Taylor Lee was always the player to end practice by making a free throw until coach Matt Frost recently decided that was too easy of a way to avoid running.

“He tells me I can’t shoot them because he wants to make us run,” Lee said.

That’s the only time Frost will ever tell Lee she can’t shoot. Since he became the Tonganoxie High girls basketball coach last season, Frost has implored Lee to shoot anytime she’s remotely open.

“She’s got the green light all the time,” said Frost, a former Free State assistant coach. “She’s old enough and experienced enough not to force bad shots. She’s our best option, so I want her shooting the ball.”

So far in her senior season, Lee has obliged by averaging 19 points per game, and scoring a school-record 40 points in a game. Her record-breaking performance came in a 61-38 win over Ottawa on Dec. 13. She only made three shots from beyond the arc, which she said shows her growth as a player.

After making just one three-pointer in her sophomore season, Lee developed into the best perimeter shooter in Tonganoxie school history as a junior. She broke the school-record for 3-pointers made in a season (48) and in a game (six) after an offseason full of shooting drills and practice with her dad.

“If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have a shot,” Lee said of her dad. “Once you get the technique, you can kind of shoot from wherever. Technique was a big thing in our house.”

Ahead of her senior season, Frost knew it was crucial for Lee to get more comfortable driving to the basket. Opponents started to face-guard Lee and play a box-and-one defense in an effort to prevent her from shooting last season, and she will almost certainly see more of the same this year.

Frost believes Lee is better equipped to handle the defenses opposing teams will throw at her because of the work she put in during the offseason.

“I worked on coming off screens inside the paint,” Lee said, “and driving to the basket because my strongest suit is free throws.”

With the loss of five seniors off last year’s team, including starters Kaitlin Hall and Mackenzie Price, Lee will have to score like she has so far this season for the Chieftains to be successful. They’ve opened the year with a 1-2 record, both losses against highly-ranked opponents.

However, as a senior, she will likely have to step up in other ways.

Since Mykah Wingerter is the only other senior on the team, it will likely be equally important for Lee to take on a larger leadership role.

Lee said she’s up for that challenge, and Frost thinks she has the perfect personality to thrive in that role.

“She’s definitely speaking up a little bit more this year than she did last year,” Frost said. “If somebody asks her something, she’s always willing to help them out.”

Lee is a three-sport athlete at THS, and she’s been an integral part of two consecutive state appearances and a third-place finish in volleyball. Now Lee is hungry for that same success in her favorite sport.

“Our biggest thing is to beat Basehor-Linwood,” Lee said of Tonganoxie’s biggest rival. “Two years ago we made it to the sub-state championship game but lost to Piper. So it would be cool to get back there and end it with a bang.”

However, Lee’s basketball career won’t come to an end with Tonganoxie’s season.

She signed to play basketball at Dodge City Community College on Dec. 16. Kansas City Kansas CC was the only other school to recruit Lee, which Frost believes was a huge oversight by the part of other local schools.

“Maybe this year they will sort of regret that a little bit,” Frost said. “I think there may be some coaches that will be a little disappointed they didn’t look into her a little sooner.”