In 1995, Tricia Otterblad Kohanski set the girl’s career Mariner Basketball scoring mark with 1,457 points. That mark lasted for twenty-eight years before senior Danika Thompson broke the record last Tuesday evening at Duluth Denfeld High School.
A Mariner regular since she was in the eighth grade, Thompson broke the 1000-point mark in her junior year and has added over five hundred points in her senior season.
Speaking as her coach, she deserves every bit of credit she gets. She is the hardest working player I have seen and despite her success, is never satisfied with her performance. Dani has improved each season, but never has she improved as much as she has the last half of this season. College coaches that have seen her in person or by video are all impressed with her rebounding and hard work on defense. This season, she is averaging better than ten rebounds and over four steals per game. To complete her already exciting week, she made a verbal agreement to attend the University of Wisconsin-Superior where she plans to play basketball for the Yellowjackets.
Thompson is also a top volleyball and softball player, along with being active in the National Honor Society and Student Council at William Kelley.
In her typical understated way, Dani said, “As usual, I scored the record-breaking basket because of a great pass by Izzy.” Junior Izzy Carey is a marvelous passer and has amassed almost one hundred assists this season. “A lot of my points have come as a result of a pass from one of my teammates. I appreciate them so much.”
The Mariners began the week with an exciting Monday afternoon 65-56 victory over the High School for the Recording Arts in front of the entire student body. The Mariners overcame a slow start to build a twenty-point lead before Recording Arts rallied. Thompson hit twenty-nine and Carey added twenty-four points. A high point for the Mariners occurred as freshman Genet Backman scored her first varsity points, much to the delight of her teammates.
Tuesday, the Mariners dropped a one-point game at Duluth Denfeld in a game both teams would likely describe as their most exciting of the year. Thompson had twenty-seven points including five three-pointers and six steals while Colleen Szurpicki had ten points and an equal number of rebounds. It was Senior Night, with a large crowd and the school pep band that provided a great environment. The Hunters sank a pair of free throws with under three seconds to go to get the 58-57 win.
Three games in three days left the Mariners a tired team on Wednesday at Wrenshall. The Wrens took an eight-point lead in the first half, but the Mariners defense came to life in the second half and the Mariners offense got hot and they hung on to gain a 54-51 win. Madison Olman had sixteen rebounds for the Mariners.
