Dakara Merthie breaks Ocoee girls basketball's single-game points record

The Lady Knights' star guard scored 44 points in a three-point home loss to Haines City High.

By Sam Albuquerque
| 8:30 p.m. January 9, 2025

Sports
High Schools

Ocoee High's star girls basketball player Dakara Merthie broke the Lady Knights' single-game scoring record and set a career-high of 44 points in a 62-59 home loss to Haines City High Jan. 7.

Merthie, a transfer from Lake Mary High, has not only been one of the area's best players this season but has also helped Ocoee look like a real state title contender halfway through the regular season. Her per-game averages of 24.1 points, five rebounds, 4.3 steals and 3.1 assists show just how talented she is and the Lady Knights 13-3 record show just how much of an impact she has on winning.

This record-breaking performance hasn't been the only milestone moment in the junior guard's high school career. Last season, she broke the Lake Mary single-season record for points scored (581), and in the first game of the 2024-25 season, Merthie crossed the 1000-points scored marker.

author

Sam Albuquerque

A native of João Pessoa, Brazil, Sam Albuquerque moved in 1997 to Central Florida as a kid. After earning a communications degree in 2016 from the University of Central Florida, he started his career covering sports as a producer for a local radio station, ESPN 580 Orlando. He went on to earn a master’s degree in editorial journalism from Northwestern University, before moving to South Carolina to cover local sports for the USA Today Network’s Spartanburg Herald-Journal. When he’s not working, you can find him spending time with his lovely wife, Sarah, newborn son, Noah, and dog named Skulí.