LYLE — Lyle-Pacelli’s Brooke Walter is in position to take on a huge role for the Athletics girls basketball team next season — and she’s doing whatever she can this summer to put her self in the best position to succeed.

Watler, who will be a freshman in the fall, has been playing with the North Tartan 13U AAU girls basketball team since April and she’s also been playing with LP in the Tri County League. North Tartan is off to a 19-1 overall start this season and it is considered one of the top AAU programs in the state.

Walter wasn’t sure where she’d fit in when she first started playing with North Tartan, but she is now comfortable in her role on a squad that pushes players to their limits. Of the North Tartan players who graduated in 2014, seven of them are slated to play basketball in Division I schools next season.

“It was nerve racking at first because I didn’t know anybody,” Walter said. “Now that I’ve been with the girls for months, I’m getting used to the team. They’re really nice and they’ve welcomed me to the team.”

LP head girls basketball coach Justin Morris said he’s glad that Walter decided to play up in the Twin Cities. He’s already noticed that she has become a more aggressive basketball player on the offensive end of the court.

“I love that she’s playing AAU basketball at the highest level on the best team in the state,” Morris said. “For her to get challenged on a regular basis by the best players in the state is only going to make her better.”

If playing with the best 13-year olds in the state of Minnesota wasn’t enough for Walter, she had an even a bigger step up in competition when her squad practiced with a few Division I women’s basketball players this season. Walter, who plays point guard, is still young in her basketball career but she already has a dream of playing college basketball herself.

“I’d love to do that some day. I’ll try to work for that,” Walter said.

Walter averaged 10 points, 4 steals and 3 assists per game last season for LP and she will play a much bigger role for the squad this winter. LP graduated its all-time leading scorer in Ann Rysavy and Walter is expected to increase her scoring out-put and make more plays for her teammates next season.

Morris expects Walters new-found aggressiveness off the dribble will put her in position to do a lot for the Athletics.

Walter said an increase in competition brought out some intensity in her.

“[Playing in the cities] is a lot more aggressive and the coaches expect a lot from you,” she said. “You have to work hard all of the time and everyone knows how to play up there. You’re playing with some of the best girls in the state. I’m trying to get better.”

Morris said that Walter figured how to become a great passer last season and now she’s figuring out how to become an even better player.

“She understands now how truly blessed she is with the talent that she has,” Morris said. “You can start to see the light bulb go off where she realizes can get by a defender any time she wants.”

While she was still in elementary school, Walter always had her eye on the Athletics girls basketball team. She grew up watching her older sister, Courtney Walter, play for the Athletics and she remembers Courtney scoring 30 points in a game once.

“I watched my sister and she was successful. I wanted to do that too,” Walter said. “Courtney made it easier for me. Watching her helped me.”

Walter still has a busy summer ahead of her as North Tartan is slated to play in Orlando and Chicago in July.

In the spring she balanced playing on LP’s softball team and playing with North Tartan on the weekends. She admits its a lot of traveling and a lot of basketball, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I like playing basketball,” Walter said. “It gets to a be a lot, but I enjoy it.”