Raft River basketball: Echo Hansen profile

In early April, I visited Malta, Idaho, and visited with Raft River basketball sensation Echo Hansen, who was one of the school's best student-athletes. Here is the article that will appear in her team's basketball yearbook.

Echo Hansen:

Her family’s athletic tradition lived on

and gave Trojans the offense it needed

By Bruce Smith

Matchup
 

            At the start of Raft River’s 2011-12 girls basketball season, it was easy for Echo Hansen to wonder, “what if …?”

            Her best friend, Hailey Greenwood, was gone. She had moved with her family to Afton, Wyo. When she left, so did Raft River’s state championship hopes.
            Hansen and Greenwood had helped Raft River to a 20-7 record, the South Division regular-season title and a berth into the 1A Division 1 state tournament.
            When Greenwood left, a lot was responsibility was placed on Hansen. She was already a 4.0 student and a three-sport athlete. When the basketball season started, it didn’t take long for her to step up.
            “Every game, it was somebody’s goal to shut me down,” she said. “It was still my best season. “It would have been better if Hailey had been here, but I had a lot of fun. We were young but a lot of girls got experience and they will be good.”
            As the 10^th of 16 children, she always had to deal with competition. She started playing basketball at age 6 and, by the time she was a ninth grader, showed she might be a special athlete.
            “I played volleyball because it was fun and I competed in track because it was expected of me, but I always loved basketball.”
            Track, however, is where she stood out. Shortly after the basketball season, she competed well in the hurdles and sprint relay and earned a scholarship to Utah Valley University, where she expected to join her older sister, Sally.
            “Until this year, my best memory  was competing at the state meet with her (as a freshman),” she said. “I think I was the only freshman there and that was a special time.”
            Her fondest memories this year were on the court. She also made the varsity basketball team as a freshman and, in her career, ended up going to the state tournament three straight times.
            As a 5-foot-9 senior, she was easily Raft River’s leading scorer, averaging 16.7 points per game. She had a high game of 33 points in the Trojans’ biggest win, a 59-58 victory over Grace. There was also a four-game stretch in early December when she averaged 24.2 ppg and that led to her being selected athlete of the week by KMVT Television and by the Twin Falls Times-News.
            “We depended on Echo the entire season,” said Raft River coach Garth Steed. "Echo was our ‘2’ guard and Wynter (Holtman) was our post and they worked well together. They carried us and everyone else pitched in.”
            “We had a lot of potential,” said Hansen. ”Our record wasn’t that great, but it was great to see the crowds at our home games. They really supported us.”
            She said her best memory was against Grace. Her 30-point effort against the Grizzlies four weeks earlier was not quite enough. With another big home crowd, she concluded the best-scoring night of her career with a three-pointer at the buzzer that lifted the Trojans to a 59-58 win.
            “Coach told me to take the ball and go,” Hansen recalled. “I pulled up and thought it was a ‘two’ (pointer) but then I looked at the scoreboard and it read 59-58. Then all the players were hugging me and I realized we had won.”
            That victory allowed the Trojans to tie Grace for the South Division title. At the district tournament, Hansen also scored eight of Raft River’s final nine points in its 31-30 win over Shoshone in the first round. That would be the team’s final moment of glory as it dropped consecutive road games to Glenns Ferry and Hagerman to end the season.
            Hansen was later named first team all-conference and the Times-News put her on its all-area second team. She also played in a postseason all-star game.
            All of those experiences helped the “what if ..?” thoughts fade. And, as her athletic career continues, they will likely fade more. At Raft River, however, she will always be remembered well – at least until another member of the Hansen clan arrives.