They arrived together at Jefferson City High School 3 1/2 years ago.
Last week, they shared some personal history together as Brad Conway got his 500th career coaching win and Caitlin Anderson scored career point No. 1,000 as the Lady Jays posted a 60-22 victory against Sedalia Smith-Cotton at Fleming Fieldhouse.
Conway knew a little about Anderson before he accepted the job as head basketball coach of the Lady Jays before the start of the 2015-16 season.
"I had heard about her during my interview process," he said. "And the first time I saw her, I knew she had the potential to be an outstanding player."
Anderson has been a starter at point guard since her freshman season. It can be a demanding position for anyone to play in Conway's system, let alone someone new to varsity basketball.
"I threw her into the fire," Conway said. "There were some baby steps at the beginning, but she's a competitor and always wants to get better."
Anderson developed through that freshman season, which ended with a record of 22-5 and an appearance in the district tournament championship game. Midway through her sophomore season, Conway knew his instincts were correct about what type of player Anderson could be.
"She had an idea of what I wanted her to be as a coach out there on the floor," he said.
Anderson is the type of player capable of scoring 20 points one night, then coming back with 10 assists in the next game. She prefers one stat more than the other.
"Assists, definitely," Anderson, who signed to play at Indiana State last month, said. "I just love passing the ball, making plays to help the team. If they score, it's like they're my points, too."
The 1,000-point mark isn't the only milestone Anderson is likely to reach by the end of her senior season.
"By the time she's done, she could be over 500 assists and have 400 steals," Conway said.
Anderson didn't realize she was close to reaching the scoring mark, which came on a layup midway through the first quarter.
"(Conway) just let me know three days ago I was close," she said after last Wednesday's win. "He told me to keep it under my belt."
Conway will remember win No. 500 of his career. Win No. 1? Well
"I remember it was a road win, I don't remember who it was," the 52-year-old said. "It's odd because I remember a lot of games, just not that one."
The victory came in a 5-22 season at Albany High School, where the program posted a 5-65 record in the three seasons before he got there.
There also were stops at Carrollton, Salem, St. James and Jefferson R-7 before coming to Jefferson City. Carrollton was the lone boys coaching job in Conway's career as he has compiled a record of 500-239.
"I never thought I would be doing this for 28 years," Conway, who was inducted into the Missouri Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame earlier this year, said. "A lot of coaches aren't staying with it long enough to reach a win total like this. They want to spend more time with their families, they are moving into school administration roles, more than they did 20 or 30 years ago."
Conway's love of the game has kept him in coaching.
"I love being around the players and watching them grow as a team and as people," he said. "I love doing this and as long as I'm healthy, I'm going to keep coaching.
"I love practice because it's great to teach," he added. "You get to work on things as a group and build into a team. The games are fun because you get to see what you've accomplished in practice.
"The games are for the kids, the practices are for the coaches."
Jefferson City has a record of 76-16 under Conway's leadership. The Lady Jays have advanced to the state tournament in the past two seasons, getting as far as the quarterfinals in 2016. They want to go further this season.
"We need to keep progressing as a team, keep working and building toward the championship," Anderson said.
Jefferson City (9-0, ranked No. 1 Class 5) will face Blue Springs South in the opening round of the State Farm Holiday Hoops Invitational at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Rackers Fieldhouse.