By Matt Gade

605 Sports

RAPID CITY — “I hope she shatters it.”

That was the message Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon gave when asked about her Rapid City Stevens High School scoring record of 1,417 points, set in 1995, possibly being broken by current Raider senior Taaliyah Porter. 

Hammon who would then go on to play at Colorado State University in Fort Collings, Colo., before joining the WNBA in 1999 for a 15-year career starting with the New York Liberty before joining the San Antonio Stars.

Hammon would then go on to be an assistant coach for Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs before being named the head coach of the Aces.

Hammon made her comments to members of the media during a press conference on the second day of the Lakota Nation Invitational on Thursday, Dec. 19 at The Monument.

Following a 32-point performance in a loss against the Mitchell Kernels on Friday, Dec. 20, Porter only needed 13 more points to surpass Holly Bordewyk for second place all-time at Rapid City Stevens.

The next day, Porter not only scored those 13 points, she put up 22 points in the Raiders 55-39 win over Huron to put her career point total at 1,247 — 170 points away from Hammon’s record.

Rapid City Stevens' Taaliyah Porter (3) looks for an outlet to pass to during the Raiders game against the Mitchell Kernels on Friday, Dec. 20 at Carold Heier Gymnasium. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

“I feel like that's like a big accomplishment,” Porter said of moving into second in career points. “I feel like all my hard work suddenly is like paying off, like other people can finally see it. I feel like it didn’t really hit me until I was close to my 1,000 points. I feel like that's when everyone was like ‘Well, you're almost close to breaking Becky Hammon’s record.’ And I'm like ‘Okay,’ but I didn't think I was actually gonna reach or get to it. So, I feel like, now that it’s actually getting close it’s starting to hit me.” 

For Raiders head coach Adam Dannenbring, he said Porter showed she had the potential to be a great player starting as a freshman, also Dannenbring’s first year as the girls’ head coach.

“When she was a freshman, she was kind of stealthy, sneakily scoring, you know, because Jada (McNabb) and Bailee (Sobczak) got a lot of attention that year. But after that, though, she's been the main gal for three years now, and she's had to take everyone's best shot.

“I'm lucky she's on our team.”

As an eighth grader and freshman, Porter said those upperclassmen such as McNabb and Sobczak took her under their wing and she learned a lot from them.

During the LNI tournament, while Hammon was taking part in the four-day event, the two-time WNBA champion coach took time to have a special sit down with Porter one-on-one.

“I was definitely in shock,” Porter said of meeting Hammon. “I feel like in the moment, it didn't hit me until I watched it on TV, and I actually saw the one-on-one, and then I feel like that kind of hit me, but I feel like she definitely gave me motivation. She gave me a different outlook on different things in life, which really, like inspired me.

“...she said in order to win a state championship, everyone on your team has to breathe it, sleep it, they all have to be on the same page and not just do it half of the time.”

Porter’s dad, Quintrell, who also is an assistant coach for the Raiders, said that meeting with Hammon made an immediate impression on his daughter.

“I think that's gonna give her the push that she needs to excel this way,” Quintrell said of meeting Hammon. “Because I thought that was a very key conversation.”

During the off-season Porter continues to put the work in and do what she needs to keep getting better.

“Her family, like Coach Q, they travel all over the country in the summer playing AAU basketball, and they've put in just a ton of time and effort into playing the game,” Dannenbring said. “You know, she's played against some of the best competition in the United States in the summer. And when she comes back here, then you can see it’s paid off.”

Quintrell said he takes Taaliyah to these tournaments and leagues across the country for her to not only see some of the best talent out there but also because he doesn’t want her to be “complacent.”

“I think the biggest thing is I just don't want to be complacent,” Quintrell said. “I feel like that she's good enough, but I just don't want her to be complacent, so it's good for her to go see Wisconsin, see Minnesota. I'm originally from Chicago, so I know what it looks like outside of South Dakota… 

“It just re-hungers you. That's the biggest thing, that's the goal is to make sure that she's never complacent, that she fights, fights, fights, and she's always got that hunger.”

At halftime of games, it’s common for Quintell to tell Taaliyah to “step-up.” Both Porters said it’s because they know she has certain goals to meet and it keeps her focused on those goals.

Since putting on the blue, silver and white, Porter has only gotten better according to Dannenbring. He said Porter is a student of the game who has continued to just get better.

Going back to her freshman season, Porter and the Raiders have qualified for the state tournament each year with Raiders finishing runner-up her ninth-grade year.

Getting that far but coming up short has only served as motivation for Porter.

“I feel like my main goal, at least out of high school, is just to win a state championship,” Taaliyah said. “I‘ve already been there, I already know what it feels like, and especially like losing those times. I feel like now that it’s my last year. I feel that it's really important that we make it there and we just make it back to the championship game.”

As Porter looks to lead her team to the Class AA state title game, the Raider has 15 more regular season games to go plus postseason play to raise the bar originally set by Hammon and to leave for the next player to break.

Which might not take 30 years, unlike Hammon’s record, as seventh grader Marley Seumanutafa is seeing significant playing time for the Raiders this season.

Rapid City Stevens' all-time scoring leader and WNBA alum as well Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon has her playing career memorialized on the walls of the Carold Heier Gymnasium. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

“I just want to at least leave an impact,” Porter said. “Because I know those girls like Jayda, Bailee and all of them, they left a big impact on me that I still carry throughout the program. So I feel like that's what I'm trying to do, especially towards like Marley because she's still here for about like six years, she's still here for a long time. So I just want to leave an impact on all of them.”