by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
The 25-1 Lapwai HS Wildcats girls’ basketball team won an Idaho record 10th 1A Division 1 State Championship this past 2019-20 season.
For the fourth time this season, the Lapwai HS Wildcats and Prairie HS Pirates played each other with this one for the ultimate prize. Despite trailing 21-14 at halftime, the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter and take control of the close game.
Lapwai HS won the state title game 46-40.
In a semi-final win against Genesee HS, senior KC Lussoro scored 16 points to avenge their only loss of the season. The Wildcats won 60-49.
KC Lussoro, 17, is a part of the Nez Perce Tribe (Nimiipuu). Her parents are Kevin and Christie Lussoro and the family lives in Lapwai, Idaho on the Nez Perce Reservation.
“I am a senior at Lapwai High School,” said KC. “Throughout my high school career I did football cheer, volleyball, basketball, softball and track.”
“One of my accomplishments is gaining my confidence back,” said KC. “It helped me be the leader that I needed to be on the court mentally and physically for my teammates.”
“Another accomplishment is we kept the winning streak for basketball as district champs,” said KC. “This year was the 7-peat.”
“During the Avista tournament we played Washington and Idaho 4A and 5A schools and I got selected for the Avista all tourney team,” said KC.
“I was also selected First Team White Pine League and First Team All State,” said KC. “My junior year I got the 6th Man Award at the state tournament.”
“My biggest and favorite accomplishment was winning the State title this year,” said KC.
“I’m a pretty good leader,” said KC. “I was a volleyball, cheer, and basketball team captain. My softball coach last year would also alternate team captains.”
“My tribal core values are always remembering where I am from and wherever I go I am representing my tribe,” said KC. “It helps define me as a student-athlete knowing that I come from strong people and that I have support from a good, strong community.”
“Some people who positively influenced me as a competitive athlete are my family, and my coaches,” said KC. “Each and everyone of them gave me the support that I need.”
“KC set a goal for the Lapwai HS Wildcats to win State Basketball her senior year, mission accomplished,” said mom Christie Lussoro. “This marks the 10th State title for Lapwai High School, and makes it that more special to her. She has just been so dominant her senior year. She was chosen to play in the 17th Annual Idaho High School All-Star Game. She received a plaque for P1FCU Prep Athlete of the Week. She was chosen for Player of The Game at State Basketball. She made First team in Class 1 A Division 1. All her extra time she has put in really showed this year. She made this all happen for her. She never gave up and now it has led to college recruitments. She still has not chosen which one just, but will be making a decision soon.”
“This state title has always been a goal for KC since she started her high school career. I would watch her every year putting so much pressure on her self and get frustrated at her self. We would have our talks after the game and about criteria with the plays and where improvement was needed. I would let her know that practice is not only what you do with your team, but as an individual. Hard work comes from within and what you put in outside of practice. She has always been a natural leader,” added Christie.
“Her senior year was where she shined,” said Christie. “She came out confident. She was putting more time outside of the gym, by shooting, conditioning and watching what she ate. The coach had seen so much growth in her and made her team captain. She loved that role because she did a great job helping her other teammates. She knew what she felt as a freshman and wanted to give advice to the underclass ladies. They all respected her and listened to what she was saying. She just really came out on fire! She was playing great team ball. Everyone definitely seen KC’s hard work and dedication emerging from inside of her. She was unstoppable!”
“Off the court KC loves to attend sweat lodge,” said Christie. “KC would ask her teammate Soa’s mom if they could have sweat. Her and a few teammates would go and enjoy this before a big game or just when needed. She knows that our Creator has blessed her with these talents and she gives thanks to him.”
“Right now her world has turned upside down because of this COVID-19, but she has not allowed this to affect her,” said Christie. “She still continues practicing, conditioning and eating healthy. She has put her faith in our Creator to live the journey up to him for the future. We always give thanks to our Creator and we stay humble knowing it is in his plan and timing for everything.”
“My uncle Randy Brown really helped me this year,” said KC. “He helped me put the extra time in the gym and kept me motivated.”
“I’ve been watching KC play basketball since she first started and knew from early on that she had a lot of talent,” said uncle Randy Brown. “She has always played taller than she is and has always had to guard bigger players. Prior to her senior season KC talked to me and stated that she wants to play at the next level, but we didn’t have any video of her and hadn’t started trying to contact any schools. KC really dedicated herself to putting in extra work after practices, going to the gym with me two-three days a week to put up extra shots and work on game situation shooting, normally shooting at least 500 shots per session. I think that really improved her confidence this season and allowed her to lead her team in scoring and helped them win some key games.”
