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01/31/2018 11:00 PMKelly Donlan says that supporting her teammates while giving her all every day helped her fall in love with basketball. This winter, Kelly is doing both of those things as a junior captain for the Knights, and that’s one of the big reasons why they were able to push past some early season adversity.
Westbrook endured a slew of injuries early on this year and, according to Head Coach Kelly Landino, the team “got down to about five players in December.” Kelly was promoted to a captain’s role that month and helped guide the Knights back from their 0-3 start as they won five of their next six games. Kelly, who plays center, is averaging 8.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for Westbrook.
“I enjoy basketball so much, because I enjoy working to my best ability every day with my teammates,” Kelly says. “It was a tough start to our year with injuries. We hit rock bottom at the beginning, but we’re on our way up. Being with the team and working hard is important to me, along with leaving the court knowing we all worked hard.”
Kelly says that she’s become more confident on the court throughout the past few years. As a captain and an upperclass athlete, Kelly wanted to take both her game and her leadership to new levels this season.
“Mentally, growing has been challenging, but I’m gaining confidence I didn’t have as a freshman and sophomore,” says Kelly. “I knew I had to step up this year, and it was a whole new game for me, and I’m glad I’ve improved.”
Kelly is playing a different position by protecting the paint as a center this year, and the experience is giving her a whole new perspective on the game while she guides the young Knights. Kelly and company recently netted a critical, character-building win versus Creed, in which she posted 12 points with five rebounds and a block.
“I didn’t take leadership into hand last year, but taking over the center spot this year has been big for me. I see the whole court and try to help out the players and tell them where they need to be,” says Kelly, who is also a member of the girls’ soccer and outdoor track squads at Westbrook. “Creed was a challenging game. We had a pretty slow going, but what we had to do was take a breath and not freak out. We gathered our thoughts, and it helped us pull through.”
Coach Landino was quite pleased with Kelly’s post presence in the 42-25 victory. She adds that Kelly came into the 2017-’18 campaign with a great attitude and was ready to work.
“She is one of our best practice players and she works the hardest day after day in practice. Kelly came in every day positive and ready to lead. She really deserved [the captain’s role] and was working so hard to keep the team together as we were falling apart,” says Landino. “Offensively, Kelly played a great game [against Creed] and scored inside when we needed it most. I am very happy with the way Kelly came back this season: positive and mature and happy. She is a big part of our team and success.”
As the Knights venture into the heart of their season, Kelly wants them to use what they learned during the early goings to help them have a strong second half.
“We have a long road ahead. If we work hard, we can go far,” Kelly says. “We believe we’ll pull through. We are a young team and, with hard work, we can get it together.”