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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Perennial Passion Cv’s Rikki Jackson Ready To Light It Up In All-Star Classic

Rikki Jackson’s smile is about to increase a couple of watts.

That usually happens when she steps on a basketball court and tonight in Coeur d’Alene she’s back on stage.

“It’s a blast playing before any crowd, that’s what gets you pumped,” Jackson said. “You can be off forever and come back into a gym with a crowd and that gets you back into the swing.”

Jackson, who will be a senior at Central Valley next year, has had that passion a long time.

“I’ve played basketball since I could walk, it came natural to me,” she said. “I have to try harder at everything else. I just love it, love the game, love the sport.”

That passion has landed her on the Washington team for the Jack Blair Memorial Girls AAU All-Star Classic. The fourth annual game between Eastern Washington and North Idaho is tonight at 7:30 at Lake City High School.

“It’s (great) knowing you were picked to represent Washington in a game against girls who were picked to represent their state,” Jackson said.

Jackson gives Washington a great chance to run its record in this series to 4-0 because she is a big (5-foot-9) point guard who understands her role, which helps in an out-of-season all-star game with limited practices. “I love it when people are down the court. It’s time to show off your stuff,” she said of her passion for the pass. “I’m just a floor general. I make sure everyone is where they need to be, direct traffic, taking care of the ball for us.”

She also likes the idea of distributing the ball to all-star teammates, something she’ll do for the better part of a month as a member of the Spokane Stars’ U-18 team headed for the national tournament in Tennessee.

“It’s a total change. You have girls who have signed Division I scholarships,” Jackson said. “If you’re on the varsity at CV, you can play basketball but an all-star team is an all-star team for a reason. Everyone can do certain things and when you mesh, good things happen.”

Good things have often happened for Jackson. She’s long had a reputation as a good player in many sports. The reputation is fueled by the Jackson name, which has been linked to the Valley sports season for several generations.

“People come up to me (because of the Jackson name) but it’s nice to hear people know of you and what you accomplished so far,” Jackson said. “There was a little pressure (based on reputation). In crunch situations, big games, I’ll show up, but when you’re killing a team, you’re not going to see me do what I can do.”

That is a knock against her play, that she’s lackadaisical in non-competitive games, of which she has participated in more than a few in her career in and out of school. “I do have a killer instinct,” she insisted, “but it’s not like Michael Jordan (every time he steps on the court).”

Jackson will, however, be CV’s Jordan next year, stepping out of the shadow created by Crystal Lee. Lee, who is also playing tonight before continuing her career at the University of Hawaii, became the Greater Spokane League’s single-season and career scoring leader last season.

“I felt like I was behind the scenes with Crystal here. It didn’t bother me, she deserved it. She worked hard to get there,” Jackson said. “For my senior year, the spotlight will be on me.”

And she’s ready.

“Of course when the game was on the line it was give the ball to Crystal because she can finish. Now it will be give the ball to Jackson. Now I’m going to have to finish. I didn’t have to do it two years in a row.”

Jackson has a good perspective, which is why she could see both sides of the State AAA championship game that CV lost to Federal Way after building a 15-point halftime lead.

“I couldn’t be more happy we were second in state. There’s only one team better,” she said. “Losing was hard, we didn’t show up in the second half, we thought we had it won. They’re a great team, you don’t do that and we suffered the consequences.”

Back court

The game will be played with college rules… . From 6:30-7, the players will be on the court to sign autographs… . The coaches are West Valley’s Mark Kuipers and Mike Arte of Gonzaga Prep for Washington and Jim Asher of Lake City and Chris Johnson of Post Falls for Idaho.

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