Kean, Kean, Ballin’ Machine

Caitlyn Conklin, Varsity girl’s basketball coach at Port Jervis High School out of Section IX, has something special; a special player who has the innate capability of rallying her team to victory with her play on both the offensive and defensive sides of the court. A secret weapon, if you will. But to the other teams in Section IX’s division III, this weapon is not so secret.

Sarah Kean is a 5’2 junior combo guard. Doesn’t sound so intimidating when it’s put like that does it? But Sarah is already in her third year on the Raiders varsity squad, most of which has been spent in a starting role. In fact, she made an immediate impact on the floor as a freshman, playing in all 18 games and scoring 129 points for an average of 7.5 per game. She dished out 23 assists, recorded 26 steals, and even grabbed 40 rebounds.

Going in to her sophomore season, and her second on varsity, she became the focal point on a young team. She was the player every team knew they had to stop. In the first eleven games of the year, her numbers on both the offensive and defensive ends were impressive, to say the least. She scored 208 points, for an average of 18.9 per game. She canned 18, 3-pointers and handed out 12 assists. She also was a spark plug on the defensive end of the floor, averaging 2.5 steals per contest. She pulled down 26 rebounds and, even at 5’2, managed to record a pair of blocked shots. With the way the season was going, it appeared Kean was on her way to putting together one of the best seasons of any player in the section, but an ACL tear ended her season prematurely.

In order to make sure she was 100% for the hoop season after nearly a year of rehab, Kean chose not to play soccer this past fall. As of this writing, she has played in 10 games this season and is averaging 12.9 points per contest. While it took her two games to fully get back into rhythm, she has been a true force for her team the last month, accumulating totals of 20, 24, 20, 25, and 20 points respectively in her last five games. She has lead her team to key wins against James I O’Neill, Monticello, and Fallsburgh. In the month of January alone, she is scoring at a rate of 22.5 points per clip, and is averaging just under two assists and 1.4 steals on the season. She is also shooting an impressive 39% from the three-point arc.

Conklin certainly understands just what kind of player she has in Kean. “Sarah is a key player to our offense and when she does well, we do well as a team. During contests, Sarah is a tremendous player. Even though she has suffered a significant injury, she isn’t letting that stop her from playing a game she dearly loves and wants to continue playing at the collegiate level. Although Sarah stands only 5’2”, she plays like she is 5’8”. She is never afraid to drive into the lane or use one of her fantastic moves in order to deceive the defense and draw fouls. She has an outstanding understanding of the game and this allows her to create offense when needed. She is a team player and knows when to pass the ball and when to take shots herself or when to drive. I can’t wait to see Sarah’s play her senior season, as I know she will surpass all previous years.”

Following both her freshman and sophomore seasons, Kean was named to the Section IX All-Star Team. As a third year varsity player as a junior, she has been named team captain. Off the court Kean is just as successful, sporting a 93 GPA and ranking 12th academically in a class of 229. She is currently taking an honors curriculum of: English, A.P. U.S History, College Spanish, Physics, and Pre-calculus. Kean not only offers college programs success on the court, but a great student in the classroom and a young lady of high character as well.

Says Conklin: “It is evident that Sarah is an extremely hardworking and dedicated person who has a passion for the game of basketball. She would be a great asset to any college team who is looking for a player with talent and the drive to be successful.”

-Mike Long, Jr. – Staff Writer