GSL leading scorer Madi Crowley trades in basketball sneakers for rowing oars | District 6 basketball

Ridgeline senior Madi Crowley has accomplished a lot in her high school career. A four-year starter as a 6-foot post, she was a first-team all-league selection last season and helped the Falcons qualify for state for the second year in a row.

This season’s All-Greater Spokane League team will be announced soon, but Crowley finished as the league’s leading scorer at 19.3 points per game, has scored more than 1,200 points in her career, and this season helped Ridgeline (16-4, 8-1 GSL) earn the league’s top 3A seed to the District 6 tournament, which starts Saturday when the Falcons host a first-round game.

So, what does Crowley have planned post-graduation?

How about take up a new sport entirely.

Earlier this year, Crowley committed to Division I Michigan State. Not for basketball, but for its nationally ranked rowing program – a sport in which she has no previous experience.

“It was kind of funny how it even came about,” Crowley said. “They reached out through basketball. They saw me play at a basketball tournament on the East Coast. And at first, I kind of thought it was a joke. My mom forwarded me the email and was like, ‘Hey, you should talk to this coach.’ And I’m like, ‘Mom, I’ve never done that before.’ ”

But it was not a joke. The Michigan State coaches saw Crowley’s 6-foot frame, strength and athletic ability and reached out to sell her on the sport.

“(The coaches) said they look for big, strong athletes,” Crowley said. “We talked for a few months and finally they brought me in for a visit. And I just fell in love with the school.”

Crowley had offers to play basketball, mostly from smaller schools, but nothing “felt like home.”

“When I went to Michigan State, I fell in love with the coaching staff,” Crowley said. “My dad was with me, and we just loved the school. It was the school I was looking for.”

She now owns a rowing machine and has been training as much as she can.

“I love getting up at 5 a.m. and working out. I love going on runs after school,” she said. “It’s just all of the working out and putting in the effort that I love, and so I still get to do that at a high level, but for another sport.”

“I think she made a decision that was good for her. She seems very happy with it,” Ridgeline coach Freddie Rehkow said. “We were super supportive of it. I know she could play basketball somewhere, and that’s what I told her. I’m like, ‘Hey, you can always look, and see what happens.’ But, yeah, it’s a pretty cool story. And if you watch our video board, she does the row in her introduction video, so that’s kind of cool.”

But there is the matter of finishing her senior basketball season first. And by winning the league scoring crown, Crowley feels honored to be mentioned with some of the recent greats to come out of the GSL.

“It’s crazy to think about, you know, last year with Brynn (McGaughy), and then we had Teryn (Gardner),” she said. “It’s just crazy thinking that, like, I’m right where they were a couple years ago.”

Ridgeline enters the postseason ranked No. 3 in 3A in the state’s RPI system – which does not take into consideration the Falcons’ three out-of-state wins.

It’s the first time in Crowley’s career Ridgeline has entered the district playoffs as a favorite.

“Obviously there’s always a little bit of pressure,” she said. “But we’ve been preparing for this, and we’ve been talking about it all season. So I think now that we’ve gotten here, it’s not like, ‘Oh my gosh, what do we do?’ ”

Rehkow is no stranger to elite girls basketball in the GSL or at the state level, having guided the Hull twins to a pair of record-setting state championships and a national tournament title while at Central Valley. He earned the National High School Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year in 2018.

“That was one of our goals, was to be the No. 1 seed,” Rehkow said. “I think being the No. 1 seed is important, because if we take care of business – if we can win three games in a row – we should be the No. 1 seed coming out. We should be one of, in my opinion, one of the top four teams in the state (tournament).”

Crowley isn’t a one-person team, though. Junior Grace Sheridan – who was a first-team all-league selection as a freshman before missing all of last year with an injury – was second in the league in scoring, just behind Crowley at 18.1 points per game.

“I love playing with Grace,” Crowley said. “She’s one of the best point guards I’ve ever played with, and me and her just have a special connection. And I can know I can always find her and she can always find me, and we just have each other’s back.”

Sheridan – almost eerily – echoed her teammate’s sentiments after beating defending State 3A champion Central Valley 63-38 on Feb. 6.

“I love playing with Madi,” Sheridan said. “She’s a great post to have. I feel like we just have a connection. I can always find her. She can always find me. It works out great.”

“They’re best friends off the court and they are each other’s security blanket on the court. They both feel comfortable and confident with each other,” Rehkow said. “We needed (Madi) to dominate this year. We’re super young, and with Grace out last year, we needed (Crowley) to be that security blanket on the inside so (defenses) aren’t focused on Grace all the time.”

As Rehkow alluded, outside of Crowley and Sheridan, the Falcons are young. Like, really young. Guard Kate Taylor is the only other senior, and the rest of the roster is made up of seven freshmen.

“They had some big roles to fill, and they’ve stepped up really well,” Crowley said. “It was a little rocky at the start, just no one knew how to, like, connect with each other. But slowly through the season, we’ve figured it out, and we’ve gotten a lot closer and done a lot of team bonding, and so that’s really helped get closer off and on the court.”

“It’s taken us quite a few games, but now (Crowley and Sheridan) are starting to develop some of that trust and comfort in others,” Rehkow said. “That’s what’s making them dangerous right now, is all of a sudden you can’t just say, ‘Well, it’s going to be Grace to Madi, Madi to Grace.’ Now, other people are able to jump into that little party that they’re having, and it’s fun to watch now.”