DALTON, Neb. – Leyton High School senior Zaili Benish reached a significant milestone in her high school basketball career, scoring her 2,000th career point in the opening quarter against Hyannis on Saturday, Feb. 8.

After reaching 1,000 career points, Benish was uncertain if she could reach 2,000, knowing it would be a challenge. She sat down with her father and head coach, Jed Benish, to discuss the possibility, realizing that the milestone was within reach during the 2024-25 season.

Although aware of her potential to reach 2,000 points, Benish just wanted to focus on the game at hand. 

“It was definitely something that I wouldn’t not want to do,” Benish said. “But it wasn’t like if I didn’t get it, I was going to be devastated.”

Heading into the game, she knew she was close but wasn’t preoccupied with reaching the mark.

“During the game, I wasn’t thinking that I needed to score,” she said.

Benish knew before the game that her first basket would push her past the milestone.

“They told me before I got it on Saturday that it would be after my first basket, so I was kind of hoping to get it out of the way early so that I could move on from it and get the game going,” Benish said.

When the moment arrived, the reality of the accomplishment set in.

“Once I got it, it was pretty emotional because I play with a really great group of girls, and I wouldn’t be anywhere without them,” Benish said. “It was really nice to see the crowd, too, with all the posters and the boys holding the 2,000 balloons, so it was really cool to see all of these people that support me.”

Reflecting on her high school career, Benish expressed appreciation for her teammates.

“I’ve had a really fun past four years. I think this year has been especially special just because most of us are seniors, and I’m going to miss playing with all of them,” she said. “But I think that a lot of what I have done is because of them.”

Benish plans to continue her basketball career at Doane University and pursue a career as an English teacher. She becomes the 17th girl in Nebraska history to reach 2,000 career points.

The Lady Warriors have one regular-season game remaining before heading into Class D2 sub-districts, hoping to return to the state tournament for the first time since the 2022-23 season.