The real STEELE

ST. IGNATIUS — A stellar basketball career came to an unfortunate end for St. Ignatius post Bryanna Steele on Friday, Feb. 17. The senior, a three-year varsity player who showed flashes of dominance throughout the year, tore her ACL in the Lady Bulldogs’ District 6-B loss to Loyola Sacred Heart, just as her team was playing their best basketball of the season.

ST. IGNATIUS — A stellar basketball career came to an unfortunate end for St. Ignatius post Bryanna Steele on Friday, Feb. 17. The senior, a three-year varsity player who showed flashes of dominance throughout the year, tore her ACL in the Lady Bulldogs’ District 6-B loss to Loyola Sacred Heart, just as her team was playing their best basketball of the season.

“It was sad, but I still enjoyed watching the team out there playing and I was really happy they beat Florence,” Steele said.

That they did, as the team rallied together the following day to defeat the Lady Falcons for the first time in three tries on the year 67-57, overcoming the loss of their leading scorer.

Steele was a force on the hardwood for Mission, averaging 8.3 points per game, including eight of 19 games in double figures and two games in which she exploded for 20 against the Ronan Maidens and a career-high 21 in an overtime loss to the Arlee Scarlets.

“I surprised myself,” the soft-spoken Steele said of her performance against Arlee.

Despite that game, it wasn’t the most lasting moment in what was an impressive career. Two years ago, teammate Lyssia McDonald suffered a sprained ankle after taking a fall. Steele came over with a reaction that wasn’t exactly appropriate at the time, but causes her to have the same one now.

“I thought she was laughing, so I started laughing, but she was crying,” Steele said. “I felt pretty bad.”

There’s more to Steele than just being a gym rat, however. Born and raised in St. Ignatius, Steele is wrapping up a high school career that has seen her make many lifelong friends.

“I like how most of us have been going to school together since kindergarten,” Steele said.

Whether she will be close in terms of proximity next year remains to be seen. Steele is getting ready to embark on the next phase of her life and she has yet to decide whether that will take her out of the familiar confines of the Mission Mountains, one of her favorite features of growing up in the valley.

Recently, she was accepted by the University of Arizona and has narrowed her search to there or, where else, the University of Montana.

“I’m considering Arizona because I like warm weather and want to see some different things out of state,” Steele said. “Or Montana because my whole family loves that school.”

While she hasn’t decided completely on a field she’d like to pursue, Steele does have options in mind. At St. Ignatius, Steele enjoys American government.

“I like the way the teacher teaches,” Steele said.

Another area of interest is photography. She’s heard that Montana is a good school for that field and Arizona has a solid program as well, making the decision that much more complicated.

She’s also considering walking on for the basketball or softball teams wherever she goes. A talented first baseman gifted with the glove, the spring would have marked her third season on the varsity team before her knee injury occurred.

Whether she ends up in Tucson or Missoula, one school is going to get a Steele of a student and an athlete.