The Front Row with JASON ELLIOTT Feb. 2, 2013

When Lexi Turkenburg grows up, she wants to be an engineer.

With two straight wins, she will help engineer something that hasn't been done in the four-year history of the Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy girls basketball program.

A berth in the state tournament.

TURKENBURG IS a 5-foot-8 senior guard and captain for the Panthers, who are 16-3 entering the 2A District 1 tournament next week.

"It's been a really cool experience," Turkenburg said. "We had a pretty sizable team my freshman year and had a great team, but then had a bunch of seniors graduate. To see the program get better and better each year, it's been awesome to be part of."

After high school, she'd like to follow in the footsteps of her father, John, who is an engineer in Coeur d'Alene.

"I've been leaning more toward math and science than actual writing," Turkenburg said. "And engineering has everything to do with both math and science."

"She's an outstanding student," Coeur d'Alene Charter Academy principal Dan Nicklay said. "She's taking a variety of weighted classes and just a really good student with over a 4.0 grade point average."

She is ranked fourth in the 2013 graduating class of 50 students at Charter.

"It's pretty impressive to be there," Nicklay said. "It's pretty competitive here academically and pretty impressive to be in the top 10 of the class, let alone the top five."

Turkenburg has also done volunteer work with the Kootenai Humane Society and for the Coeur d'Alene Parks and Recreation Department.

"I coached soccer for kindergartners," Turkenburg said. "At the Humane Society, I probably spent an hour a week there. I wasn't old enough to actually help with the dogs, so I helped with the cats."

Last week, Turkenburg made a visit to NAIA Montana Tech in Butte, which is recruiting her to play basketball.

“I’m almost positive I’m going to go to Montana Tech, but haven’t made an official decision,” Turkenburg said. “It’s a beautiful campus and I’d never really been to Butte. I like that it’s a smaller school with only 2,000 to 3,000 people and everyone knows each other. It’s kind of like Charter and would be kind of cool to be at a smaller campus.”

Against Valley Christian on Jan. 22, Turkenburg eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career and now has scored 1,082 points in her career.

“My dad would keep updating me on things,” Turkenburg said. “But I wasn’t aware that the Valley Christian game was going to be when I’d score 1,000 because I’d put it in the back of my mind. To me, I’d forgotten about it when I was playing and try to play every game without focusing on the numbers.”

“Lexi’s an amazing kid,” Nicklay said. “Our teams have struggled over the years and she’s always kind of been one called upon to carry scoring and that kind of stuff. In the first year, I don’t know if the girls won 1 or 2 games, but she’d be playing like it was a close game and coming down to the buzzer every time. I don’t think I’ve seen a player — either boys or girls — to give as much as she does on the court.”

CHARTER COACH Doug Grant took over the program this year, but was an assistant last season and watched Turkenburg play since her freshman year as his son, Logan, was the Charter coach.

“She just makes your job as a coach a whole lot easier,” Doug Grant said. “Just her knowledge and the type of leadership she brings to the floor, it’s a coach thing — and it’s apparent with her. I’ve gotten a unique experience with her because I’ve sat in the stands for two years when my son was the coach and this year as her coach. She’s just a phenomenal person first and foremost. She’s a great person and it takes good people to become a good athlete. There’s a lot of people that have skill, but they aren’t good people and don’t reach their full potential. Lexi first and foremost is a good person and obviously her skills on the basketball floor speak for themselves.”

Turkenburg points to the first game of her sophomore season, when the Panthers beat the 3A Kellogg Wildcats 51-44 in Kellogg, as a turning point for the program.

“I think in that game, we were predicted to lose by 30 points,” Turkenburg said. “They’re a 3A team and it was just awesome to do.”

Turkenburg and Lynn Babich are the only two seniors on the team this year.

“Obviously our program is young,” Grant said. “We don’t have the experience that most have at that level where we’ve been competitive. There’s been years we’ve gone down to Grangeville and didn’t have a shot, and I think this year we’ve got a shot at them. Lexi’s been a four-year starter and that kind of floor leadership is invaluable. Now, we’ve got the mindset we’ve got a chance instead of going in thinking we’re going to play Grangeville and lose by 30. It’s a new experience for us. But when you’ve got a young lady with skill like that of Lexi — it’s a huge benefit for us.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com.