Paul Yeager: Welcome to the
sports desk at the IPTV studio, and to another
episode of Teen Spotlight #IPTVSports.
I'm Paul Yeager.
Pocahontas Area's Elle Ruffridge is the reining
5-player scoring leader in Iowa girls basketball.
This small but mighty guard is a huge asset on
the floor, and she has the record-breaking stats to
prove it.
♪♪Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light.♪♪
♪♪What so proudly we hailed, at the twilight's last♪♪
♪♪gleaming.♪♪
I thought Elle said it right in a quote in the
paper today, there really was no plan to be this
kid.
Her whole intent when she came into basketball as a
high schooler was to try and win as many state
titles with this group of girls as she could.
And I think for her she has played with a little
bit of a chip on her shoulder because there
have been some people that have told her that she was
never going to be a major college basketball player.
She has proved a lot of people wrong.
(cheering)
♪♪
Elle Ruffridge:
It was around kindergarten when I really started
finding a passion for it because I was surrounded
by the 2005 team and they made it to state.
Brandon Ruffridge: We had a group of girls that just
got hot at the right time.
Elle was a kindergartner.
She actually got to sit on the bench with us.
She said from that day that she wanted to
experience that someday and that was something
that really drove her.
Karla Ruffridge: She wasn't going to let her
height ever be a factor in the game.
You've always told her there's always somebody
out there getting better each and every day and I
think that just sticks with her that there are
better players than Elle, but she doesn't like that.
Elle: This is my home away from home.
When I've had a bad day this is where I come and
it's my happy place, definitely where I get to
have my time.
In the summer I spend hours and hours just
constantly going through my shooting routines.
She has worked tremendously on her
shooting.
That's her art.
That's her craft.
Elle: After the Nevada loss I was frustrated in
my shooting performance.
The next day I came into the gym, I shot a thousand
3's and I made 859.
So I kind of let my anger out and got my rhythm
back.
♪♪
Robert Maske: You're not just building
shooting, you're building confidence.
When we talk about Elle and points, Elle's points
have gone up each year.
Her shot totals have really stayed about the
same, she's just more efficient.
That freshman year shooting almost 50%, now
she's shooting 59% from the field.
Her freshman year 36% from three, her senior year
right now 53% and the girl has got range.
She's got the green light anytime.
Tyce Ruffridge: Usually when I'm watching her
every shot she takes I'm thinking it's going in so
getting ready to cheer.
Shea Ruffridge: I've seen her put a lot of baskets
through the hoop so I'm kind of used to her making
30 points a game.
Elle: When I shoot it I think that every shot is
going to go in and when it doesn't I'm just like,
shoot.
Maske: One person no matter how good, it makes
it really hard to get to state, let alone to win
state.
We have that phenomenal athlete and then we have a
few more.
Not just for Elle but for Faith and Grace all three
of them are in the record books for assists and
steals, Grace is with rebounds, Faith is with
three-pointers.
And so that combination has put her obviously
where she's at with now all-time leading scorer
and the all-time leading assist girl in Iowa girls
basketball history, which I've done some research,
there has never been girls that have had that
distinction at the same time or even close.
Elle: We've been on this journey together for so
long.
Raising that championship trophy was something we've
always dreamed about.
Losing that game really taught us a lot of things
and kind of brought us closer together as a team.
They worked tirelessly because they wanted to
taste the championship and last year, 27 and 0,
knocking off Cherokee in one of the greatest games
in 5-on-5 history to get to the championship,
rematch against Nevada.
Pocahontas Area, they're the 3A champs!
And the rest is history.
Elle: We really came together and were like,
alright, we're not going to feel this again, next
year we're going to get it and by golly we did.
Elle: I'm really excited for the future.
I plan to attend Missouri State University and
continue my passion and love for the game.
It's going to be a huge adjustment to us all.
Yeah, there will be a definite gap.
Ever since she has been a little kid we've spent
just precious moments, lots of precious moments
that we've shared together on the basketball court.
(cheering)
Breaking the all-time scoring mark was
incredible for all of us.
(cheering)
It's just inspirational to all young
female athletes, big, small, whatever it is.
It was never the plan.
Congratulations on becoming the all-time
scoring leader.
Elle: This is just something I never
imagined.
When I was younger I looked up to those girls
and now for me to be the girl that girls look up
to, I want them to remember this, just like
I'm remembering this.
Hopefully one day one of those girls is trying to
break the record.
♪♪
Yeager: Elle finished her high school
career leading Pocahontas Area to the 2017 Class 3A
title.
We wish Elle good luck with her career at
Missouri State.
A reminder that IPTV Sports brings you live
championship action in softball, volleyball,
basketball and more.
Tune in to cheer on your favorite Iowa girl.
I'm Paul Yeager.
Thanks for joining me.