Bessemer City's Tionna Pettus ties North Carolina Record and Keeps Rolling

Pettus broke the single-game state scoring mark which has stood since 1991
Tionna Pettus scored 65 points to tie the North Carolina state record for most points in a game, breaking a mark set in 1991.
Tionna Pettus scored 65 points to tie the North Carolina state record for most points in a game, breaking a mark set in 1991. / Instagram

Tionna Pettus made history on Nov. 20 by scoring 65 points, tying a North Carolina state record that dates to 1991.

The 5-foot-10 senior forward/guard pulled off that feat in Bessemer City’s 77-53 win over North Gaston. But she just a scoring machine, not by far. Pettus had a triple-double with 16 rebounds and 12 steals. 

In fact, she’s averaging a triple-double – 45.6 points, 14.1 rebounds and 10.6 steals through 13 games. Her scoring average is tops in the country.

“I know what my statistics look like,” Pettus told the Charlotte Observer. “But I’m not a ball hog. I like to pass to an open teammate, and I’ll do that if the situation calls for it.”

Pettus was extremely efficient on her record-tying night, making 23-of-29 field goal attempts. She now shares the state scoring record with Providence Day’s Konecka Drakeford, who set it in 1991. Providence Day is a member of the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association record is 63, set by Clinton’s Mikayla Boykin in 2017. Boykin also had a 62-point game in 2016. Terry Sanford’s Shea Ralph scored 61 points in a 1995 game.

Pettus entered the season with 1,140 points for her career. She reached 1,730 by the 13th game of the season and is on a pace to break Ralph’s single-season record of 39.1 points per game. Whether she establishes a new mark may depend on how teams defend her the rest of the season. She can expect to face the box-one-and one as well as double teams.

“…It’s something I have to work through,” Pettus told the Charlotte Observer.

Pettus is a deadeye shooter. She has made 75 percent of her field goal attempts. A lot of her scoring is in the paint. Pettus is 25-of-51 on 3-point attempts. She has 60 blocked shots.

And she has been consistent.

Pettus has gone 50 or better three times, 40 or better 10 times. Her low is 25 points in a 58-40 loss to North Buncombe. Pettus sandwiched her record-tying game with 50 points in a 62-9 rout of Chase and 53 points in a 67-60 loss to Piedmont Community Charter. Pettus has twice gotten 16 steals and her single-game rebounding high is 18.

In her junior season, Pettus averaged 23.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 2.4 assists. As a sophomore, Pettus averaged 19.8 points and 11.8 rebounds. In her freshman season, she averaged 15.4 points and 11.7 rebounds.

Success runs in the family.

Older brother Randall Pettus II once scored 60 points in a game for Bessemer City and was Southern Piedmont Conference Player of the Year as a junior. He now plays college basketball for Northern Kentucky University.

Younger sister Kionna Pettus, a 5-foot-10 junior, averages 15.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 5.0 steals and 2.7 blocked shots.

A cousin, Evonna McGill, was a two-time Big South 3-A Conference Player of the Year at Ashbrook before playing college basketball at UNC-Asheville and Elon.


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Mike Duprez
MIKE DUPREZ

Mike Duprez became a freelance sports journalist for Scorebooklive.com several months after retiring from the newspaper business. A native of Oakland, California, Duprez moved around as a child due to his father’s service in the United States Marine Corps. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. Duprez, who lives in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had 30 years of experience in newspapers as well as other endeavors before retiring at the end of 2021. He covers stories in both North Carolina and South Carolina for Scorebooklive.com.