Savage Words: Get ready to celebrate – I think – on Friday

I distinctly remember walking out of the Bishop O’Gorman gymnasium on Dec. 11 and saying to myself…out loud: “Huh. I better take a closer look at that.”

Brandon Valley’s Liv Padgett just scored a career-high 40 points against the Knights moments before. I’d obviously written her name a lot over the past three years, so I figured after she hung 40 on O’Gorman that the Minnesota State-bound Padgett may have a shot at some scoring records at BV.

And here we are, 76 days later, and it’s a good bet that on Tuesday night in Mitchell, Padgett broke the record for most career points scored by a Brandon Valley girls basketball player.

There truly aren’t many downsides to working for a weekly newspaper. I’ve said that before in this column, and I mean it.

However, there’s always a chance that something can get missed in a timely fashion. It doesn’t matter what day of the week you go to print for a weekly paper, there’s always a chance that something big can happen on the day, or night that happens, and the next newspaper won’t have the story.

So I’m going out on a limb here and assume that Padgett broke the record at the Corn Palace on Tuesday night. The Brandon Valley Journal goes to print Tuesday afternoon, but still, I’m feeling fairly confident.

Padgett entered the game in Mitchell 18 points shy of tying the career scoring record set in 2012 by Heidi Hoff. Hoff is now Heidi Hausmann and works at Dakota State University in Madison.

As Padgett made her march towards the record books this season, I was able to track Heidi down, just to get her thoughts on things.

“I think it’s great,” she said. “Records are made to be broken. It’s been there for 14 years. I’m really proud of her. I know the determination and the work ethic that it takes to get to that point.”

I’ll say.

Padgett has been on this journey for a long time, and going back and looking at some of the statistics, it’s a wonder it wasn’t until Dec. 11 that it finally dawned on me to take notice.

Padgett scored her first points as a freshman in her very first varsity game. She had a team-high 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting on Dec. 8, 2022. Not bad for a 15-year-old on the biggest stage.

Her four-year career at Brandon Valley has come with some jaw-dropping moments. She’s scored in double figures in 48 straight games. The last time she didn’t was on Feb. 22, 2024, when she had six in her sophomore season against Huron.

It’s been somewhat difficult not to write about Liv all the time this season. After every game, her numbers on the box score just jump off the page. But thankfully, she’s had a ton of support this year to help spread the wealth and generate headlines for others. A 19-0 start (again, taking a leap of faith that the Lynx won Tuesday night in Mitchell) helps with that.

Gracie Salter has three double-doubles this year, and also recorded the first triple-double in school history just six weeks ago. Ava Kellenberger has hit some timely 3s, and she causes real havoc on defense. Reese Condon has had some massive stretches in multiple games that have clearly made a difference, while London Geiver has hit some 3-pointers from Valley Springs. 

The Brandon Valley bench has also generated some headlines this year. The Lynx are deep, and it’s fun to watch.

But clearly, Padgett has grabbed the attention of nearly every sportswriter and sportscaster in the state this season. That’s understandable.

And I really, really, really hope that I didn’t jinx her by writing this on Monday, just a day before the game in Mitchell. Barring something crazy, she should have broken the record, and will be recognized on Friday when the Lynx host Huron for the season finale. 

I hope you can come out and celebrate this with Liv and her teammates. I’ll be there, so will Heidi, who despite having three kiddos under the age of seven at home, said she wanted to celebrate with Liv.

So here we are, Heidi’s 1,470 career points now in the rearview mirror. Liv’s 19th point on Tuesday against the Kernels surpassed it, and it’s an amazing feat.

But something tells me Liv would give up 1,471 points for just one championship banner in the rafters. Time will tell, but I like this group, breaking records, winning the right way, and giving this guy something fun to write about each week.

Liv, thanks for the storylines. For someone who’s done this for more than three decades, it’s been a pleasure to watch.