Senior Spotlight: 'I just know Kaylee is meant for greatness'

Editor’s note: This is a series dedicated to highlighting local senior athletes.

SANDPOINT — Basketball is in Kaylee Banks’ DNA.

The sport is part of who she is and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It’s always just been super fascinating to me,” she said. “I think it was just something I’ve always wanted to do.”

Her passion for the sport runs deep and that has a lot to do with her family. Her mom, Katie Tomsha, and her dad, Jim Banks, both played basketball at Mary Walker High School in Springdale, Washington. The pair earned MVP for their respective teams as seniors and got into coaching the sport after graduating.

Jim was the Clark Fork boys head coach when the couple’s oldest son, Kobe, played at CFHS and Tomsha was the girls JV coach at the school when Kaylee was a freshman.

Tomsha has coached Kaylee on and off since second grade. Last year was the first time Tomsha hadn't coached her daughter in some fashion. She admitted coaching her own child can be frustrating at times, but she’s enjoyed every minute of it.

Kaylee didn’t start playing the sport competitively until second grade, but she grew up watching her brother, dad and cousins on the court. It was never a question of if she would play, but when.

“I think it has meant everything to her,” Tomsha said. “Everything she does she wraps it around basketball.”

Tomsha said she tried to instill the importance of playing sports, especially basketball, in her kids early on because of the impact it can have on their lives.

Teamwork, camaraderie, respect and discipline are just a few of the qualities her kids have gained on the basketball court, Tomsha said, and she believes those characteristics will help them once they get a taste of the real world.

“That stuff will stay with them,” she said.

Kaylee has also played soccer, softball, volleyball and lacrosse, but none of those equate to the amount of time she has put into basketball.

“Basketball I think has just taught me how to be super responsible,” she said, “and I think it’s just helped me be more mature.”

Over the years, Kaylee said her family has always been supportive of her willingness to try different sports. When Kaylee is focusing solely on basketball, she receives an endless amount of tips.

“My dad is usually the one that’s always like pushing me to do better,” she said. “If I miss a shot in a game he’s always telling me like four different things to do to help me make my next one and so my dad has always been a really good coach, and so has my mom.”

For Kaylee, the competitiveness of the sport is what has kept her on the court for so long, and she loves to play defense.

This year, the senior guard is a team captain for the Bulldogs, and in the past three games she has averaged over 13 points. Kaylee’s biggest game came on Dec. 5 at Lewiston when she scored 16 points and knocked down seven free throws in the final minute to preserve a 43-38 victory for the Bulldogs.

“She's a gamer,” head coach Will Love said about Banks after that game, “and when the game is on the line at the end, we feel very comfortable with her out there.”

Kaylee has also gotten the opportunity to start alongside her younger sister, Karlie, in several games this season. Kaylee said it’s been really cool to see her sister get so much time on the court as a sophomore.

“It’s always super fun just to play with Karlie and I get to boss her around a bit, too,” she joked.

Following her freshman year at Clark Fork, Kaylee made the switch from CFHS to Sandpoint High. Tomsha said they moved their kids to SHS to be closer to family in Spokane and give them more opportunities to play basketball year-round.

Kaylee said she is “super grateful” she became a Bulldog and she could tell right away how devoted kids at the school were to basketball.

“Everyone here is just super go-getters, always wants to do their best, strives hard and I think that was a really good move for me,” she said.

Outside of basketball, Kaylee loves fishing, spends time on the water and with her dog, and has a fascination with science. In fact, she wants to be a botanist.

Tomsha is partly responsible for that interest. She said she pushed her kids to get into botany or something in science, and so far Kaylee has been the only one to consider that path.

In terms of college basketball, Kaylee is leaving her options open.

“I’m still on the fence on whether or not I want to go play basketball,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to but now that it's kind of nearing the end of my senior year … It feels like something I kind of need to let go of to get on with the rest of my life. It does suck because I just love basketball.”

Her brother, Kobe, graduated from SHS this spring and he is hoping to join a college team this coming fall.

Tomsha believes Kaylee has more in the tank.

“I don’t think that this is the end of the road for her,” she said about Kaylee’s future in basketball.

Regardless of what the future holds for her, Kaylee said her favorite memory in high school so far is making it to state last season and helping the Bulldogs win their opening game against Burley.

“I think it was just the biggest achievement I’ve ever felt as a basketball player,” she said.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Tomsha and Jim have only gotten to watch Kaylee in person once this season. That came last Tuesday against Kellogg when SHS let a select group of senior parents in.

Tomsha said she can’t imagine playing varsity basketball without fans in the stands.

“There’s just so much that goes into the sport that gives you chills when you’re there and in the moment and watching it, especially being a player on the court,” she said. “When it’s quiet, it’s frustrating.”

Tomsha said her daughter has a big heart and it would be difficult to find someone who works as hard as she does.

“She is probably the most compassionate, kind-hearted, would-be-your-friend-until-the-very-end type of person,” Tomsha said.

The realization that the end of her high school basketball career is only a few months away hasn’t set in for Kaylee yet, but she knows she will carry the sport with her wherever she goes.

“I think it’s kind of going to be a little heartbreaking,” she said. “There’s always going to be a part of me that wants to play basketball … I think that’s just because of the people that have always influenced me to keep pushing and keep working through the hardships of playing basketball. I think it’s going to be really hard to just step away from Les Rogers Court.”

Tomsha said she is “immensely proud” of Kaylee.

“I just know Kaylee is meant for greatness,” she said. “It’s finding the moment where she actually accepts that because she just hasn’t even hit close to her potential, so I’m just waiting for it.”