BREAKING RECORDS

When Stephanie McCullah was in middle school she looked forward to playing high school basketball for coach Larry Anderson. But, Anderson told her she would never play for him unless she got a much better work ethic.
Today McCullah is a record setting senior at Whitley County. During the Berea Holiday Classic she reached a milestone, her 1,000th point against Calloway County. Since that game she has scored 93 more points and is on pace to become the school’s second leading scorer. She is only 114 points away from Selinda Pickard’s second place mark of 1211 points.
Not only has McCullah reached the 1,000 point club with seven other former Lady Colonels, but also she has broken the record for career three pointers with 111 after the South Laurel game Monday night. She also holds the record for three pointers in a season with 37 and will likely break her own record since she already has 34 this year. She also has the single game record of six against Prestonsburg.
During her sophomore season she entered her name on the wall of fame by hitting 83.3 percent from the free throw line, a record she also holds.
However, McCullah feels like she is in somewhat of a slump right now. “I just don’t think I am playing to the best of my abilities right now,” she said before the South Laurel game. “There is a lot more I could be doing, my shots are not falling, I just have to pick up my play and be a better leader and contribute more to the team.”
McCullah did that against South Laurel Monday night, hitting a big three pointer with less than a minute to go that pulled her team within one after being down by 11 points with five minutes left in the game.
“If Tonka (her nickname given to her by Anderson) is a 50 percent shooter and she has missed her first 20 shots, she thinks she is going to hit the next 20,” said Anderson. “For her to shoot the way she had been and knock that shot down was pretty big.”
She likes all aspects of the game and when her shot is not falling there are other things she concentrates on. “I feel like I can come out and get the girls going and be a positive role model,” she said. “I know I need to get them on the floor and be the leader.”
“I know I need to rebound better,” she said. “I need to go to the offensive boards.”
“Being a senior, I want to win the district and contend for the regional title,” McCullah said. “And, I know I need to provide that leadership. I want my leadership to be a major asset because I know the girls kind of look up to me and want me to get up and go. I know I am one of their go-to players and I need to step-up and meet that.”
She enjoys being a leader on this edition of the Lady Colonels. What is the best part of your game? “My offense and being a leader,” McCullah said. “I like to pass the ball and I know my defense has improved, so I am kind of liking that part of my game right now.”
Speaking of the work ethic Anderson wanted. McCullah said. “I will stay in the gym two or three hours a day and just shoot.” She has done that over the last three years. And, if she has had a bad game she has been known to stay after the game and shoot until they run her out of the gym.
“Holly Jones and I will stay after practice and shoot, a lot of the other girls will too, but we work on that outside shot,” said McCullah.
During the summer, McCullah spent four or five hours in the gym and went to several camps to prepare for this season. “I went to the Blue Chip High Exposure Camp, to an individual camp and we went to several team camps,” she said.
McCullah will likely play at the next level. And the inside track belongs to Berea College. Some others are on her trail such as Union College and Maryville and she has looked into Thomas More where Kayla Haynes (former teammate) is now playing. “But, I am really looking at Berea,” said McCullah. Berea College made the news last year when coach Bunky Harkelroad went out west to look at a new offense. The Lady Mountaineers installed the high power offense and average nearly 100 points a game last season. McCullah feels it would be a perfect fit.
“I went and watched them and they really push the three point shot,” McCullah said. “I think I could step in and help them.”
Ask what she has meant to the Whitley County program, Anderson said. “To be honest with you, she has meant more to me to the program in all. To me she is the epitome of success. When she was an eighth grader I told her she would probably never play for me because she couldn’t get up and down the floor and didn’t have the work ethics. I challenged her then and she responded ‘yes I will’. Since that time she has led us in scoring, our leading three pointer shooter, shoots a great percentage and has become a good defensive player.”
“She’s the kind of player that you can take and build a team with,” Anderson said. “She doesn’t look at it, as ‘I am the senior’ and puts herself in a position where the kids resent her, she wants to be part of the team and she is there for us when we need big shots. She wants to step up and take those shots.”
“As a coach, you need that kind of leadership from your players that have the positive in them,” he said. “I can get on Tonka and I do, I get on her pretty hard and she always responds in a positive manner. She doesn’t come in a loaf and pout about it. To me that is the most important thing as a coach to be able to get on your senior and have her to respond in a positive manner and to me that sets the example for the younger kids.
Anderson said McCullah really responded to his challenge. “She has dedicated herself. She has lost a tremendous amount of weight,” he said. “She shoots for hours and gets in the gym. She doesn’t score just because she is talented, she called me during the summer of her sophomore year and said she wanted to get in the gym and we would come over with a gun and have shooting drills.”
“And, when she is struggling like she did in the Corbin game down here, she waited until the gym emptied out and she stayed for about an hour after everybody left and shot that night,” said Anderson.
“There is no secret to success, success is hard work. There are a lot of people out there that could be very good if they work at it but they expect somebody to give it to them. But, Tonka has worked for it and it makes me proud of her.
McCullah doesn’t care if she is remembered as a prolific scorer, “I want to be remembered as a player who always made the girls smile and have a good time in practice and games,” she said. “I want Holly Jones to break my three point records because she is going to be an excellent player.”