Alden-Hebron’s Hayden Smith first gave basketball a shot in middle school.

Before that, basketball really wasn’t her thing. Now a sophomore, you can’t keep Smith out of the high school’s legendary Tigard Gym.

And the shots?

They just keep falling.

“She’s here seven days a week,” A-H coach Marty Hammond said of the unassuming, 5-foot-6 guard. “When you have an athlete like that, it’s like having another coach on the floor.

“She never stops.”

Wearing No. 1 on her Kelly green-and-white Giants’ jersey, Smith hopes to one day be the program’s most accomplished scorer. That title currently belongs to Jessica Webber, a 2024 graduate who finished with 1,454 career points.

Only in her second season, the points have piled up in a hurry for Smith.

On Dec. 16, Smith tied the Giants’ single-game record with 48 points against Westlake Christian. The record, which only belonged to 1985 grad Bobette Schoenbeck at the time, had stood for 40 years.

Then, on Jan. 13, Smith did even better, pouring in 50 points in a win over Mooseheart. After some digging of the school’s history, Hammond believes it is the highest mark of any Giants’ hooper, girls or boys.

It’s also among the highest-point totals of all-time in McHenry County.

Through 17 games, Smith is averaging 23.9 points a game for A-H (7-10), along with 4.29 steals.

“The way she’s going, she’ll probably break that record,” Hammond said of A-H’s scoring record. “She has such a great attitude, she always has a smile on her face and she wants the whole team to do good, too. She’s very knowledgable about what we’re trying to do, both offense and defense. She gets that across to the younger kids, too.”

Smith, who also has a 43-point game this year, made 21 field goals in both of her record-setting performances.

In the 50-point game against Mooseheart, she had 40 points after three quarters. Hammond then asked his players before the fourth: Do you want Smith to get the record?

An emphatic yes was the answer.

“It made me feel so happy that they wanted it as much I did,” Smith said.

But the hoop hasn’t always been so kind to Smith.

So much so that she didn’t know if basketball was right for her.

Smith credits her friends, including A-H sophomore forward Teagan Vanderstappen, for convincing her to keep going.

“Before I started working on my shot, working on it outside of practice, I just wasn’t the best at scoring,” said Smith, whose white poster board above the hallway lockers is full of stickers representing all the points she has scored in high school. “I could never really put up numbers. My most was maybe five points a game, so I was like, ‘I’m going to change that.’ ”

Hammond said Smith showed up this season with a new confidence. She isn’t happy to get a few buckets here and there. She wants more. Smith is A-H’s top 3-point shooter and isn’t afraid to attack the basket, either, despite her 5-6 frame.

Smith’s speed on the court has allowed her to rack up some easy buckets, too.

“There were games last year where she’d come into the game and get two or three shots,” Hammond said. “She would chip in 10 or 12 points once in awhile, but she’d get turned off too often. It was frustrating for her as a freshman competing against bigger juniors and seniors.

“I told her, ‘Next year will be yours. You’re just getting your feet wet. Next year you’ll make your mark,’ and she has.”

Another factor in Smith’s rise has been shooting coach Fred Stephson, who regularly works with Giants players during off-school hours.

“He’s very humble and loves working with the kids but would never toot his own horn,” Hammond said.

Although Smith missed playing with Webber by one year, she knows her well and remembers watching Webber roll up points with ease at Tigard Gym.

“I’d watch the high school games and coach Hammond would say, ‘Watch Jessica. That’s your position,’ ” Smith said. “So I’d be watching her, and I thought it was so cool how she got all her points.”

Smith went from watching Webber to imitating her as she got closer to reaching high school.

“I’d come in on Sundays and she’d teach me different moves,” Smith said. “We were doing some (one-on-ones), working on our shots, and it just progressed from there.”

Smith has aspirations of playing in college.

But she knows just scoring a bunch of points won’t be enough.

“I want to get better on my all-around game,” Smith said. “I have to get better at rebounding, and keep playing the way I’m capable and stay healthy. Finish out the season strong and help my team out the best I can.”