Athlete Spotlight: Laura Kopald

Two of these newspaper pages already hang in Laura Kopald's house.

//

She was featured in Athlete Spotlight as a junior basketball player, and again this season for her volleyball prowess.

Augusta Preparatory Day School's top female athlete, though, might be wrapping up her best season yet.

Kopald averages more than 21 points a game despite double- and triple-teams.

Other teams know what to expect when taking the floor against Prep, and they consistently key on Kopald.

But the senior knows how to score, despite the increased defensive attention. She also knows that if Prep is to win a region game -- something it hasn't done since Kopald was a freshman -- she'll need more consistency from her younger teammates.

Kopald has done her part to involve her teammates, her coach said, but the senior is the only Prep player averaging more than 3.3 points a game.

Freshman Sarah Sussman, who has the height and shooting touch to command Prep's leadership role next season, has struggled to be consistent this season.

"She's had games where she's scored 20. She's also had games where she's scored 2," Augusta Prep coach Steve Boyd said of Sussman. "It's like 'Yes, she's arrived ... no, she's not.'"

Boyd said Kopald will often stay after practice and work with Sussman.

"She'll throw the ball off the backboard and jump to make Sarah jump with her," Boyd said. "She would jump, put it back in and make five in a row. She has been marvelous working with the younger players. I hope when Sarah is a senior, she will remember that and she will make time for the freshman and sophomores like Laura has."

Kopald has only one regular-season game left to her standout career. Prep will play in the Region 4-AAA tournament and is guaranteed a spot in the GISA state tournament as the fourth-ranked team in a four-team region. But Kopald's time to lead a team to a marquee win is fading.

"We've won 10 games, but we've lost some games we should have won," Kopald said. "I'm just trying to do my best contributing."

Kopald said she would like to play for a Division II or III school when she's done at Prep. She's a highly decorated volleyball player, but said she would lean toward basketball at the next level.

Boyd said Kopald's lack of quickness may keep her from playing at some schools, but that she has the tools to play somewhere.

"She's got good range, she's a good rebounder, excellent shooter," he said. "Quickness would determine what level she could play at. I just don't think she's really sure."

Kopald's shooting eye was developed early. Boyd, who is in his first year coaching the girls team after a long stint coaching the boys team, said he would see freshman Kopald working on her range alone during lunchtime while the boys played pickup games.

"She was very quiet and reserved as a freshman," Boyd said. "You could tell she was going to be a very good basketball player."