MOBRIDGE – Whether racking up her own impressive totals or setting up her teammates to score, Blake Thompson is a driving force for the Mobridge-Pollock girls’ basketball team.

The senior all-state player has helped to lead Mobridge-Pollock to a 15-4 record so far with the postseason starting next week, where the Tigers will be the top-seeded team in Region 6A. Thompson’s skills as a basketball player started from a young age when her older sister TyRel pushed her to be the best athlete she could be.

“I’ve always played basketball ever since I was really little, and I’ve just fallen in love with it. Any chance I got to be in a gym, I would take it and my sister was a very big impact because she was a really good shooter in high school,” Thompson said. “I kind of always wanted to be just as good as her, or even better and she wanted me to get better, too. So, she would always help me out in the gym and everything. And I just loved all the core memories we spent in there.”

Although six years separate the siblings, TyRel never took it easy on her little sister, making her earn every point.

“She definitely never took it easy on me when we one-v-oned. When she was in high school, I was in middle school-ish. Anytime we one-v-oned, she would never, ever let me have an open layup so I had to figure out ways to adjust and score,” Thompson said. “I honestly think that’s what got me as good as I am today, just because she was always there. And she even wanted me to be really good. It’s not like it was a big rivalry or anything, she always wanted to push me super-duper hard.”

It wasn’t only her sister that provided competition for Thompson, as anyone in the Mobridge-Pollock area is always up for the challenge to help each other get better.

“A lot of us just came together and competed against each other, which definitely made us better and we’re all so competitive,” Thompson said. “My grade level, and the grades below me and above me, we all just had that strive to get better, so I feel like that’s kind of what made us better. Just the heart and determination to get to the next level.”

It has helped the standout to prepare for the next level as she’s committed to continue her basketball career at Black Hills State in the fall.

“I actually had a conversation with my mother. She made me sit down and just talk about like say basketball wasn’t in the picture, where would you want to go to college? And I was just like honestly, Black Hills just because I like their program, I like what they have to offer and the hills are beautiful,” Thompson said. “And not even kidding, like 20 minutes after we had that conversation, I got a call from Coach (Kelly) Kruger giving me an offer to play basketball, so I was like this is a sign from God. It’s fate, I have to commit, so I committed right away as fast as I could.”

Before becoming a Yellow Jacket though Thompson is gearing up for another playoff run for Mobridge-Pollock, which has been receiving votes in the poll all season. One year after falling in the SoDak 16, the Tigers cleared that hurdle and got to the State A Tournament last year for the first time in 15 years.

That postseason journey is one of Thompon’s favorite basketball memories. The Tigers beat St. Thomas More in a SoDak 16 contest by one point, and eventually finished sixth at the state tourney, where Thompson earned a spot on the all-tournament team.

“It was our SoDak 16 game and we won by one basket in order to get to the state (tournament). It was so unreal to me, because this little, small town that wasn’t even on the rankings, wasn’t anywhere, made it to something big like that,” Thompson said. “It was just so fun and so much emotions, and we got to cut down the net.”

Being from a small town gives Thompson and the rest of the community a sense of pride.

“The support that we have is unreal. Everybody comes up and tells me how good of a player I am and just encourages me. And I’m so thankful that we kind of are in a smaller community,” Thompson said. “I’m very thankful for everybody that’s behind me.”

That support has helped the Tigers grow close and stay close through all types of adversity.

“Our season has so many ups and downs. Honestly, we’re learning a lot as a team, but I feel like the adversity has helped me grow mentally, and I’ve really focused on trying to be as consistent as I can be and doing anything to help us win,” Thompson said. “We’re actually really close as a team, and we compete really hard with each other and support each other. I think that just being around each other all the time has helped us grow a lot this season.”

Thompson, who is also an all-conference volleyball player, hopes to continue to be a force for the Tigers, creating scoring opportunities, whether that be for herself or her teammates. She is coming off a recent 32-point performance.

“My role is to create scoring pressures for the other teams. Whether I’m hitting open 3’s, driving the gaps, or just making the extra pass,” Thompson said. “I just want to have the defenses guard me at all three levels and just be a threat outside.”

As her time in a Mobridge-Pollock jersey comes to a close, she is hoping to leave behind a legacy that she experienced, looking up to older players when she was little.

“I just want to be a big role model for all the little kids. I know they look up to me because before every game, I have a bunch of little kids coming up and hugging me and I just really want to inspire them,” Thompson said. “Show that you really can do anything you put your mind to and nothing’s impossible. I just feel like the little kids are the next generation and they’re going to want to work hard if they see hard work is being done.”