Cardinals’ Miranda Spilker brings 100 percent to hoops

For some, the love of a sport is acquired. For others, it’s an instant attraction.

When it came to basketball, Miranda Spilker found the game was definitely the latter.

“We started when I was 5 with Medical Lake Parks and Rec,” Spilker said. “I just love team sports.

“I love relying on my teammates and them having to rely on me to get the win together. I just love the game.

“I’ve never been so passionate about anything.”

The senior post player has taken that love to four years of excellence on the court for the Medical Lake High School girls basketball team, leading the Cardinals on and off the court.

“She’s one of those kids you love to coach because she just loves the game,” says Cardinal coach Sandy Zimmerman. “She’s excited to be there.

“She’s one of those driven kids who’s self-motivated, and those are a rarity. You can’t help but just love those kids who are going to come and work hard every day for you. She has just a tremendous work ethic.”

“The leadership she has provided has been so valuable,” added Zimmerman. “We’ve needed someone to be in there saying, ‘I still believe in us and I believe in this team and we can do this!’

“It’s great in huddles, where right before we go out, she’ll get on all her teammates saying, ‘We’re going to do this!’ I think it really rubs off on her teammates.”

Spilker holds down the post position for the Cardinals, a tall task for someone who stands 5-foot-9 and must battle opponents who sometimes stand over 6 feet tall.

“I’ve got a lot stronger,” said Spilker, who averages more than 12 points and eight rebounds a contest. “My freshman year I played guard because of my height.

“My sophomore year, coach Zimmerman decided to have me play post because I was taller than the other freshmen girls. She saw I had a strong body.

“She was confident in me that I could outmuscle the other girls.”

“She’s one of the most physical, strong posts I’ve ever coached,” Zimmerman said. “She’s only 5-9, but she plays like she’s 6-2. She’s got great hands in the post, great strong moves, and she can use her body really well.

“She’s really competitive, and she’s fearless. I love that about her.”

Spilker also uses her wits as much as her physical abilities to get an edge.

“I use a lot of fakes,” Spilker said. “My coach has me practice against a lot of guy coaches that come in.

“I practice going up through the arms, using my body to get my space under the hoop so I can make those shots.

“The girls may be bigger, but it frustrates them because they think they have an advantage over me,” she continued. “How strong I play balances it out. I get in their head.

“You don’t often see me get mad and yell at the refs and flip out like a lot of the girls do. When you get frustrated, it throws your game off. It really does.

“You have to keep your cool and your confidence.” This season hasn’t gone as planned for Spilker and Medical Lake. Instead of contending at the top of the Great Northern League, the Cardinals find themselves toward the bottom of the league standings, but Spilker is hoping to lead her team to a big finish.

“We just need to keep confident,” Spilker said. “We know we’re good, but we have to play a full 32 minutes.

“In a lot of those close games, you can see the couple of minutes we checked out. There are just little things we need to get done and we can pull off the win.

“I just hope that we can finish out strong, and that doesn’t necessarily mean getting the wins. That means doing what we need to do.

“Even if we do lose, then we should be able to walk away saying we gave it our all.”

However the Cardinals finish, Spilker’s departure will leave a definite void in the Cardinal middle.

“I’m going to miss it definitely,” Spilker said. “Our team is so close-knit. I think it’s going to leave a huge void.

“Ever since elementary school, basketball has been my life. Our coach always says you’ll never be able to play in any kind of league as competitive as high school.

“Seeing people out at the college playing intramurals, it’s true. It won’t ever get this competitive ever again.”

“I have to smile to keep from crying because I’m really going to miss her,” Zimmerman said. “She’s a great kid, on and off the court.

“She’s given so much to this program. We’re going to miss her out there – I know that.”