Mtn. View basketball: Whitney Gay profile

In early April, I interviewed Mountain View (Idaho) athlete Whitney Gay. She played multiple sports. Here is the article that will appear in the Mountain View girls basketball yearbook.

Whitney Gay:

Volleyball injury reduced her athleticism,
but not her importance to the team
 
By Bruce Smith
Matchup

            Whitney Gay and several Mountain View coaches had high hopes coming into the 2011-12 school year.

            For Gay, she was excited for her senior year, and all that she was about to accomplish. Her coaches (volleyball, basketball, soccer, softball) were anxious for the same reason. Gay was an athlete – and a good one. They marveled at her leaping ability, which few could match.
            “She was our athlete,” said Connie Skogrand. “She was one of the reasons we had such high hopes going into the season.”
            The year started with volleyball. Gay admitted volleyball is her passion. She started playing when she was about 10 years old. She was also a welcomed addition to every sport she played because of her attitude.
                “I have been praised for bringing the ‘intangibles’ to the court and lighting a fire under my teammates,” she said. “I love for the intensity that a highly competitive match brings.”
                Gay was an all-around player who could do it all until she sprained her right ankle. She missed the last quarter of the volleyball season. It also affected her play in basketball and she was still rehabilitating in the spring.
            “A ball came under my foot and I fell,” she recalled. “I was on crutches and an air cast for a long time.”
            More importantly, she was on the bench.
            “I didn’t put her back in until December, and she could never jump like she did before,” Skogrand said.
            But she tried. Gay was still an asset, and everyone knew it. Despite missing so many volleyball games, she had earned so much respect that she was named honorable mention all-SIC. She also made the all-academic team (3.5 GPA or higher).
            When basketball began, she missed the Mavericks first five games, but was back on the floor Dec. 1 at Timberline. She may not have been as athletic, but she had a reputation, and there was no doubting her winning attitude.
            Gay stayed in the starting lineup and ended up Mountain View’s fourth-leading scorer. She averaged 4.4 points per game and 4.3 rebounds. Gay admitted her shooting was way off, but she made up for it in other ways. Having her in the game added depth, and she was able to help teammates Josie Lawrence and Sam Loggins battle for rebounds. The Mavs led the SIC in that department.
            “I played the post when they needed me to,” Gay said. “I was undersized, but often I was able to tip the ball to a teammate or something like that. I tried to do all I could.”
            Gay said dealing with her injury was disappointing, but she had a lot of good memories from the 2011-12 basketball season. She said beating Centennial was a highlight. She also recalled a home game against Capital where she scored 15 points and had six rebounds in the Mavs’ 56-48 victory.
            “That was a game where everything was going for me,” she said. “I was ‘on’ and started taking more chances and it ended up being a great night.”
            Gay also enjoyed playing with her teammates. By playing so many sports, she had a lot of friends, and not just seniors. She also appreciated the support she received from her family, which attended all of her games.
            “We bought my little brother a Maverick shirt and he liked to cup his hands around his mouth and yell, ‘Go, Whitney G.,” she said, smiling. “My sister dressed up in blue or green and painted her face.”
            That kind of support will be missed at Mountain View next year. Gay said her family, which is originally from Lewiston, planned to move to Coeur d’Alene immediately after graduation and Gay hoped to attend college there.
            She also hadn’t given up on playing volleyball again. Her attitude never changed. She’s hoping her athleticism didn’t either.