Kee basketball girls ride historic season to first-ever State Tournament qualification

It was a season for the record books, and the history books, culminating in a first-ever trip to the ultimate destination every high school team desires. The 2015-2016 Kee girls basketball season played out to a best-ever 22-3 season record that saw the Hawks rewrite 10 other team records throughout a campaign that took them to the Iowa High School Girls State Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history, moving the program yet another step forward.
“For the girls that are in high school right now, it sets a standard, a goal that is within reach,” Kee girls basketball coach Dan Love said of this season’s historical result. “For the younger girls and the community, it shows what we are capable of when we work hard and have positive support.”
The Hawks’ three losses on the season all came to teams that were ranked and finished within the top four teams of this season’s Class 1A field, including the fourth-rated Burlington-Notre Dame Nikes that ended Kee’s season in the opening round of the Hawks’ first-ever Class 1A State Tournament appearance. That recent State Tournament perennial squad was then eliminated by fellow Upper Iowa Conference squad Turkey Valley, the only other team to defeat Kee this season enroute to the Trojans’ own history-making season of just a single loss that came in the Class 1A State Tournament championship game.
“Overall, our varsity team lost three games, all three to teams that finished in the top four of 1A, and we were undefeated against 2A and 3A competition,” Coach Love explained. “That, along with scrimmages against 4A competition, shows our girls that we can play with anybody, regardless of size.”
As one might expect from a school-record number of wins and a season lasting longer than any other in school history, such records as most points in a season, most points per game scored, most points scored in a game, most field goals made in a season, highest field goal percentage and highest free throw percentage for a season were also rewritten by this season’s squad. Combining those new offensive standards with new defensive achievements as well, such as least points allowed in a game, least points allowed per game, most steals in a season and most blocked shots in a season, proved to be the recipe for Kee’s overall success.
Coach Love sees this season’s record-setting achievements as being just part of the team’s overall success. “We finished second in the Upper Iowa Conference (in division and overall) this year, only losing to the team that was State Runner-Up, and our JV program had good success,” he said. “As with each year, you take time in the spring and summer to reflect and see how we can piece together two successful teams into a varsity team that can take that next step.”
Senior Mikayla Gavin finished the season with some additional school records, including 79 blocked shots this season and a career record of 232 denials based on top four individual season marks for swatted shot attempts, one of those that included a school record 10 blocked shots in one game. She also ranks among the top five in program history in games played, wins, career rebounds, rebounds in one season, points in a career, field goals in a career, field goals in an individual season, field goals in a game, career field goal percentage, individual season field goal percentage and career free throws made.
Joining Gavin within her own set of records and top-five career finishes is fellow senior Ellie Cooper. She finished up her career as the school leader in games played and wins, along with top-five efforts in career field goals made, most field goals in a game, career free throw percentage, individual season free throw percentage (that included an eight-for-eight single-game effort last year), career assists, assists in a single season and a single game.
Those two seniors will be the only graduation loss from the entire length of this season, but will obviously take with them a great deal of veteran experience and accomplishments. “I will miss Ellie and Mikayla a lot, as will all the girls,” Coach Love said. “I’ve been their coach the last five years, so next year will be my first in Lansing without them. They have been steadying influences as they have progressed as basketball players. I always knew what I was getting from them, hard work and effort, along with paint presence and ball handling. They are great kids who will move on to great things and will definitely be missed.”
That senior leadership and experience was joined by a great deal of overall team balance in nearly every facet of the game, an obvious factor in this season’s overall success. That overall balance is most evident in the fact that all five of this season’s starters earned All-Conference honors, including First Team selections for sophomores Kendra Cooper and Ashley Schwartzhoff, a Second Team honor for Gavin, and Honorable Mention for Ellie Cooper and sophomore Chloe Severson.
Schwartzhoff compiled her own collection of team-leading statistics this season, including 293 points scored, 88 steals and 81 assists, tying a single game record this season with eight assists. Her efforts on the court furthered her season honors to include All-District and Third Team All-State honors from the Iowa Girls Coaches Association and All-Region honors from the Iowa Basketball Coaches Association, who also named Coach Love this season’s Region 3 Coach of the Year and Assistant Coach Rich Ellis Region 3 Assistant Coach of the Year.
The season’s overall success, however, didn’t necessarily mean that there wasn’t room for further improvement, according to Coach Love. “Sometimes there was a little complacency, where we wouldn’t play up to our level for the entire 32 minutes,” he explained. “This year we had a few slow starts, but the other team typically would snap us out of it by playing hard and being the aggressor. The girls don’t like to be outworked, so things usually turned around quickly. Next year, as a State qualifier, we’ll have a target on our backs, so we’ll get everyone’s best effort every night. We won’t be able to afford to have those slow starts, so we’ll spend time this summer and next season working more on the mental side of the game.”
In addition to those more mental aspects of the game, Coach Love also has further plans for his squad to continue to move the program forward before those team members return to the court next winter. “I would like to see the girls working to get better; take charge of their team by holding each other accountable for putting in the time to make themselves and their team better,” he said. “A good portion of the team has been hitting the weight room hard, working on getting stronger, quicker and lately more flexible. That is something I would love to see continue throughout the coming seasons.”
The coach also knows, however, that the overall success that his program has continued to build on year-in and year-out recently has a much broader foundation than just the girls who take to the court each season. He knows a team’s success is fueled by more than just those who put on the jerseys for each game.
“I’d like to thank all the players and parents for a truly unforgettable, historic season,” Coach Love remarked. “As a program, we’d like to thank our fellow students, colleagues and community members for all of the support and encouragement throughout the regular season, our tournament run, and our first taste of Des Moines.”