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Knodell looking for big finish
Colleen Knodell spent most of her freshman year on the Quincy High School girls basketball team as a "swing" player, playing two quarters of junior varsity basketball and two quarters of varsity.
But as she kept improving during the course of the season, Knodell suddenly found herself as one of the Lady Jacks' key players during their postseason run and first-round district playoff game against Cashmere.
That's a tall task to ask of a first-year player. Knodell knew she was capable of doing a good job, but as she went to the scorers' table to check into the game for the first time, the enormity of the situation suddenly hit her.
"That was the most nervous I've ever been in my life," Knodell said. "I had sat the bench most of the games before that with the varsity, but then in districts, (head coach Cully Donovan) put me in for almost the whole last quarter. I remember being so nervous that I was shaking at the (check-in) booth before going in to the game. I was very nervous."
She may have been a bit jittery at first, but she soon proved she belonged, especially on the defensive end of the court. "I was closing out baseline, and the older girls hadn't been doing that," Knodell said. "After that, I realized that I could compete at this level. Too bad it was the last game of the season."
If somebody asks Donovan for a particularly strong, impact moment or memory regarding Knodell, he'll probably respond with that Cashmere game.
"Her freshman year, she had a strong desire to make varsity. It was important to her," Donovan said. "The opportunity came up, she grabbed it, and in that last playoff game, she just played really well. Her defense was the reason we kept her out there. That was the moment that kind of got her going."
From there, Knodell, an accomplished athlete who has earned numerous accolades in other sports such as cross country, tennis and swimming, began to focus on basketball and cultivate her desire to play at a high level.
Her work has paid off, and her progression has been a pleasure to watch for Quincy supporters. Her sophomore year, she earned a regular starting position for the first time. Last season, she further continued to develop into the Lady Jacks' top post presence. This year, she's become the unquestioned leader of a young team as its only senior and blossomed into one of the team's top offensive threats.
On a Quincy team that emphasizes balance offense, Knodell is averaging 7.9 points per game headed into tonight's home game against Grandview. Both teams are 3-9 in the Central Washington Athletic Conference and are battling with Toppenish and Selah for the conference's last two postseason spots.
"She's a three-year starter for me, so she's got a lot of experience on varsity," Donovan said."She's our tallest girl at 5-foot-10, so she's the truest post player that we have. She's good around the block, she's good in the paint, she's got good post moves. When she's really helping us out is when she's making her shots in transition. For the most part she's been pretty consistent. She's been a lot more consistent this year than she was last year. When she's on, she's really on. She can really help us out.
"Her varsity experience has helped quite a bit. I think being able to play varsity her freshman year, she really got hooked into the sport. She put in a lot of time in the offseason. Every year it's been fun to watch how she's developed as a ballplayer and this year as a leader."
Knodell, though, has high expectations of herself, and does not shy away from criticizing herself when she thinks she needs to. That may not always be a fun thing to do, but it's a sign of a maturing player who has goals and will do almost anything to reach them.
"I think (the way I've played this season has) sort of depended on the game," she said. "There are games where I'm not happy with the way I played, just because I'm not focusing. Other games, I am happy (with the way I've played). I kind of feel like I play up or down to our opponents' level. I don't think I've had my best game yet this season."
A developing leader
If she hasn't, the game that will go down as her best was the Lady Jacks' home contest against Ephrata last month. In that game, a hard-fought 52-41 Tigers win, Knodell did everything she could to bring the Lady Jacks back from a double-digit second half deficit. She scored 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds.
"The Ephrata game was my best so far because of the rivalry," she said. "I just really wanted to win that game. I can't wait to play there. We get one more shot."
Knodell has been able to have success in the post this season despite the fact that, at 5-foot-10, she's an undersized post, according to Donovan, and has had the task of banging around with players 6-foot or taller in almost every game this season.
"She's worked hard at developing post moves," Donovan said. "She just accepts the skills that she has, and she takes advantage of her quickness. Sometimes she's quicker than some of those bigger post players, and that helps her out."
As her on-court game has been developing, Knodell has had to work to develop her leadership as well. As the only senior on the team, it's natural that the rest of the squad has looked to her for guidance. But at first, Knodell was hesitant to embrace that role.
"I was kind of worried about being the only senior on the team, but it's been fun, actually," she said. "We have really good team chemistry. It's weird being the only senior because everyone looks up to you and only you, but I really like it. The girls are really fun.
"At first I kind of felt weird about leading. I didn't want to boss people around. But it's not really bossing; it's kind of encouraging and helping the girls to get focused and getting them to work hard and do their best."
Donovan said that Knodell has been a fine leader this season.
"Usually we split up the leadership duties between all the seniors," he said. "This year she's been left to do it on her own. She's done great. I think leadership has developed in her. This year I think she knew coming in that that's what I expected. She's done a great job taking that responsibility. She's seen a lot of things in her four years. She knows it's important to win, and she tries to instill that."
It's probably not hard for Knodell to instill a competitive attitude considering that she's grown up with it for most of her life. She comes from an athletic family — Colleen, her older sisters Pamela and Valerie, older brother Jay and twin sister Bonnie all participated on the Quincy summer swim team growing up, and they all participated in high school athletics.
"I think (coming from an athletic family) helps a lot," Knodell said. "The competitive spirit that we all have, it's just in our nature. Being competitive in all those other sports really backs up basketball."
Knodell has also done well in the classroom and is looking forward to attending college. She hopes to attend the University of Oregon, the University of Colorado or Western Washington University and major in psychology and minor in a type of nutritional science such as biology.
She's got the same sort of desire and drive to achieve in life that she does to succeed on the basketball court.
"I want to be a nutritionist of some sort," she said. "Something active."
But right now, Knodell is focused on leading the Lady Jacks into the district playoffs. After all, the first big moment of her basketball career came in postseason play; she'd like nothing better than to have her last big moment happen in the playoffs as well.
"You can see that (she's motivated)," Donovan said. "She's playing with a drive right now. She sees that the season is close to being over. She doesn't want any regrets."
Contact Doug Flanagan at reporter@qvpr.com or through Facebook:
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