FOXBURG — Ellie Thompson was just another player during her freshman season on the A-C Valley girls basketball team.

Merely “Thompson, Ellie, No. 10.”

An anonymous face.

After that season, she wasn't even sure if she'd ever average her uniform number in points during her career.

And that didn't sit well with her.

“It drove me,” said the 5-foot-8 forward, now a senior. “I was not satisfied.”

So Thompson hit the gym. She worked on her speed, on her dribbling, on her shooting, on her overall game, knowing she had to get better — both for herself and for her team, which was coming out of a prolonged stretch of losing and showing signs of being a winner again.

Thompson hit the weight room, too. She needed to be stronger.

Whenever her muscles balked and her will to continue the rigorous practices waned, one thought entered her mind.

That feeling of being a freshman and being just “Thompson, Ellie, No. 10.”

“She worked her butt off,” said A-C Valley coach Dave Sherman.

She went from just another player to Ellie Thompson, star.

As a sophomore, she average 16.4 points per game.

And on Wednesday, with a layup just a few minutes into the Falcons' win against Clarion-Limestone, she became the all-time leading scorer in A-C Valley girls basketball history.

Thompson needed four point to break the record of 1,265 point set by Hilary McCall.

She scored 26.

“It means a lot,” Thompson said. “I didn't think I'd be the one to get it. Without my teammates, I wouldn't be where I am.”

Thompson followed up her breakthrough sophomore season with an even better junior campaign, averaging 19.6 points per game.

This year for the 12-4 Falcons, Thompson is enjoying her best season yet, even though her scoring average is down a bit at 18.6 per contest.

But Thompson doesn't need to be the focal point with the cast around her.

“I feel like this has been my best year,” Thompson said. “Everyone around me can score and we are so balanced. That takes the pressure off of me.”

Thompson felt a little pressure Wednesday at home with the record in sight.

She was relieved it came so early.

Thompson got the mark on a fast-break layup off a pass from Cami McNanny.

Ironically, it was an assist by McNany last season that gave Thompson her 1,000th career point.

“That was my first thought,” Thompson said. “'Cami McNany is going to get the assist.' It was surreal to me and exciting and kind of emotional.”

Thompson is also a fixture at the elementary school, helping the young players at that level hone their skills.

And to perhaps be the next Ellie Thompson.

She remembers being that age and looking up to players who came before her.

“You can see it in the way they give her a bug-eyed look,” Sherman said. “They're like, 'Ellie Thompson is teaching me how to shoot a layup.'”

Thompson takes that role seriously.

“I enjoy it so much,” Thompson said. “Our program is rising and I want to show them they can be successful, too, if they do the work.”