we knew it could happen any game because she’s had games where she’s hit ten three pointers in a game,” Head Coach Brad Bowsman said. “That’s a huge accomplishment. This is for the whole state. It’s not just like a Twin Lakes record, it’s a state of Indiana record.”
Nickerson didn’t become one of the best shooters in the state overnight. She spent countless time in the gym, working on her form and getting shots up.
“My dad wouldn’t even let me shoot three pointers until I was in 6th grade because he thought I was going to mess up with my form,” Nickerson said. “So I went to all these shooting camps just to get better at shooting because I wasn’t really that great when I was little. Every day after school, just coming in with the varsity and shooting on the side and getting those shots in and then him rebounding, staying after practice even since before I could even remember.”
“I’ve been able to watch her grow up and know, know she’s going to be an elite shooter with the amount of time she puts in,” Coach Bowsman said. “I’m very proud of her and she’s just a great kid, too.”
Bowsman said that Nickerson’s ability to shoot the basketball can change the complexion of the game. It gives the Indians momentum and can quickly deflate their opponent.
While this record was one of her goals, she hopes to accomplish a few more this season with her teammates.
