Don't let her demeanor fool you. Mitchell's shy sophomore guard lets her game speak volumes.
By JAMAL THALJI
Published February 7, 2004
TRINITY - Turquoise Sampson is a hard one to figure out.
Ask the Mitchell sophomore guard about herself, her goals, her strengths, her approach to the game, and be prepared for a slight shrug of the shoulders, a shy stare and a whisper of a voice.
She doesn't talk much.
When she's on the court, she doesn't have to.
Because that's where the transformation occurs.
"Shy by day, aggressive by night," coach Stephanie Baldwin said. "I can't get two words out of her sometimes, but when she's on the court she's an animal."
On the court she is everywhere, trying to do everything: driving to the hoop, chasing after a loose ball, hurling herself after a rebound or cutting off a passing lane.
It is the kind of hard-nosed play her grandfather, Jay Thomas, has trained her for. Every summer he takes her to New Jersey to hone her skills at a rougher, tougher, faster pace, playing against boys.
When the season started, Baldwin knew Sampson's work ethic and natural talent would make her the Mustangs' go-to player on a young 12-11 team with four freshman, three sophomores and seniors and one junior.
Only Sampson seemed as shy on the court as off it. Playing with new teammates, playing on a team much different than the one she remembered as a freshman a year ago, triggered her shyness.
"I don't know, I guess I had to warm up to everybody," Sampson said. "I was just getting used to the team. It was playing with new people, I had to become comfortable with them."
Sampson's comfort level, like her game, is soaring now.
"The last six games she's been on fire," Baldwin said. "She's been the go-to girl, and not just on offense. She's been solid with her defense and rebounding.
"I had confidence in her. I know she's been working in the offseason, she works hard with her grandpa. He's a real strong supporter of the Mustangs and Turquoise."
Another issue for Sampson was maintaining her offseason pace in the regular season. Playing boys required so much of her. But playing other girls?
"I have to get used to play how everyone else plays," Sampson said. "When I'm up there I have to play harder against tougher people, and down here, I just leveled out to how they play."
Slowly, she has risen above that. She leads the team with a 10.3 scoring average, as well as steals (2.5) and assists (1.4). She is second in rebounding, at 5.5 per game.
The 5-foot-8 Sampson prefers to play guard, and helped out at point guard last year. But she's also built for the inside game, and she's at her best offensively driving to the basket.
"I had to rise to a new level," Sampson said. "I like challenges."
She's not shy about issuing them, either.
Mitchell enters Wednesday's Class 5A, District 5 tournament as the No. 2 seed facing No. 3 and host River Ridge in the semifinal. The two split over the regular season, but the third game is for a berth in Saturday's finals against top-seeded Land O'Lakes and a playoff spot.
"We want to beat Land O'Lakes," Sampson said. "Because we're going to beat River Ridge."