“KC’s leadership on the court has been her biggest improvement this season. You could tell the girls played more within themselves and with more control when KC was on the court. She was the vocal leader directing the press and making sure to get girls in the proper position on defense and offense. Not being able to play this spring and maybe summer is going to be difficult. It’s going to be difficult to stay in basketball shape to be ready to play in the fall, but I know KC has the dedication to put in the work needed even without being able to play games. I’m so excited for her future and can’t wait to see where she decides to go. I tell her all the time that I’m her biggest fan and I’m so proud of the improvements she’s made on and off the court,” added Randy.
“Iris Domebo was always there to tell me what I needed to fix on the court,” said KC. “She is someone I have always looked up to as a person and a player. She’s a very smart player on the court and I’m grateful that she would take time to come and teach me new things. It was an awesome experience to get coached by her.”
“I’ve known KC most my life but I also was an assistant coach for the Lapwai High School girl’s basketball team her senior year,” said Iris Domebo. “As a coach, what stood out about KC, aside from all her other great basketball traits, was her confidence, mental toughness and tenacity. These are all key components in the game of basketball. Who’s going to dive for that loose ball? KC. Who’s going to shoot the last second shot with complete confidence the ball will go through that net to win a game? I’d choose KC because the game could intense. Everyone could be going crazy but her. She’s ‘CC’: Calm & Collected. She’s knowing what needs to happen next.”
“KC on and off the basketball court, were two different KC’s. On the court you know she’s just this focused and serious person and then off the court she’s this jokester who doesn’t stop smiling and talking love to see it,” added Iris.
“Ada McCormack-Marks has been my coach my whole high school career for volleyball and she got to coach me in basketball my last year,” said KC. “She has always pushed me to be a better player. I knew she always expected more from me. Sometimes it was tough love with the extra workouts, but it always helped in the long run. She is one of the reasons why I push myself to do better.”
“I got the privilege to coach KC her whole high school career in volleyball and softball and one year in basketball,” said Ada McCormick-Marks. “From the first time she played up until her senior year her growth for each sport is such a huge turn-around and she grew not only as a player but she grew as a person. Her senior year was her year in everything. She was team captain in both volleyball and basketball and took her role of being the leader of the team very seriously and her teammates respected everything that she did and said to them. She was great with communication both on the court and off. She was such a great athlete to coach and when she would make a mistake or didn’t understand things we asked her to do she wasn’t afraid to ask questions or would take the constructive criticism and go with it and learn rather than be upset about being corrected.”
“Being the great leader she was she helped get her volleyball team to the state play-off game for the first time in about six years and she led the team in overall stats in basketball and helped bring home a State Championship this season,” added Ada.
“She wasn’t planning on playing softball this year and I know she would have excelled like the last two sports,” said Ada. “She was an awesome catcher and playing such a big role on the team she helped mold to be what they are today. I know she was bummed in general not getting to attend school the rest of the year and possibly doing track. She is a great athlete that Lapwai High School is sorely going to miss next year. Looking forward to see where she ends up this fall and if she plans on playing any sports at the collegiate level.”
“Josh Leighton is also someone that influenced me,” said KC. “He taught me and made me understand different perspectives on the game. He would always be there in the way that I needed him. He would let me know it’s okay to make mistakes. If I was mad he would make me smile and remind me to have fun, also if I needed to get yelled at so I could snap into the game he would do that.”
“Every coach I’ve had influenced me in some way,” said KC. “I am always open to hear and learn new things from different people.”
The holistic concept of wellness is based on physical, mental, spiritual and emotional health. The aspiring student-athlete needs to have a balance of these components to pursue optimum performance.
“The things I do to improve my performance are hard workouts and then fun workouts,” said KC. “The hard workout is the weight room or home workouts. The fun workouts are being in the gym and doing drills.”
“Mentally what I need to improve on is just letting things go,” said KC. “You can’t sit and hold on to any mistake you make, you got to just brush it off and get the next one. Just let things go in the moment and just play.”
“I connect my spirituality with my sport by praying,” said KC. “My teammates and I always say a prayer before each game we thank God for everything and always pray for the other team.”
“The strategy I use for mental toughness is keeping that good mindset,” said KC. “That is going into the game confident and staying focus on the goal that you made for yourself. Always have confidence in yourself.”
“I am staying well and healthy during this pandemic by staying home, working out and avoiding big groups of people,” said KC.
Photo Credit: Pox Young aka Young01photography
