Crystal Clear On Goal Lee Wants To Help Get CV To State Before She Says Aloha

A number of records are within Crystal Lee’s reach but there is only one she wants.

The Central Valley senior, who could become the leading scorer in Greater Spokane League history and should become CV’s No. 1 scorer, wants the Bears to have a good enough record to get to the State AAA tournament.

That’s a goal CV missed by two games her sophomore year and one last year, when the Bears had a 20-6 record and all six losses came against the teams that went 1 (Mead), 2 (Kamiakin) and 3 (Ferris) at state.

“It was awful,” Lee said of last year’s season-ending 47-37 loss to Ferris at the regional tournament. “It was bad for the seniors. No team can feel good about working hard all season and it comes down to one game, either you go or you stay home if you lose.”

She doesn’t want that experience again. She wants to reach state.

“That would be a good ending,” she said. “It could wrap up a high school career, to go out with a bang.”

Lee has made a bang since she burst on the scene as a sophomore, averaging 12 points and earning second-team All-GSL honors. She followed with a first-team season, leading the league in scoring at 18.3.

And her future has been rewarded with a scholarship to the University of Hawaii.

So, the only goal is to make state, something CV did five consecutive years before Lee reached high school.

CV coach Dale Poffenroth compares Lee with his previous two small forwards, Courtney and Kristin Hepton, who rank 1-2 on the school scoring list.

“Offensively she’s as good as anybody we’ve ever had,” Poffenroth said. “She has good shooting range, she has moves to the hoop, she has the moves of a guard. You get her stopped one way she goes back the other way.

“She’s more physical than Courtney, not as physical as Kristin, but more of a guard than either one of those two. To be compared to those two kids is quite a compliment to her.”

Lee sees herself as a small forward, which combines the finesse of a guard and the power of a forward.

“I’m a pure ‘three,”’ she said. “You don’t necessarily have to bring the ball down the floor or post up but you can do either if needed. You have to be able to shoot the 3 and drive.”

However, what the short Bears need besides her scoring - rebounding and defense - may help her more in the future.

“For her to be successful at the next level she has to adapt to a more physical game,” Poffenroth said. “She has to become a little more mean, a little more ornery. She has to change her personalty slightly.”

Lee almost always has a bright smile, but she isn’t sure she’s giving too much away with her laid-back personality.

“I don’t know if I’m that laid-back, but I think it’s a good quality,” she said. “Sometimes I need to step up, I know I do, and show more intensity. I think I’m more intense than I appear to be. I don’t think my makeup is to be ornery but I guess I’m going to have to be more physical, for college.”

“She has to be ornery (in college), realize that the other kid wants her spot,” Poffenroth said.

Lee started playing basketball on a YMCA boys team while in grade school. She shot a lot of baskets in front of the family home and played a lot of one-on-one with her father, who enlisted the help of garbage cans for defensive purposes.

It wasn’t until she was in junior high and went to a national tournament with the Spokane Stars AAU team that she thought her future extended beyond high school.

“When I saw other girls my age playing at such a high level, I realized I can do it, too. I thought, ‘I can match up to them.’ ” Since then, the numbers have piled up.

If she averages 10 points a game in league play she’ll move into the top 10 in career scoring. If she doubles that, she’ll be No. 1.

“I’m aware of that. I know what numbers I need to reach,” she said. “I know it sounds pretty hokey but I think if I play well and we win, I’ll be satisfied. Not that I don’t want to score, that’s the funnest part of the game, but if somebody else is hot, give them the ball.”

Often times, that has been Lee. The numbers prove it.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo