ELDORADO’S BELLA HINES CAN PUT UP A BIG NUMBER

Eldorado super sophomore Bella Hines has a knack for getting the ball through the hoop in a variety of ways. “She just puts us on her back,” said head coach Gary Ellis.  “As far as we go it’s going to be a lot of her credit.”

“She loves the game and she loves excellence,” said Ellis.  “She doesn’t like being mediocre at anything and you can see she’s just so competitive. She’s an incredible player, work ethic is incredible,” said her head coach.  “There’s not anybody that works harder than she does, especially in the off time.  She works so hard at becoming a complete player.”

“I made adjustments with my mid-range game because that was one thing I was lacking last year,” said Hines.  “Now that I have that, I feel like I’m unguardable this year.”

For the most part, she’s right.  Hines is averaging over 29 points a game and is not only the top scorer in New Mexico, she’s one of the top five scoring sophomores in the country. “You talk about her seeing the best defender, a lot of times she’s seeing the best two or the best three,” said Ellis.  “They are double and triple teaming her quite a bit.  But she doesn’t let it affect her and I think that speaks to her character a little bit.”

“I wouldn’t say I feel like I have pressure on my shoulders, I just go out and play the best ball I possibly can,” said Hines.  “I don’t feel like I try to prove anything to anyone except myself.”

Colleges around the country are taking notice.  Hines already has 10 scholarship offers to play in college and she’s getting more and more interest every day. “I’ve talked to UCONN once, I’ve talked to Baylor, I’ve talked to Florida,” said Hines.  “I’ve also talked to Nebraska, Ohio State, Virginia, and I think a school that should be rolling in soon is Texas Tech.”

What caught a lot of attention was her 67-point performance during the offseason. “It was really cool, I didn’t realize I had that many points until somebody told me and I was in shock,” described Hines.  “I didn’t realize I could put that many points on the scoreboard, so it was super cool.”

So how many points can she score in a game?

“I think I can definitely break my record, I think I can at least hit 70 for sure,” said Hines with a smile.

“The sky is the limit for that kid,” said Ellis.  “How long can we play?  When the clock stops, that’s the limit for her.”

In case you were wondering, the state record for most points in one high school game by a girls basketball player is 64 points by Jordyn Lewis of Ramah.  That number might not be out of reach for Hines.

*Hines scored 51 points Tuesday night against West Mesa.  Eldorado will face Sandia on Wednesday in the district tournament.