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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

Isabella High School junior point guard Amelia Fjeldstad tallied her 1,000th point as a Mustang on Jan. 10 in a 49-26 win over Central of Coosa County High School. Fjeldstad has been with the varsity team since her seventh-grade year and the starting point guard since her eighth-grade year.

“It was really special to get 1,000 points, and I want to thank God, my parents, my teammates and my coach because I would not have been able to do that without them,” Fjeldstad said. “It was a big change, and everyone really got along well and we clicked. We just grew from (eighth grade), and we are still really young, but we are still growing (as a team).”

Since becoming the starter, Isabella coach Jared Day said Fjeldstad has grown exponentially in many facets of her game. The biggest to him has been her leadership abilities and her maturity on the court as well as developing as a scorer.

“She has been great … Her work ethic, attitude and leadership has grown so much, and her skills as well as a player,” Day said. “I would not trade her for any point guard in Alabama.”

Fjeldstad said her sister, Gracie, showed leadership while she was in the Isabella program. Amelia was able to pick that up and take over after Gracie graduated last year.

Day said in past seasons, Fjeldstad would get frustrated in high-pressure situations, but has seen that maturity grow within the last year.

Fjeldstad has been a work-horse for Isabella as well, very rarely coming off the court. The junior has come off the floor twice this season — once for foul trouble and once after she earned her 1,000th point.

“Since the eighth grade, she never really comes off the floor unless she gets into foul trouble, which is very rare,” Day said. “When the young girls are in there with her, especially this year, she is a coach on the floor to them and helps them out.”

During summer workouts for the Mustangs, Fjeldstad is there every day and is normally the first one in the building. Day said she can take her game to that next level by developing ways to get her own shot in one-on-one situations.

However, Fjeldstad’s ability to get everyone involved is a special trait that helped her get to that 1,000th point mark.

“What she can do with the ball helps open up looks for others around the basket,” Day said. “She scores a lot of points for us, but there are other girls around her who are very capable of scoring too, and she does a great job getting us into what we need to be in and getting the other girls the ball.”

Individual goals in the Isabella program are never the top priority, but Day said “it is good for kids to have goals and try to reach those.” Fjeldstad will now turn her attention to chasing the all-time girl’s scoring record at Isabella at 1,975 points.

“I told her ‘Lets chase that’, but it is going to take the whole team to get her there,” Day said.

Fjeldstad said to finish this season she sees the Mustangs taking the AHSAA Class 2A Area 7 championship and advancing to the regionals. Fjeldstad said the goal for Isabella this season is improving upon their Class 2A Southwest Regional appearance last season.