Chairwoman of the board

Anna Yarbro knows what it takes to rebound.

Whether it’s the ball caroming off the rim or an unexpected diagnosis of celiac disease, Yarbro brings her trademark determination.

After a two-year absence from the court following high school, Yarbro reached out to Big Bend head coach Preston Wilks about joining the team. Former Vikings point guard Sunnie Martinez noticed the Moses Lake Christian graduate during an early scrimmage her freshman season and immediately let Wilks know he had a player with great potential.

“She was right on and it’s been so fun to see Anna do it and do what she does and we’re real proud of her,” he said.

Yarbro was a key reserve on Big Bend’s 2019 East Region championship and Final Four team, averaging 7.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. Yarbro’s unending energy and vocal presence was a boon for a Vikings team making its second consecutive Final Four.

“The thing I saw is just her motor,” Wilks said. “She just goes hard. She goes through people. She just plays ball like it’s supposed to be played, in my opinion. That’s what I saw.”

This season the wins haven’t piled up as much, but that hasn’t deterred Yarbro from giving her best effort each time she steps onto the court. Her scoring average has more than doubled, rising to 14.4 points per game, and her rebound numbers place Yarbro among the elite in the NWAC.

At 5-foot-10, Yarbro isn’t the prototypical post player, however, her speed, motor and savvy have made her a terror for opposing frontcourts.

“This year’s been a lot better than last year for me matching up against bigs, which I think is just a lot more confidence just because I had to step up to a more point-scoring role this year so I’ve just tried to go up a lot stronger and harder and it works, most of the time,” she said.

Currently, Yarbro is second overall throughout the entire NWAC in rebounds per game with 13.2. Loriaunna Sanchez of Shoreline is the only player averaging more on a per-game basis with 13.7. Yarbro is first in total rebounds with 277.

“I take pretty serious pride in my rebounds,” she said.

Most interior players pad their total with missed shots from the opposition. Yarbro still grabs her healthy share of defensive rebounds — fourth overall at 7.7 per night — but what really energizes her is offensive rebounds. The kind that create extra possessions and scoring opportunities for her teammates.

“Ever since high school, rebounding has always been something I’ve loved to do,” Yarbro said. I think that it builds such a momentum, especially offensive rebounds. Some of my favorite rebounds to get are off of free throws because most people don’t expect if it misses to get a rebound because there’s only two people inside on the offensive team and so getting those rebounds are one of my favorite. I work really hard in practice to make sure that I’m getting better at getting rebounds because it’s a lot of reading my teammates’ ball and where it’s gonna go off their shot.”

Yarbro is second in offensive rebounds per game at 5.5 a night. She’s had two games with 10 offensive rebounds, unsurprisingly both ended in Big Bend wins.

“I think they’re the difference between Ws and losses, just to get those extra possessions and she always seems to come up with them, too, at big moments,” Wilks said. “They’re kind of back-breakers, you know? Because you think, ‘Oh, we finally stopped this team,’ and then she goes and gets an offensive rebound and either puts it back in or kicks it out for a 3. That’s the glue that builds a championship team, is plays like that.”

Some season highlights include a 22-rebound game at Everett and another 20-rebound outing against Olympic. Yarbro has failed to reach double-digit rebounds in only five out of 21 games.

For the Big Bend sophomore, the act of rebounding is more cerebral than just crashing toward the missed shot

“It’s not just like I’m running in and grabbing a ball... I’m thinking about what I’m supposed to be doing,” Yarbro said. “Generally, it’s getting inside the girl on offense so that I’m in that position to get the rebound if it goes over the basket or making sure I’m jumping higher, which sometimes it can be hard because I’m playing pretty much 40 minutes a game. Towards the end of the game it gets to be harder to use more effort so then I have to play smarter.”

Big Bend has been decimated with injuries this season, even playing one tournament with six active players. It will take a miraculous stretch run to return to the postseason, but that hasn’t dampened Yarbro’s spirit at all. Her team fights, the same way she fights for loose rebounds.

As her sophomore season heads toward a conclusion, Yarbro is still undecided on if this will be her last basketball season. She’s been in contact with some schools about playing, but also has a desire to start nursing classes. For now, Yarbro will continue to fight for each win and each rebound for the community that’s supported her from the beginning.

“I feel incredibly blessed to have those people in my life and that they would be there to support me even after I stopped played basketball for two years and then came back to this and did this later,” she said. “They’re still there waiting to watch me and see where I go and be there for me when we lose and be there for me when we win and love me just the same and tell me that they’re proud of me and it’s been a huge blessing.”