Kylee Gehrt has her own nicknamed spot on the floor.
“Kylee’s Corner” – the corners of the three-point arc – is where the Batavia sophomore seems to find her most comfortable shot.
“I definitely think I am a three-point threat,” Gehrt said. “My corner shots are definitely the shots I will make during the game. My coaches joke with me: They call it “Kylee’s corner” because those are the shots I usually make during the game.”
“I’ve been joking with her because that’s her favorite spot,” Batavia coach Kevin Jensen said. “…Early on, she hit a shot here or there but it was every time, it was in the corner. we joked about that, even at practice when we were doing some of our shooting drills. If it’s a corner three, it’s Kylee’s corner.”
Gehrt, averaging just shy of seven points per game, is starting to flash her scoring ability. Gehrt had 16 points in a 58-34 win over Glenbard North last Friday.
The Bulldogs sit at 8-2 entering this week’s action.
“…I wanted to set in a leader’s spot,” Gehrt said. “Getting the points in the game really boosted my confidence. The early points I got were amazing. The energy after that from the bench, it really helped me.”
“I was just hitting all my shots so when I got the ball, I was just feeling confident with my shots and I took the shots that I had that were open,” Gehrt continued.
Gehrt is shooting 33% from the three-point line through 10 games, second-best on Batavia. Hitting those threes “just really boosts” her energy.
The defensive side of her game has been another focus for Gehrt.
“I have been working really hard for that [and] my coaches have been pushing me,” Gehrt said. “I’m usually guarding the best player on the other team, so seeing that different side of talent is just pushing me to get the stops, five-second calls, getting up the line in the best defensive stance that I can.”
Burlington Central’s unusual week
Elements out of the control of the Burlington Central girls varsity team made it for an interesting week of hoops.
A scheduled practice for last Thursday had to be moved to a local elementary school after the power went out. The next day, the Rockets had a literal rainout against Prairie Ridge after a leak in the gym roof forced a postponement.
Then, Saturday, the Rockets battled to a close 53-52 loss to Batavia. Senior forward Taylor Charles had 17 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks. Becca Carani had 14 points and Rylie DuVal had 13 points.
“It was a week where we dealt with a lot of change that was kind outside our control,” Rockets coach Collin Kalamatas said. “We got into that Saturday game kind of acknowledging all that and talking to the girls where ‘Listen, it’s been a week where we’ve been challenged off the court on a lot of stuff.’”
The Bulldogs were also missing starters Tessa Towers and Claire Nazos, both out in concussion protocol.
“We didn’t expect Tessa and Claire to not play; we’ve got to now adjust to this and you got to be able to fix our game plan and be able to play against a really, really good basketball team,” Kalamatas said. “Jensen is an amazing coach and does a great job getting those girls to play.”
Source: The Daily Chronicle
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