Mtn. View basketball: Sam Loggins profile

In late March, I interviewed Samantha Loggins of Mountain View High in Meridian, Idaho. This is the article that will appearin Mountain View's basketball yearbook.

Samantha

Loggins:

Mavs’ center rose to new heights
and her career might keep growing

By Bruce Smith

Matchup

               When Samantha Loggins was in sixth grade, she was taller than her teacher.

            She wasn’t done growing either. At the time, she was 6-foot-1. As an eighth grader, it should have come to no surprise that she was introduced to basketball. It has only been since that time that she learned simple things like dribbling and shooting.
            Now, she is a high-school graduate with memories of exploits of success on the basketball court. She also earned a scholarship to Utah Valley University.
            “The spring of my sophomore year, I started to play for the Idaho Flash (AAU team) and that’s where I got a lot better,” she recalled.
            She stood out on Mountain View’s varsity team as a senior. At 6-5, she was the tallest player in the league and did her best to become the most dominant. She led the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game and averaged 7.9 rebounds. She was named second team all-SIC.
            Her greatest moments may still be ahead.
            “Can you imagine what she might have been like if she had started to play earlier?” said Mountain View coach Connie Skogrand.
            Utah Valley coach Cathy Nixon agreed.
            “We feel like we found a ‘diamond in the rough,’” Nixon said. “She started basketball a little late, but she has good hands, work ethic and moves well for her size.”
            UVU signed her before the season even started. At the time, Mountain View was predicted to challenge for the 5A SIC title. Loggins played a big role in the Mavericks’ junior varsity team the previous year, which was the league champion, and, of course, during summer ball.
            “I played for ‘Hoop Dreams’ and UVU saw me,” Loggins recalled. “They called me and asked a bunch of questions. The second time they offered me a scholarship.”
            He varsity progress should have only solidified the deal.
            Loggins was at her peak when it counted. Playing at eventual league champion Centennial, she was a dominating force. She scored 26 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as the Mavericks beat their nemesis for the first time in the school’s 15-year history.
            “I was coming off a game where I didn’t play well and the coach put me on the bench,” she recalled. “It was great to come back like that. That was a fun game.”
            Skogrand remembered it well, too.
            “We broke some barriers there and the kids were pumped,” she said. “We had good momentum and the kids played a solid 32 minutes. You have to play that way to beat Centennial.”
            Loggins eclipsed 20+ points two other times. Her play proved to be important because Mountain View’s inside game (with her and Josie Lawrence) was one of its strengths and the team averaged just 43.8 points per game.
            “I always had players (opponents) around me,” she said. “I rarely got to play any 1-on-1.”
            On those off-nights offensively, Loggins tried to focus on defense. For the season, she had 68 (3.1/game) of Mountain View’s 92 blocks. She said the one remembered most came against Borah.
            “They had a girl come in from the side and I blocked it,” she said. “It was like a volleyball spike and we all said, ‘yeah.’”
            Loggins was healthy all season and, once it ended, began preparing for what she hopes will be an illustrious college career. It was a big deal when she signed the letter-of-intent – with her teammates and coach smiling proudly.
            You can bet they’ll keep noting her progress, too.