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Margaret Sijohn Lakeside Year: Sophomore Sport: Basketball Position: Post

A heart-to-heart chat with her coach just prior to Christmas turned the season around for Margaret SiJohn.

As a result, the talk also propelled the Lakeside Knights to six post-Christmas victories in the North Star League and, eventually, the league title.

SiJohn started as a freshman last year, averaging nine points per game. But she began her sophomore season tentatively.

“I just told her she was no longer a freshman,” Knights coach Ron Miller said. “I think part of her problem was she was still the youngest starter on the team and didn’t know her role. I told her she needed to pick up her level of play.”

The results were immediate. “She had a great January,” said Miller, who noted that SiJohn averaged about 13 points per game following the talk to raise her team-leading average to 9.5 by season’s end.

What impressed Miller most in January is SiJohn’s moments of inconsistency were exactly that - just moments instead of a series of poor games.

Case in point is the state-qualifying district tournament last week. SiJohn shot poorly (four points) in a 39-27 win over Mullan, but she followed that the next night with 11 points and 14 rebounds to key Lakeside’s 30-26 win over Clark Fork in the championship game.

“I was shooting the ball flat (against Mullan),” SiJohn said. She credited her improvement to a tip from teammate Jennifer Niebuhr.

Miller thinks SiJohn’s turnaround in the district tournament and the season as a whole is more mental than physical.

“Sometimes she lacks concentration in games that might not be as important as others,” Miller said, as he and SiJohn looked at each other and smiled. “It’s maturity.”

SiJohn and the Knights (12-10 overall) take on Cambridge (19-5) in a State A-4 Tournament opener tonight at Borah High School in Boise. Tipoff is at 7:15 PST.

“She’s got great potential,” Miller said. “Teams were concerned about her this year, but she’s going to be a player that teams will have to plan defenses for next year and the year after.”