Despite an up and down season for the E-gals freshman Kennedy Lane has proven herself to be one of the premier guards in the 9th District and 3rd Region, taking on more responsibility and thriving as a dynamic offensive threat in her second season with the team.
The Apollo guard joined the team last season, competing in 25 of their 32 games in a supporting cast role alongside prolific alumni in guards Shelbie Beatty and Amaya Curry. Head Coach Natalie Payne said this allowed her to slip under the radar as an eighth grader, helping her develop her game at a quick rate.
“She got to kind of play in her shadows and be the one that no one knew about,” Payne said. “She could spot up and give you 12 or 15 and people are like ‘who’s this girl?’ Having to go from that to being the one that all the teams are trying to stop and keying on. That usually doesn’t happen until your junior or senior year in high school.”
Lane was Apollo’s fourth leading scorer in those 25 games, as she put up 5.8 PPG while shooting 39.9% from the field, 27.1% from three and 73.3% from the line. The senior duo of Beatty and Curry combined for 28 points per game for the team, while also having a large impact on Lane in the process of the 2021-22 campaign.
“I knew it was going to be tougher because we lost a few from last year,” Lane said. “My goal was to really just try and pick up the team and step up and be a leader… They set a great example for me. They really showed me how to be confident with the ball.”
But with both players graduating and standout junior forward Jenna Dant having played just eight games this season due to injury and a roster full of inexperience, Lane has taken a huge leap in her game. She’s averaging 19.6 PPG–-the third highest average in the 3rd Region and most in the 9th District—while shooting 41.3% from the field, 35.3% from three and 79.7% from the charity stripe.
Kennedy’s averaging over 25 points during the last two weeks as well, as she has had a plethora of 20-point games on the year. While knowing that she might not have the most varsity experience as others, Lane just came into the season wanting to be as aggressive as possible on offense to help the team be at its best.
“I just tell myself before I get in the game that I want to score the ball,” Lane said. “I just really try to be aggressive on the offensive end. I do have things to work on on defense, but that’ll come. I’m only a freshman so I have plenty of time.”
With multiple freshmen and sophomores receiving significant minutes Payne knew that she would have to take on a bigger workload for the E-gals, but had no idea the freshman guard would elevate her game to this level so soon.
“She was going to have to take on a lot of the load, but honestly I didn’t expect her to rise to this level so quickly,” Payne said. “Honestly, in my 20 years I’ve not coached a freshman that can put the team on her back and score at the rate in which she scores. She’s young and has a lot of other things that she needs to work on, but as far as what she’s been able to do for us this year is pretty remarkable.”
Payne gave credit to Lane’s work ethic for helping her take such a huge step forward in her game, noting that she is also years ahead of things in the mental side of the game as well. She went on, saying that she’s probably more proud of Kennedy’s ability to stay level-headed throughout games and in big moments more than anything.
“She’s a kid that works on her game a lot,” Payne said. “She gets in the gym a lot on her own, she works a lot in the summers on her own. That repetition and repetition builds so much confidence. She’s a kid that if she misses four in a row she doesn’t let it get in her head too much, she’ll continue to push and push and she thinks that the next one is going in. That is amazing for a freshman to think that way.”
And of course Lane has shown that she’s more than capable of dicing up defenses in multiple ways, not shying away from being physical when she needs to be and knowing when to pick the moments to utilize her marksmanship.
“She just has an innate ability to know how to score and from all levels,” Payne said. “She knows how to get to the hole and for a freshman she’s got a strong body, so she can absorb contact and she’s not afraid of that. Her ability to get to the line, her ability to pull-up and shoot jumpers and her ability to knock down the three, that is a gift.”
Lane herself will tell you that she couldn’t have imagined having so much success individually, but that confidence has been the key. That’s come with experience, as she said that she’s become much more comfortable with her role as the season has progressed.
It of course helps having a close relationship with coach Payne, as Kennedy says that her impact in and out of basketball has led to her growing immensely.
“She’s helped me a lot,” Lane said. “She’s helped me gain more confidence. She helps me through everything. [Even] the hard times. Anything that I have going on—not even in just basketball—she’ll help me with it and I thank her a lot for that.”
And that’s been especially important in a year in which Apollo has struggled, sitting at 7-18 overall with five games left in the regular season. With so much youth on the roster and other players leaving the team Lane has had to become an unspoken leader, looking to be positive at all times with a group that’s been through a lot in a whirlwind of a season.
“I just really try to be positive with the team,” Lane said. “I really try to build them up and talk them up. We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity and I’m proud of us. I really am.”
Kennedy and the E-gals are hoping to close the regular season strong and take some momentum into the district tournament, with their first chance coming in the regular season district finale on Friday against Daviess County. A win would put both teams in a tie for the third seed and after blowing a lead at home in their last contest, Apollo knows that they have to play strong for all 36 minutes while battling through depth issues on the road this time.
“I think we need to learn how to finish the ballgames,” Lane said. “We can start the games well, we just need to learn how to finish strong. The fouling out part has been tough for us, but I think we just need to work through that and stay positive.”
Payne said as long as the E-gals do the little things, they can come out on top against the Lady Panthers at 6 p.m. on Friday
“We have to win the 50-50 balls and we have to win the battle of the boards,” Payne said. “We have to focus on that three stops in a row mentality and the offense will take care of itself. They’re going to try to slow certain people down and we know that, but if we can take care of the ball, rebound and dominate the boards and get eight out of 10 loose balls [we can win]. We have control over all of those things.”
