Laura Tolzmann Lake City Year: Senior Sport: Basketball Position: Wing

Whether to sit a sophomore or a senior on the Lake City girls basketball team bench as its first substitute was one of the toughest decisions Dave Stockwell has yet to encounter as the Timberwolves’ new coach.

Five games into the season, senior guard Laura Tolzmann wanted to know why she wasn’t starting. What could she do to start in a lineup that included three sophomores?

Even after meeting with Stockwell, the 5-foot-7 returning letterwinner off the city’s past two State A-1 championship teams wasn’t satisfied.

“I really wish I could start,” Tolzmann said. “I think (Stockwell) has me playing a certain role. I’m keeping positive. At first, it was kinda hard; I thought I deserved it.”

Tolzmann scored 25 points in Lake City’s second game of the year and takes an 8.9 average into state, third-highest on the 13-7 team.

“In 1988 we had a senior (Nicole Thompson), she had to accept that same role because she came off the bench better than the other kids,” said Stockwell. “The success of this program has been the kids coming off the bench.”

Tolzmann routinely makes clutch plays for Lake City, none bigger, however, than those in the A-1 Region I Tournament. The Timberwolves staged a furious fourth-quarter rally in a 50-49 win over Lewiston. Lake City erased an 11-point deficit with 3 minutes left. Tolzmann’s 13 points led the team. She sealed a 52-48 victory over Sandpoint in the regional title game with two free throws at the 23-second mark. She finished with 12 points.

“Against Lewiston, honestly, I didn’t know what was going to happen,” Tolzmann said. “I was thinking, ‘Somebody has got to pick it up.”’

And free throw line pressure is nothing new to Tolzmann, who won the local Elks Hoop Shoot free throw contest as a fifth- and sixth- grader. “I love that; I like the pressure, a lot of people get really nervous,” she added. “I have a lot of confidence.”

Since the third grade, Tolzmann has been shooting free throws in her back yard. “I have the free throw line painted at home,” Tolzmann said. “My mom (Debbie) would come be my rebounder.”

“(Tolzmann) gets a lot of playing time,” Stockwell said. “She does the things she needs as the game progresses. I don’t think we beat many teams in the first 2 minutes. She’s got terrific shooting form, a nice follow-through; she uses her whole body.”

Tolzmann is more than ready for state.

“I used to be afraid in the beginning of the season of messing up and being yanked out,” Tolzmann added. “I’ve proved that I can stay in the game and still do fine.”

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