Basketball: Tusing ignores aches and pains for Generals
By Ryan Sonner
Like a slingshot, Katie Tusing launches her body across the hardwood floor. She's not worried if it's going to hurt. She's not concerned with the bruises it will cause.
If a basketball is rolling around untouched, chances are Tusing will get her hands on it first. Don't count on the Stonewall Jackson forward letting go, either.
"It's just great to have a player like that," Generals coach Jeff Burner said. "She does all the dirty work."
The next day in practice is a different story. Unlike the day before, when Tusing was a battle-tested warrior, her softer side appears.
"The next day you hear, 'Oh this hurts, oh, that hurts,'" Burner said. "We hear about it the whole practice, but the next game, she's out there doing the same thing, throwing her body all over the court."
Over the past three seasons, that's been Tusing's role for Stonewall. She's always the one diving for the loose ball. This year, she's also been assigned to guard the opposition's toughest athlete, usually a post player.
"She does all the stuff that half of our team doesn't want to do," teammate and best friend Ashley Windsor said. "Katie's my fire on the court."
It's a role Tusing is comfortable with. More importantly, it's a role she has to accept, like it or not. The Generals' recipe for success is no secret. Freshman sensation Kallie Hovatter runs the point, and senior Jessica Showman controls things in the paint. Those two can flip through the newspaper the day after a game and see their name in the headlines. The same can't be said for Tusing.
"I'm the person behind the scenes," the 5-foot-6 senior said. "To me, it's not all about the glory."
Being under the radar isn't for everyone. A lot of players can't deal with the bumps and bruises associated with being the one who does the dirty work. But it's the pain that makes it worth it.
In eighth grade, Tusing tore cartilage in her knee and had to have surgery to repair the damage. Now, she's usually covered with bruises, usually from the knees down. Showman said she's doesn't get enough iron. Burner said she's as tough as iron.
"She just gets after it," he said. "You've got to have kids like that."
Being the "roughhouser," which is how Windsor describes her, is something Tusing learned at an early age. Her older brother, Matt, was a standout football and basketball player for Stonewall in the late 1990s.
Matt Tusing was the typical grind-it-out running back, the one who got the tough yards and the one who usually paid for it at the bottom of the pile. Let's just say he passed along some of those same traits to his younger sister in the backyard.
"He did most of the tearing up," Katie Tusing said. "I was always the victim. That's how my family is."
Now, the younger sister is the one dishing out the pain. But that's only a part of her duties for the Generals. Tusing plays power forward, but it's not the normal four spot. In Stonewall's system, Tusing's responsibilities go beyond just backing someone down in the paint. She handles the ball more than most forwards, usually on the wing.
"She has to make a lot of decisions," Burner said. "What I love is, when we're watching film, she's never standing still. She's always in the spot we need her to be in."
Tusing is averaging nearly a double-double this season, which isn't bad for a team that counts on Hovatter and Showman to carry the scoring load. For all the points she scores and all the rebounds she grabs, Tusing is most appreciated when she's doing the small stuff that the casual fan doesn't notice.
Tusing can recall several instances where she's been thrown to the floor and thought she was hurt pretty badly. That's when she knows she's doing her job.
"I just get up, and it's fine," she said. "We're not afraid to be physical."
