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02/22/2017 11:00 PMKylie Schlottman stepped on the varsity floor for East Haven’s volleyball and basketball squads as a freshman and she’s been a major asset for both programs from the get-go. Now a junior, Kylie recently recorded her biggest achievement with the Yellowjackets when the basketball team faced Hillhouse on Feb. 3. On that night, Kylie scored her 1,000th point as a member of the Easties.
“It means a lot to me. I’ve worked really hard to get to where I am and scoring my 1,000th point shows how hard I worked,” Kylie says. “It’s personal for me, but I thank the team, because they all helped me get to that point.”
Head Coach Anthony Russell was impressed with how fast Kylie reached 1,000 points. Russell believes that Kylie has a chance to score the most points out of anyone who’s played basketball at East Haven High School. Sue Crisafi holds that record for the girls’ team with 1,408 points, while the boys’ all-time leading scorer is Josh Charboneau with 1,452.
“It’s a great thing to be a part of. I think Kylie realizes she would never be at that point without her teammates. I tried to echo that point to them that being a part of this is a cool experience and they should embrace that. They were all really happy for her,” says Russell. “She’s upwards of 1,100 points now and, if we keep her healthy, she can make a run at both the female school record and the overall school record. There has to be a blend of things that has to happen for her to get there. We need to continue being a successful team and she needs to keep working because, as we go further, teams know who she is and she faces double or triple teams down low.”
Kylie also plays for an AAU team and uses that experience to expand her offensive repertoire. She’s averaging more than 18 points and 10 rebounds per game for East Haven this season, but the only number Kylie focuses on is the Yellowjackets’ win total.
“For high school, I play more down low, but for AAU, I’m more of a guard because I’m too small to play inside if I wanted to play in college, which is a goal of mine. I want to play everywhere on the court to stay in the game as much as possible,” says Kylie. “I try to play as big as I can. I’m not the biggest post player, but I make hard flashes, pump fakes, and drive to the basket. I take things as they come. It’d be great to break the record, but I’m not focused on it. I don’t even keep track of my points. It’s more important to me if we win, so I’m more into team goals than my individual goals.”
Kylie feels that one of the biggest reasons she’s been so successful is because of how quickly she joined the varsity ranks. When she was preparing for her freshman year during the preseason summer league, Kylie instantly connected with the Easties’ varsity athletes and then promptly earned her spot on the squad.
“One of my fears is that they wouldn’t like me because I was one of the first freshmen to be asked to play in the summer league. I wasn’t sure how they’d react,” says Kylie. “The captains that year were Tori Carlson and Jess Benevento and they made me feel welcome. I wasn’t treated any differently.”
Even though Kylie’s main sport is basketball, she’s also played well for East Haven’s volleyball team the past three years, having amassed 546 kills, 166 aces, and 359 digs. Kylie says she’s grown to love volleyball and continues to get better every year.
“I didn’t even know what a volleyball was until 6th grade. I just tried out for the middle school team because I wanted to be involved in something,” says Kylie. “I obviously practice a lot and do a lot of work in the offseason and the coaches have stayed after practice to work on new things and give me constructive criticism. That’s what helped me get along.”
Kylie’s exceptional performance in both sports has played a huge part in her earning the rare distinction of captaining each team in her current junior year.
“It was new. I learned you have to be an approachable person and be there for all of your teammates. You want to be someone they can trust and be serious with them. They need to take you seriously or things won’t work out too well,” says Kylie. “I really enjoy being in the captain role because I’m really friendly and like to make people laugh, but my teammates know when to take me seriously, because I like to win, and they know how much it means to me.”