The ball is in her court

SPIRIT LAKE — Four years ago, Cassie Thompson wasn’t sure if playing for Timberlake High School was something that would send her to a Division I college.

But despite a few early struggles, Timberlake has gone from the bottom of the Intermountain League to a contender for the state 3A title.

“When I was a freshman, I didn’t have a good attitude about basketball here,” said Thompson, a 6-foot-2 senior post. “I really didn’t want to come here. The school had a reputation of not being very good at basketball. I had a couple of my AAU teammates that went to Post Falls, but we didn’t want to give up our property, so I stayed here.”

She hasn’t looked back.

“We’ve improved so much as a team in the four years I’ve been here,” Thompson said. “I never thought we’d be ranked. At first, my family thought that playing at a higher level would help me get noticed by colleges. But after my sophomore year, we realized it didn’t matter where I was playing because I was already getting attention from the AAU tournaments.”

Timberlake went 7-13 in Thompson’s freshman year.

“It was tough losing that many games,” Thompson said. “But I knew we were going uphill. The other teams in our league were losing their best players and we didn’t lose anyone. As long as we worked hard, it wasn’t going to be that bad.”

As a sophomore, Thompson led Timberlake to a 16-8 record — the Tigers’ first winning season since the school opened in 1998. Timberlake also qualified for state in 2008-09 for the first time in school history, going two and out.

“It felt good to get our name out there,” Thompson said of state. “We’d had the reputation of not being very good, so we wanted to try to change that. We did what we had to do to get to state. Hopefully, the same thing happens this year.”

Timberlake was expected to return to state last year. But after winning the Intermountain League, the Tigers lost in the district title game, then lost the next day for the district’s second berth to state.

“We’ve focused this season on working together as a team,” Thompson said. “Everyone is getting along really well this year. We’ve got a lot of younger kids this year and the biggest thing has been getting them to step up in games.”

Timberlake enters Saturday’s “Battle for the Buck” game in Spirit Lake vs. Priest River with a 10-3 record, 3-0 in the Intermountain League.

“Our whole goal is to get back to state,” Thompson said. “It would be good especially since Priest River won it last year. It would be cool in my senior year to get back down there.”

Last year Timberlake finished 17-4, but had to watch from home as IML rivals Priest River and Kellogg played to determine the state 3A title.

This year, Thompson has used those losses in the 3A district tournament as motivation to succeed — no matter the odds.

Thompson has increased her role as a team leader this season as asked by Tigers coach Matt Miller.

“The main thing he’s told me is to step up leadership wise,” Thompson said. “He really stressed being a leader on the floor.”

Thompson, who has led the team in scoring and rebounding since her freshman year, has totaled 1,463 points and 801 rebounds in her four-year career. Both are school records.

“It’s been a nice luxury to have someone in the lineup that dominant,” Miller said. “When she’s in the game, it changes the way we play and how other teams play us. She changes or blocks a lot of shots in the key and really changes the entire game.”

She has started each game since her freshman year, and has totaled 278 blocked shots in her career.

“I can’t think of any injury or sick days when she hasn’t been in the lineup,” Miller said. “The challenging part is trying to get her enough touches in the game. It is nice to have someone that’s capable of being able to battle inside and score the ball. In offensive rebounds alone, she’ll be able to get her touches.”

And while opposing defenses try to game plan to contain the senior, she remains on track for 1,700 points in her career.

“For most kids to score 1,000 points in a career is amazing,” Miller said. “If she remains healthy, she could reach 1,700.”

Pretty impressive for someone who has been the focus of opponents’ defenses since she arrived on varsity.

“She gets fouled a lot going up for shots and gets called for fouls because she’s a big girl. But she never complains and just plays the game,” Timberlake athletic director Tim Cronnelly said. “It’s really impressive. She never gets mad. It’s really impressive to see in someone her age.”

He also praised her work in the classroom, with a 3.67 GPA entering her senior year.

“She’s a great student,” Cronnelly said. “She’s really solid in the classroom. I know she’ll do great academically.”

Timberlake has three seniors on the varsity roster.

“It’s been a lot harder this year,” Thompson said. “We’re so young this year, I have to help some of the other players with their confidence. Telling them good job after plays helps and it’s almost like having a coach on the floor.”

Thompson intends to study science in college, either health science or biology.

“Cassie is a really great student,” Miller said. “She’s very good in the classroom. She’s been a great kid to coach and I’m happy to have had the chance to do it.”

Thompson also has played on an AAU team under the direction of North Idaho College women’s basketball coach Chris Carlson.

“I’ve learned so much from that experience,” Thompson said. “I can’t even begin to explain it. Just having the chance to be around other teams has really helped me grow as a player.”

Thompson verbally committed to the University of Portland in September.

“I’m really excited about getting there,” Thompson said. “After a couple of visits there with my AAU team, I was hoping I’d end up there. Out of all the schools I was interested in, it was probably the best place I could have picked.”

“I’m excited for her,” Miller said. “I know one of the reasons she wanted to go there was to have a shot at playing right away. Hopefully, she’ll get thrown right into the mix. She’s worked really hard for this and had a really great career.”

Miller added that games at Eastern Washington and Gonzaga will hopefully be ones he can watch in the future.

Thompson credits working with former Post Falls High and Arizona State standout Aubree (Johnson) Chesnut with turning her playing career around.

“One thing she told me was that I wasn’t face guarding in the post,” Thompson said. “We always did post moves and it really helped. Playing against a player like her was a real confidence builder for me and the other players on that team.”

Face guarding involves getting a hand in the opposing player’s line of sight, limiting an opponent’s ability to see the ball.

After her playing career ends, Thompson doesn’t rule out coaching somewhere down the road.

“It’s something that I’ve talked about with my dad,” Thompson said. “He thinks it would be good for me. Maybe after a few years away from it, I may want to get back around it.”

Until that happens, Thompson will focus on another science — that of dissecting defensive pressure.