Schmiesing is a member of 1,000-1,000 Club

When Tri-City United (TCU) senior Ella Schmiesing grabbed her 1,000th career rebound Tuesday, Dec. 30 at Waterville, she became one of the select few in state history to have both 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.

The St. Catherine basketball commit is one of only 267 players in Minnesota history to record the milestone.

As a freshman Schmiesing played in all 26 games, recording 219 rebounds in 610 minutes of action.

Every year those numbers increased and more rebounds were recorded. She had 291 rebounds in 730 minutes playing in 27 games as a sophomore. As a junior she played in 27 games and finished with 306 rebounds in 684 minutes. This season she is averaging well over 12 rebounds per game and consistently has finished with double figures in points and rebounds.

“Ella did a great job as a freshman stepping in for us off the bench when our other big post player was fighting with a back injury.  She took advantage of that and never looked back.,” past TCU head coach Don Marcussen, who coached Schmiesing for three years. “She was surrounded by a nice group of guards that were only a year older than her so they all grew together and she knew her role and where we needed her the most. As she continued to learn the game she became a large part of our team success these past 2-3 years. Her ability to time her blocks and fight off rebounding position really helped us not have to worry about getting beat too often inside the lane. “

Marcussen knew of Schmiesing’s great success in swimming and was hoping she would have the same type of success in basketball.

“Because Ella was successful in swimming i had my concerns if i was going to also get the same commitment in basketball.  It did help that her dad...

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