Photo by Steven St. John

Highland's Deeva Vaughn could join an exclusive club tonight by scoring her 2,000th point.

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She had already played the entire JV game, so by rule, the freshman was eligible for one varsity quarter. Eight minutes.

Deeva Vaughn played two in her debut, the irrelevant end to a less-than-memorable game. She scored six points.

Four years later, the Highland senior guard/forward has become one of the most prolific offensive weapons ever to squeak her sneakers in the metro area.

Tonight, perhaps before breaking a sweat, Vaughn likely will join an elite group. With five points, she will reach 2,000 for her career.

"I didn't really think anything of it," said Vaughn, who will play for the University of Houston next season. "I never would have imagined it. Ever. I wasn't that good until I got to high school."

Peel back the natural talent - the 6-foot Vaughn has also competed in track and field, and last fall was named honorable mention All-State in volleyball - and you will find that a stubborn streak and learning to acquiesce have been critical to her big numbers.

She fought through what was, at times, a difficult childhood. Vaughn and her older brother, former Hornets standout Andre, bounced from Albuquerque to Ohio to Arizona to Texas and back. Sometimes they lived in shelters. Sometimes their parents were together; often they weren't.

More specific to basketball, the younger Vaughn has battled nagging injuries. She had shinsplints as a sophomore. She developed stress fractures - which she still has - in her feet as a junior. There's the tendinitis in her knees. And most recently a sprained knee ligament.

Despite that, Vaughn has yet to miss a game. Tonight will be her 111th at Highland.

"She enjoys playing basketball so much if there's any way she can play, she will," said Jon Ingram, the Hornets coach.

This combination of passion and talent didn't always mean teammates enjoyed playing with Vaughn.

Monday afternoon she talked about her 44-point game against Mayfield earlier this season. It was her career high.

"It didn't mean anything to me," Vaughn said. "If we won, I would have had some bragging rights. But I'm not that selfish like I used to be. I'm a leader now; I'm not a one-man show. If I would still be the way I was sophomore year, everyone would hate me."

Ingram made note of Vaughn's maturity.

"Now she's starting to see the big picture," he said.

Vaughn was willing to see that she needed to develop her game. In the past couple of seasons, Vaughn has expanded her range from the paint to the 3-point line.

She also saw past herself.

"It's more about team things, team stuff," Ingram said. "She would rather win and help put us in the hunt for a district title."

Vaughn can contribute to that cause tonight against Eldorado. The Hive lost to the Eagles earlier this season and need a win to keep pace in the District 5-5A standings.

Eldorado is a fitting opponent for Vaughn's seemingly inevitable historic basket. No girls basketball program in Albuquerque can match the Eagles' rich tradition. A central character in that lore was Jill Shaver, a 1990 Eldorado graduate.

Shaver is believed to be the only other metro area girl to surpass 2,000 points.

According to the New Mexico Activities Association, only four other players have scored 2,000 points or more. Talmai Aguirre, who singed nets at Silver High from 2002-06, is the all-time leader with 3,297 points. However, it should be noted that NMAA records might be incomplete. The organization, which governs state high school athletics, relies on schools to submit information for records.

Records for metro area teams are equally difficult to verify, but former Eldorado girls and current University of New Mexico women's basketball coach Don Flanagan confirmed Shaver's accomplishment.

"I was there," he said.

Veteran Albuquerque High girls coach Doug Dorame, widely considered the state's most knowledgeable girls basketball historian, said no other metro area player has reached 2,000 points.

Olivia Jones, a Sandia standout in the early 1980s, might have come closest, but her exact totals could not be found.

As Dorame noted, it's not easy. It takes a confluence of talent, consistency, the right system and a bit of luck.

Sometimes it starts with a few seemingly meaningless baskets at the end of a forgettable game.