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KINDRED HOOP SPIRITS

Iowa scoring queen Remmerde sees PAC’s Ruffridge closing in

Messenger file photo Elle Ruffridge scores for Pocahontas Area earlier this season.

ROCK VALLEY — Before Elle Ruffridge, there was Deb Remmerde.

The now-married Remmerde-Leusink scored 2,756 points in her legendary career at Rock Valley High School, helping the program to three consecutive state titles from 2001-03.

Ruffridge is chasing her scoring mark on her way to seeking a second straight crown with top-ranked (Class 3A) Pocahontas Area.

At her current rate of 30 points per game, Ruffridge would pass Remmerde in the regular season finale against Manson Northwest Webster.

The two are likely to be linked forever in the Iowa girls high school basketball record books.

Ruffridge already passed Remmerde-Leusink for the sophomore scoring record, and recently bested her made three-pointer mark of 353. The Missouri State University recruit has 357 triples in her career at the winter break.

The passion to succeed remains strong in the 2003 Miss Iowa Basketball winner to this day.

“I don’t know how long I expected (the scoring record) to stand, but honestly, I hoped it would stand this long and for many years beyond,” Remmerde-Leusink said. “That’s the competitor in me.”

Remmerde-Leusink, a member of the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Hall of Fame, continued her career at Northwestern College after transferring there from the University of Iowa. She helped lead the Red Raiders to the 2008 NAIA Div. II national title, and cemented her legacy when she made a national record 133 consecutive free throws — an all-time best mark that includes high school, college and professional leagues for both men and women.

Her playing career continued with a tryout for the WNBA’s Houston Comets, but a foot injury hindered that. Remmerde-Leusink eventually played professionally in Germany, before the same injury again forced her to the sidelines.

After a stint at South Dakota State University as a graduate assistant, Remmerde-Leusink returned to Northwestern, helping them to a third consecutive national title as an assistant coach.

Earlier this year, she stepped down from coaching to focus on her family, which will grow from two children to three in 2017 with husband Barry. Remmerde-Leusink says of her family’s decision, “we couldn’t be happier.”

“I spent five years as an assistant coach at Northwestern, and for the final two, I also taught a class on campus. With two small daughters at home (now a three-year-old and a two-year-old), the coaching schedule was tough on me as a mommy,” she said. “So I’m staying home with our girls and I’m also doing some private basketball instruction with some area athletes. Overall, I’m absolutely loving the time I get to spend with our daughters.

“Coaching is a possibility, at some level, down the road. But I’m not thinking about that now.”

Below is a transcript of the conversation with Remmerde-Leusink, in which she discusses Ruffridge, her career and more:

DB: Have you ever watched Elle Ruffridge play?

DRL: “I saw her at the 2015 state tournament in person, then at the 2016 state tournament on TV. It was clear that she’s played a lot of ball, and she’s really quick. She handles it well, and shoots it really well, too.

DB: Do you see any comparable traits between Ruffridge’s game and yours?

DRL: “I think we both found ways to use our own unique gifts and talents to be successful on the court, and we both seemed to have a knack for finding ways to score. She seems like a tough competitor, which I really respect and appreciate.

“That’s one of the things I prided myself on — competing like crazy, never backing down, and doing everything I could possibly do to win.”

DB: Did it help that, in the process of becoming the state’s all-time leading scorer, Rock Valley was also having so much team success? In that it maybe took some of the pressure off?

DRL: “Honestly, there was no ‘constant pressure.’ In fact, there was no pressure whatsoever.

“The record was never something I was chasing. Our team success and winning games was always my goal. I wanted to win championships. And I was fortunate enough to be on three teams that were blessed to do just that.

“Yes, I was a perfectionist and I hated — HATED — missing shots. But ultimately, I wanted to help bring state championship trophies to Rock Valley. The scoring record … that was just something that happened along the way.”

DB: What was the hardest part mentally when it came to closing in on the scoring record?

DRL: “It honestly wasn’t something I thought much about. I knew it might happen, and eventually I knew it would happen, but I didn’t focus on it or really even think much about it.”

DB: Did you feel any pressure night in and night out to score a certain amount of points?

DRL: “Nope. I wanted to play well and wanted to win. I was a perfectionist and I expected to make every shot. Obviously, that didn’t happen. But missed shots drove me crazy — to an obsession level. So I guess I put that pressure on myself to not miss shots. But to score a certain number of points? No.”

DB: Do you have any advice for Ruffirdge and other high school players out there?

DRL: “Work hard and have fun chasing those victories and championships. Enjoy making those memories with your teammates and coaches, because the memories truly do last for years and years to come.

“I see those three state championship trophies in the trophy case at school on a very regular basis. Those trophies represent some awesome wins, but they also represent hundreds of other special memories that were made along the way.”

TALE OF THE TAPE

Deb Remmerde

Points: 2,756

Senior: 859

Junior: 770

Sophomore: 667

Freshman: 460

Elle Ruffridge

Points: 2,385

Senior: 274

Junior: 766

Sophomore: 733

Freshman: 612

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