Raft River basketball: Taylor Whitaker profile

In early April, I interviewed Taylor Whitaker and we talked about the Raft River girls basketball season. This is the article that will appear in the Trojans' 2011-12 yearbook.

Taylor Whitaker:

Her athletic ability and experience made her

the perfect person to take over at the point

By Bruce Smith

Matchup
 
            A lot was expected of Taylor Whitaker in Raft River’s 2011-12 girls basketball season.
            She was a senior, and was asked to take the point guard position after Hailey Greenwood left. She knew she couldn’t replace Greenwood, but had to play her game instead. Fortunately, she was surrounded by friends and her younger sister, Taryn.
            “We really cared for each other. We began to work as a team,” she said. “I really liked playing with my little sister. She was also my friend.”
            Whitaker was expecting a lot this season. She was a three-sport athlete (volleyball, basketball and track) and, as a junior, her teams made it to state each time.
            In basketball, Raft River had an 18-9 record that year. The Trojans dropped their state tournament opener to Clearwater Valley, but rallied to beat Notus and Liberty Charter to win the consolation trophy. Whitaker said that meant a lot to the team.
            “We knew we were up there (at state) for a reason and wanted to bring back some hardware,” she said. “We were all excited to get that trophy.”
            When Greenwood left, Whitaker had to adjust her game as the team’s point guard. She focused more on passing. She averaged just 1.5 points per game, but was always involved in the offense. Mostly, she tried to get the ball to the team’s primary scorers, Echo Hansen and Wynter Holtman.
            The team progressed slowly, but began to find its groove. Unfortunately, bad news struck quickly. Whitaker sprained her ankle and missed three games and, at almost the same time, Taryn fractured her tibia and was done for the season.
            “I had been grooming her to replace Hailey, so losing her was a big loss,” said coach Garth Steed. “We only had 12 players and seven on the varsity, so we had to adjust pretty quickly.”
            Whitaker rehabbed her injured ankle during the Christmas holiday break. She returned Jan. 5 as Raft River took on Grace. She didn’t score a point, but her game was back on track as the Trojans won 59-58 on Hansen’s three-pointer at the buzzer.
            One week later, they whipped Glenns Ferry 44-32. Whitaker said that was the team’s best game of the season.
            “We beat them by quite a bit,” she said. “Our defense was better than it had been all year. We ran a 2-3 zone against them and their best player (Karli McHone) didn’t have any three-pointers.”
            Whitaker said her personal best games were home games against Declo and Hagerman. At Declo, she didn’t score, but had the play of the game when she blocked a shot that even made the home crowd cheer.
            “I knew the girl for some time and she was really surprised when I stuffed her,” she said. “We had a lot of fans there, but everybody was cheering.”
            Against Hagerman, Whitaker nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the third quarter to give the Trojans some momentum. Raft River ended up losing that game, but that was the only trey made by any Trojan player other than Hansen.
            “It was a lucky shot,” Whitaker said, “but I’ll take it.”
            Another game Whitaker recalled well was each time the Trojans played Oakley. She said the Hornets were Raft River’s biggest rival and was proud to note they beat them both times, but it wasn’t easy.
            “They always played their best (against us). It was real intense,” she said. “The first time we played them, Wynter (Holtman) was at the (National Finals Rodeo) in Las Vegas, so we all had to step up. We worked really hard on our defense and shut them down.”
            After basketball, Whitaker competed on the track team. She was involved in several events, including the pole vault, where she had a high of 7-feet, 6-inches and won the district meet with a 7-0 effort. The state meet, however, didn’t go so well.
            She said she planned to continue her education by first attending the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls and earn a degree in the medical field.