As a daughter of a basketball coach, the sport has been a part of Courtlyn Yaussi’s entire life.
The Loveland junior attended practices with her dad Deric as early as 6 months old, she said. That turned into spending hours in the gym and in her driveway on her own, perfecting her craft daily.
Eventually, she joined the Loveland varsity team as a freshman when her dad took over the program for the 2023-24 season. She has broken the Red Wolves’ record for 3-pointers in a season each of the past three years and earned all-state honorable mention for the second time this past season.
For being one of the top scorers and 3-point shooters in Colorado and earning statewide recognition, Yaussi is this year’s Reporter-Herald girls basketball player of the year.
Her success has been years in the making, but she wasn’t immediately drawn to it. In fact, only in recent years did she pick it up competitively.
“He would take me in the gym when I was 6 months old and I’d be there during practice,” Yaussi said of her dad. “I wasn’t in love with the game at first and kind of started to like it during middle school and then I started playing in sixth grade.
“I think it was during COVID, and my dad had his high school team working out during COVID. And obviously you couldn’t be in the gym, so he’d give them individual workouts, and I asked him if I could join in and see how I lined up with the other girls. That was really great and I think it was very eye-opening. I did really well, and that’s when I started to love the game.”
She said she spent about three hours a day working on her game and her skills which included dribbling the ball between her legs as many as 500 times in a row walking around her neighborhood.
Ball-handling and dribbling drills led to 3-point shooting, which has evolved into her specialty with the help of her dad.
“When I was younger, he would always want me to shoot deep and I could never get it there,” she said. “I think it was just building, growing my game and getting stronger, and I think it was just a big thing of starting young. Right off the bat, he was having me shoot from the college line.
“I was just learning how to expand my game in so many different ways, and I think that’s just grown my game so much just starting from a young age from shooting it deep.”
Her freshman year, she averaged 11.1 points per game on a senior-heavy Loveland team. She broke the Red Wolves’ record for 3-pointers in a season with 57.
The following season, her sophomore year, she averaged 18.8 points per game and again set a program mark for 3-pointers, with 65.
She continued her progression this past season, averaging 21.4 points per game, the 17th-most in the state and sixth-most in Class 6A. For the second season in a row, she broke her own record for 3-pointers with 79.
At the end of the regular season, she led the state in 3-pointers, but Air Academy’s Kinley Asp made 11 in three playoff games to surpass her and finish with 80. Yaussi still led the state in 3-pointers per game with 3.4.
Her junior season also included another record-setting performance. In the Red Wolves’ 78-23 victory over Greeley West on Jan. 20, she scored a school-record 49 points with a record 11 3-pointers.
She credits her success and achievements on the court to her competitiveness and confidence in herself.
“I’m a super competitive person and that’s kind of how my game expands,” she said. “I have the most confidence in myself. If I miss five shots, I know I’m going to make the sixth. and that’s kind of how I am.”
While her numbers have been trending up each season, she hopes her senior year ends with the Red Wolves in the playoffs, something she hasn’t gotten to experience during her time at Loveland.
She believes with a large senior class returning after losing only one senior from this year’s team, the Red Wolves have a good chance to do it. The team will also drop from Class 6A to 5A next year.
“I think the sky’s the limit for this team,” she said. “Losing one senior and then next year, we’re going to have a big senior class, so I think next year is kind of our year. And obviously we are moving down to 5A. I think it’s going to be a great season for our girls, and I think we can make a run in the playoffs next year.”
Yaussi began being recruited by colleges, mostly Division II at the time, coming out of her eighth-grade year. Going into her freshman season with the Red Wolves, she began getting recruited by Division I schools and started talking to coaches more.
She has a handful of Division I offers and more will likely come, but she hasn’t set a timeline for making a decision. She prefers to enjoy the present and leave her college choice for later.
“Obviously right now, I’m focused on club season and we’re getting into it right now,” she said. “I love the recruiting process, but I think for right now, I’m an open book and I think I’m just going to keep writing it out and hopefully in the fall, I’ll kind of start narrowing down those decisions.”
Best of the rest
Bethany Vrooman, Resurrection Christian: The Cougars senior was the Patriot League player of the year and a first-team all-state selection after leading the Cougars with 16.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. She also averaged 3.9 steals and 1.4 assists.
Avery Pfohl, Berthoud: The Spartans senior was a second-team all-state selection after averaging 19.7 points per game along with 4.7 steals, 4.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds per contest.
Jesika Hopkins, Thompson Valley: The Eagles senior led the team with 14.9 points and 4.8 assists per game. She also averaged 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 steals to earn all-state honorable mention.
Kaelyn Doan, Loveland Classical: The Lions senior led the team to its highest end-of-season ranking ever and earned all-state honorable mention after leading the team with 11.4 points and 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game.
Sofia Sigg, Berthoud: The Spartans junior earned 4A all-state honorable mention after leading the team with 22.1 points and 5.9 steals per game. She also averaged 5.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
Mekayla Macias, Thompson Valley: The Eagles senior led her team with 3.4 steals per game and was second on the squad with 11.7 points. She also averaged 1.9 assists and earned all-state honorable mention.
Tatum Van Pelt: Resurrection Christian: The Cougars junior led the Cougars with 4.7 steals and 2.2 assists per game. She also averaged 10.2 points and 3.8 rebounds to earn all-state honorable mention.
