By Dave Morrison
Perhaps the comment that best described Colleen Lookabill’s career at Wyoming East, or the one that meant as much to her as any other comment – came in her freshman season.
It came in the form of a compliment that she never forgot.
“I remember freshman year we were at a tournament and (assistant coach) Ryan (Davidson) was like ‘You remind me of Katie Daniels,’ and I took that to heart. I like being known as a physical person.”
Daniels was a physical presence, and a player known for doing all the little things on a team of stars.
That, in a nutshell, is exactly the same career that Lookabill carved out during a four-run run that saw her end up as part of two state championship teams.
Lookabill is playing in Saturday’s Scott Brown/Little General Classic at Shady Spring with the Class AAA-AA-A stars against their Class AAAA counterparts. The girls’ activities start at 2 p.m., the boys’ at 4 p.m. Tickets are $8 at the door.
Unassuming, and not a stat-sheet stuffer, Lookabill was nevertheless a key fixture in a lineup that produced the school’s third state title in girls’ basketball in March.
Lookabill grew up watching the local Wyoming County girls’ basketball heroes of the hardwood: Gabby Lupardus and Misa Quesenberry, Jazz Blankenship and Skyler Davidson.
“My brother Caden was friends with Gabby and Misa, and they came over the house a couple times,” Lookabill said. “I remember when we played in the county championship, and they came and watched us play.”
Scoring was not a priority for Lookabill. Primarily because she didn’t like doing it.
“I’m not a good shooter, I overthink a lot, so I knew if I could get the ball to Maddie (Clark) or Cadee (Blackburn) they could score, and I’d just have to be there for defense,” Lookabill said. “I would talk and switch, I was the voice out there for defense. When I was younger, I shot the ball a lot more. Then when I was in about seventh grade yearI got scared to shoot for some reason. Something just popped in my head that I just didn’t like to shoot the ball, so I picked up more on defense. And I was known for defense after that.”
That is, until the championship game when Lookabill proved she was more than just a defensive demon, more than a player who did “all the little things.”
She stuffed the state sheet and surprised Summers County scoring 12 points hitting 4 of 6 from the floor, including 1 of 3 from 3 and grabbed eight rebounds.
So, what gave in the title game?
It was a deal with teammate and fellow senior Abby Russell.
“Me and Abby made a deal after we lost to Summers County in the sectional game (in New Richmond in late February) that we were going to shoot the ball. We had to shoot it at least 10 times. So every time I was open, I threw it up there and hoped for the best.
“I scored a lot more points than I thought I was going to score. I was shooting shots that if it was another game, I would not have shot.”
Lookabill said she is planning to attend college this fall and hoops to potentially continue her basketball career.
