Weeki Wachee High junior basketball player breaking records from deep

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - For Weeki Wachee High School junior Paige Atwater, the dream is to play college basketball at the highest level. Her ticket to the NCAA might just be a three-point shot that can't be stopped. 

Atwater is used to firing at will on the basketball court. 

"If it's open, I'm going to let it fly," said Atwater. 

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More often than not, the swishing of the net is the only thing Atwater hears when she lets loose from deep. 

"She always loves shooting NBA-range threes, college threes," said Weeki Wachee High School basketball head coach Billy Hughes. "If she's in range from this side of the court, she lets fly, and it pretty much goes in. It's pretty exciting to watch."

Hughes, meanwhile, has such faith in his junior point guard that he admits to giving her a "green light" to shoot whenever she sees fit. 

"Any time she steps on the court, she's pretty much in range," said Hughes. 

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So far, Atwater has repaid her coach's belief by pouring in a state-best 46 three-pointers this season. Nearly a quarter of those buckets, however, came in one game alone.

"It was pretty exciting," Hughes said. 

Right before their holiday break, Atwater poured in 10 three-pointers in a single game, nine of which came before halftime. The feat shattered a school record and a 20-year-old county record for the most three-pointers made in a single game. 

"It feels amazing," said Atwater. "I've been working on trying to beat that record for a while now, since last year."

Knocking down threes and records by the shot, Atwater still wants more. 

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"It feels like I've been working so hard for this and finally hit something, but I'm going to keep reaching for more," she said. 

Atwater said her next goal is to try and hit 12 three-pointers in a single game, and she has the shot to do it. Because remember, according to her head coach, "any time she steps on the court, she's pretty much in range," Hughes said.

And that range, Atwater hopes, careers her to a Division I basketball scholarship one day.