Margaret Sijohn Lakeside Year: Senior Sport: Basketball Position: Guard

In Ron Miller’s 11 years of coaching girls basketball at Lakeside High, Margaret SiJohn is the only player who has been a four-year starter.

Though an impressive accomplishment, it’s not new to the SiJohn family. Margaret’s dad was a four-year starter and her mother also played at the school, then known as Plummer.

“Basketball’s always been important because my whole family plays it,” SiJohn said.

Miller thinks Margaret is the best of the bunch, and she may have proved it last Saturday in Clark Fork. The Knights avenged their only North Star League loss as SiJohn contributed 13 points, 11 assists, seven steals and seven rebounds.

Impressive work for a player who wasn’t supposed to fill up the stat book this season.

“I’m asking her to play point guard this year, so her stats are down,” Miller said. “To put up those kind of numbers from the point (position) is amazing.”

Amazing is a fair description for SiJohn, perhaps the best player in the NSL. The only thing holding her back this year might be that she is too good for her own good.

Miller said that sometimes SiJohn’s passes are so quick her teammates have trouble corralling them.

“When the rest of the team gets used to her passes, her assists are definitely going to go up and we’ll get even better,” Miller said.

The team has steadily improved since SiJohn rejoined them after sitting out three early season games with complications from having her wisdom teeth pulled. The Knights lost all three games and her first game back was the loss to Clark Fork.

The Knights have gone 5-0 since then. The soft-spoken SiJohn has never played on a Lakeside team that didn’t win the league, and she isn’t ready to start now.

“We’re starting to come together as a team, and I’m starting to become more comfortable playing point guard,” SiJohn said. “I don’t think we’ll lose another league game this season.”

The only thing missing from SiJohn’s resume is a state championship. Last year, Lakeside came in third at state, SiJohn’s best finish. Obviously, she wants a state title, but her realistic goal is to place as high as last season.

Whatever happens, Miller is going to have a letdown when the final buzzer sounds.

“To be a SiJohn in Plummer, you have a reputation to fill,” Miller said. “She’s done it well and has been responsible for a lot of wins over the last four years.”

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