For The Tribune
As a three-sport athlete, Crothersville’s Alisha Basil doesn’t have to spend much time trying to find something to do after school.
Most days you will find her preparing of for her next cross-country run, basketball game or track meet.
The Tigers senior said she began playing sports in the sixth grade.
Basil said running cross-country is tough to do, especially since she is battling Osgood-Schlatter disease.
The ailment can cause a painful lump to form below the kneecap. This is generally caused by pubescent growth spurts.
“I don’t really like it, but just like how I can get out there and I can show my coaches and my team I can do it, and I won’t give up. Even if it does hurt, I won’t give up,” Basil said.
Basil said her career-best time is 25 minutes.
“My goal is to get into the 24-minutes mark,” Basil said. “Considering the condition I have in my knees, I think it was a pretty good day, (at Salem) all-around.”
Basil’s favorite cross-country course is Brown County, and she uses cross-country to get in shape for basketball.
“For my first mile I at least try to get it to eight (minutes),” Basil said. “After two miles I want to be around 16:30, 17 minutes, and then for the last mile I pick up my pace just a little bit more and when I get to the finish line I just give it all I can.”
The senior is a distance runner in track, competing in the mile and two-mile, and she runs a leg in the 3,200 relay.
“My favorite event in track would be the 3,200 relay,” Basil said. “I like to run stay in the middle. I don’t like to start off, and I don’t like to anchor. For my 800, I would like it to be three minutes.”
Basil said it is important for her to keep a steady pace in her individual events.
“I try to keep my pace (in the mile),” she said. “On my first two laps I have a pretty steady pace, and on my last two laps I pick up my pace, lap four kick it in.
“When I start out in the two-mile I like to set a pretty good pace, and on my last lap I pick it up even more than I did on my mile because I know that is my last race.”
Basil is looking forward to her final season of basketball.
“I like to shoot, but I also like to dribble the ball because of all the open opportunities there is,” Basil said. “I can pretty much shoot it anywhere if I know I have that open shot.
Last season, Basil earned the Tigers’ free throw award.
The Tigers begin their season in the Henryville Tipoff Tournament, and Basil said she enjoys competing in it to get ready for the regular season.
She said practice, and having a good attitude, is important in all sports.
“Practice means everything,” Basil said. “I feel the more you practice, the better off you’re going to be for your running events and also your basketball games.
“When you are at the free throw line and you have to make that shot to win the game, you just have to concentrate and make sure that is what you really want to do or it could cost you a ballgame.
“The same thing in running: You’re putting yourself on the line; you’re putting the team on the line because if one person fails you all fail.”
Q: What would you say is your career highlight thus far into your senior year?
A: “In cross-country I always had this one girl (from Trinity Lutheran), I would always run with her. In this one meet I told myself I couldn’t do it, but I got in front of her and I beat her and every meet after that.”
Q: What are you looking forward in basketball season?
A: “I like the home games because they are on our court, and we don’t let anyone come in and have the big head that they are going to beat us because we play on that court every day. We’re the ones that are going to own that gym. My favorite away gym is Christian Academy.”
Q: What’s it like attending Crothersville High School?
A: “It’s really good. I really enjoy it. I really like being in a small school compared to being in a big school. I think the most I’m going to remember when I graduate is our teams. We work together so hard, and once we all leave we’re not going to have that team again. We’re not going to have that same team that we grew up having.”
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Parents: Susan Basil, the late Donald Basil
Siblings: Amber, Michael, Trenton, Savannah
Sports: cross country 4 years, basketball 3 years, track 3 years
Athletic highlights: basketball: mental attitude award, free throw award
Organizations: National Honor Society, choir, student council, science club, academic team, S.A.D.D., F.H.A.
Plans after high school: attend Indiana University Southern Indiana, study radiology
Favorite good: pizza
Favorite TV show: “Teen Mom”
Favorite musician: Luke Bryan
Favorite movie: “The Climb”
Favorite team: University of Kentucky
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Q: What would you say is your career highlight thus far into your senior year?
A: “In cross country I always had this one girl (from Trinity Lutheran), I would always run with her. In this one meet I told myself I couldn’t do it, but I got in front of her and I beat her and every meet after that.”
Q: What are you looking forward in basketball season?
A: “I like the home games because they are on our court, and we don’t let anyone come in and have the big head that they are going to beat us because we play on that court every day. We’re the ones that are going to own that gym. My favorite away gym is Christian Academy.”
Q: What’s it like attending Crothersville High School?
A: “It’s really good. I really enjoy it. I really like being in a small school compared to being in a big school. I think the most I’m going to remember when I graduate is our teams. We work together so hard, and once we all leave we’re not going to have that team again. We’re not going to have that same team that we grew up having.”
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