Turner aims for good news

Priest River’s Calli Turner keeps a newspaper clipping on her bedroom wall and looks at it at least once a day to remember last year’s state championship basketball game.

But it’s not a fond memory – at least not entirely.

The clipping serves as a reminder of Marsh Valley’s rout of the Spartans, and as a source of motivation to go one huge step further at this year’s 3A State Tournament.

As Priest River prepares for its opening-round contest with Shelley today at 3 at Kuna High, Turner said her team is peaking at just the right time after winning the Intermountain League and 3A District I tournament titles.

She also knows that, as a four-year starter and team co-captain, a lot of the burden falls on her shoulders – a task she said she embraces with open arms.

“I like being a team leader,” said Turner, a 5-foot-10 post who leads the Spartans in scoring. “I think it’s good for me to learn that role and the most important thing is that it helps make our team stronger.”

Turner said the Spartans have a bit of a chip on their shoulder, thanks in large part to the perception of being underrated – both by opponents and in print.

“Nobody expected us to do as well as we did last season, and we proved them wrong,” Turner said. “And I think there’s been a lot of that this year, too.

“We didn’t start out too great – we have three freshmen and only four returning players, and that was hard at first – but winning league and districts pretty much speaks for itself, I think.”

Then there is still that one huge step.

Making it that much tougher, Turner said, is the fact that Marsh Valley is supposed to be better this year.

Talking to Turner, though, it’s easy to tell she and her teammates are by no means shying away from the challenge.

“If we all bring our ‘A’ game like we have been lately and we all work hard, I think we can take ‘em,” Turner said.

As for what comes after high school, Turner said she plans on studying physical therapy or sports medicine at a four-year college – preferably somewhere in the Inland Northwest.

The one stipulation she has is that she gets to do that which she loves best.

“Whether I walk on or I get a scholarship, I have to play basketball,” said Turner, who’s played for 12 years and credits older sister Angie, a one-time state Player of the Year for her classification and now an assistant coach for the Spartans, as her biggest inspiration.

“I just love it.”