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Kirscher leans on experience at Sandpoint to shine at EWU

by DYLAN GREENE
Sports Editor | April 4, 2020 1:00 AM

SAGLE — It’s hard to believe that just two years ago, Grace Kirscher was laying waste to teams across North Idaho.

The 2018 Sandpoint grad scored over 1,300 points as a Bulldog and now she is making her presence felt at the next level. Kirscher just wrapped up her sophomore season on the Eastern Washington women’s basketball team. She was the Eagles leading scorer this year averaging 10.7 points per game along with 3.6 rebounds.

But as a team, EWU finished with a 4-26 record after falling to Portland State in the first round of the Big Sky Conference tournament on March 9. The struggles can be linked to the amount of injuries the team suffered. Kirscher was one of only three Eagles that played in all 30 games this season.

“I think everybody for the most part had some sort of injury this season but I mean that goes for every team,” she said.

Kirscher even had a minor surgery on her patellar tendon before the season began that didn’t impact her performance on the court but prevented her from finding a rhythm early in the season.

“It wasn’t the season we wanted to have,” she said. “We couldn’t put it together the way that we wanted.”

The constant shuffling of players in and out of the lineup proved to be a challenge and Kirscher admitted it was an eye-opening experience. In the midst of the moving pieces, Kirscher learned she had a lot of room for improvement and realized she needed to relish this opportunity by evolving her game. And she certainly did that.

Kirscher scored a career high 31 points in a 83-77 overtime loss to Weber State on March 6, knocking down 10 of her 16 field goal attempts including seven 3-pointers. Kirscher tallied 15 or more points in 11 games this season.

Kirscher’s success was evident and it wasn’t a surprise given she earned an All-Big Sky Honorable Mention as a freshman. But just like every unselfish player, Kirscher credited her teammates and coaches for her standout play. She said her teammates set screens and found her when she was open and the coaches adjusted the playing style to fit the skill set of every player on the floor.

“We were put in a position that played to our strengths,” she said.

Kirscher prides herself in being a player that can stretch the floor and knock down perimeter shots which was evident in her 33.5 percent shooting from 3-point range this season.

Kirscher — just like every other Division I player around the country — has been impacted by the coronavirus. Due to the stay-at-home order in Washington, the EWU campus shut down and now Kirscher is back home with her family in Sagle taking her classes online.

Kirscher misses her team but is glad she is around family.

“We usually don’t get a lot of time off so I’m really thankful to be able to come home and just be with them for a while,” she said.

Kirscher is working out indoors right now but she is hoping to get some shot ups on the outdoor court at Sagle Elementary once the April snow covering the pavement melts away.

Kirscher has enjoyed her two seasons in Cheney due in large part to the small class sizes that allow her to build a relationship with her teachers. She has also grown a close bond with each of her teammates.

“We’re very close,” she said. “I don’t think there’s a single day that I didn’t see one of my teammates. We’re like a massive friend group. We generally enjoy spending time outside of basketball together and I think that’s really important.”

A lot of what Kirscher knows today she learned during her time as a Bulldog. She said Duane Ward, Will Love and the rest of the coaches at Sandpoint helped her hone her skills and instilled the belief that it’s all about the team. Kirscher said that principle helped ease the transition to college.

What Kirscher remembers most about her time on Les Rogers Court was the support she received. From teachers to friends to coaches, everyone was there to watch the Bulldogs’ games. “I think the Sandpoint community was really special,” she said. “I felt like there was a lot of support coming in a lot of different directions. My coaches were so in. They put so much into the program and I think that some teams don’t have that so I’m just really fortunate.”

Kirscher is majoring in education at EWU and wants to be a third grade teacher in the future. She also wants to be a basketball coach which is not a surprise because the sport runs in her family. Her sister, Maggie, played at Sandpoint and North Idaho College and her dad has been a coach.

Kirscher wants to pass on her passion for the game to the next generation and remind kids why they play the sport — to have fun.

“I love basketball,” Kirscher said. “There’s always been something with basketball in my life and its just made a huge impact so if I were able to give how I feel about it to other people ... I would.”

photo

2018 Sandpoint grad and current Eastern Washington women’s basketball player Grace Kirscher shoots a floater over a Portland State defender during the 2019 Big Sky Championship game.