When Tate Dolley began her basketball career at Machias High School, she never envisioned becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer.
“I never even thought about scoring 1,000 points, let alone setting the school record,” she said.
The record had been 1,269 points and was owned by Michael Little.
She broke his mark in a 50-18 win over Jonesport-Beals earlier this month, and she will conclude her career with over 1,300 points.
“It was a great feeling. I wasn’t sure how close I was,” said Dolley, whose family made the 21-mile trip to Jonesport.
Dolley is a 6-foot center who is averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game.
The 17-year-old senior is the second member of her family to eclipse the 1,000-point mark. Her father, Thad, accomplished the feat at Bangor’s John Bapst High School.
“He goes to the gym with me all the time,” said Dolley. “I always played basketball, but it was my seventh-grade year, when my dad coached me, that I really got passionate about it.”
She said former University of Maine at Machias men’s basketball coach Brac Brady was another major influence.
One of the most noteworthy improvements in her game has come at the foul line, according to Machias coach Brad Prout.
“She shot 67 to 69 percent from the line her first three years, but she is shooting around 87 percent this year,” he said.
“I shoot hundreds of foul shots in practice,” said Dolley. “As a post player, that’s definitely the most important improvement. [Against] Shead, I had the ball in the last minute, and they kept fouling me. Luckily, I made my foul shots.”
Dolley had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs past Shead of Eastport 35-33 on Thursday night.
Dolley is shooting 50 percent from the floor. Prout has been trying to expand her shooting range, but Dolley said she is more comfortable with her inside game.
“I’ve been practicing my outside shots a lot, but I’m a perfectionist and I don’t like to miss. So I go for higher percentage shots,” she said.
Prout said Dolley has improved every year.
“She puts a lot of time in at the gym. She plays AAU basketball. She works hard,” he said. “She runs the court very well, and she can handle the ball decently.”
Dolley said ball-handling has been a point of emphasis for her after the departure of standout guard Kate Whitney, who transferred to Ellsworth High School.
“I wanted to get better handling the ball after we lost our point guard,” said Dolley, who said that the loss of Whitney has definitely put more pressure on her.
The Bulldogs are 8-7 but have been surging of late with six wins in their last nine games. They are fifth in the Class D North Heal point standings.
“We’ve been doing pretty well given the younger players we have and the circumstances [losing Whitney],” said Dolley. “We don’t even have a [junior varsity] team.”
The daughter of Thad and Nicole Case has three games left in the regular season, and she is looking forward to the tournament.
“I’m very excited about it,” said Dolley, who wants to keep playing in college but hasn’t decided on a school.