School records have always seemed synonymous with numbers.
But when measuring Sabrina Little’s contribution to the Holy Spirit High School girls basketball program, the intangibles really add up. Although a steady, established scorer, the Spartans senior guard is more proud of her play on the other side of the court.
“In basketball, my strong suit is actually defense. A lot of people notice it, but they don’t think that’s my favorite thing,” Little said, admitting that defense is indeed her favorite.
The scorebook can make a solid case against that claim. Last year, Little reached a milestone that very few high school players accomplish: She scored her 1,000th career point during her junior season. It came roughly four years after she really started committing herself to play basketball.
“I started playing for a real team in seventh grade,” Little said. “I had played a little bit of recreational ball when I was younger, but I was more of a soccer player. But I was like, ‘Maybe I should take it a little bit more seriously instead of just playing around.’ I ended up working out with my uncle and my coaches, and I saw the progress. So I continued to work hard and get to where I am now.”
Now she’s one of the most dangerous scorers in South Jersey. Little had 1,015 career points under her belt, including 75 3-pointers through three seasons. She hit the grand milestone last year with a career-high 33-point effort over Cape May Tech on Feb. 19, becoming the 13th player in the program’s history to reach 1,000 points.
“It took a lot,” Little said. “But once I started seeing that I had some rhythm last year and ended up getting pretty close, it was kind of fun being able to get that 1,000th point as a junior.”
She’s been leaping over names on the school leaderboard one-by-one, and 2001 grad Jen Daniels’ record of 1,389 could be in danger.
Last year, Little was just 14 points shy of a 500-point season as she averaged 16.8 points per game. Through the first six games of the 2024-25 season, she was averaging 16 points per game. If the Spartans play around 29 games like they did last season, Little would have to average around a dozen points a game the rest of the way to break the record.
“If it happens, I’d be blessed,” Little said. “But with our team, the goal would definitely be to win more games than we lose and hopefully make it to the Cape-Atlantic League championship game.”
After a 14-10 season during her freshman year, the Spartans have posted back-to-back 18-win seasons. She smiles when she talks about how those wins were earned.
“Our past three years, we really harped on defense,” Little said. “So we’re trying to bring that back into this season.”
Little is hoping to play at the next level but hasn’t decided on where she will attend school. She wants to major in biology and minor in psychology.
“I want to do something in occupational therapy or be a physical trainer, but I also want to do mental health in sports. So I’m choosing both so I can see which path I want to finish off college with,” Little said.
She has always paid attention to mental health in sports and hopes to help others once her playing days are done. She thinks about it a lot more than scoring records.
“I just want to be around sports,” Little said. “And I know sports take a toll on every player, but I just wanted to see why I’m thinking these things, or why other people are thinking these things, or why people go through these ups and downs playing basketball or playing the same sport you play every day and have the mental toughness to get through it.”
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