By Rob Hunt
PENDLETON — Kelsey Burton is a testament that working hard at something you love can pay dividends. With a strong summer behind her and an improvement during her senior season, Burton realized a lifelong dream recently to continue playing basketball beyond high school.
The senior guard, who averaged 10 points per game for the 19-5 Pendleton Heights Arabians last season, has signed to continue her basketball and academic career with Lake Forest College in Chicago.
One of the top defenders for the Arabians, Burton stepped up her offensive output in her senior year. After averaging eight points as a junior, she became a double-digit scorer in 2016-17, although her shooting percentages remained consistent. Pendleton Heights basketball coach Chad Cook said the biggest difference in Kelsey was her self-confidence.
“Confidence was a big key,” Cook said. “After working all summer, seeing shots go down, she became more comfortable behind the arc, where she scored a bunch of points. She got a lot of confidence going and just got better.”
She was a 35 percent 3-point shooter as a junior and 32 percent as a senior. As her confidence improved, so did the frequency with which she would shoot. As a senior, she attempted 100 3-point shots, more than double the attempts she took as a junior.
“I wanted it to be a great season, and it was,” Burton said. “That summer after my junior year in AAU, I was a different player. I was driving to the basket and getting more shots. I played completely different, but it was a good thing.”
Burton had established a reputation as a tough defender early in her career and did nothing to diminish that as a senior. She averaged 2.2 steals and nearly a block per game. Multiple times during the season she saved the Arabians with game-winning defensive plays in the closing moments.
She’s not sure what her role with the Foresters will be, but she hopes to help the team in any way she can.
“I just hope I bring something good, something that the team needs,” she said. “I’m expecting some playing time, which they said if I work hard, I’ll play. And that’s what I do.”
One thing is certain: She will now be Midwest Conference rivals with her Arabian teammate Maggie Dooley, who signed earlier this year to play at Illinois College.
“In AAU, whenever we played Illinois, we always played Maggie’s team,” Burton said. “So I’m excited that we’ll be playing each other.”
Although she is not sure of a career path, Burton will be studying communications, a topic she says is right up her alley.
“I talk all the time — I’m a good talker,” she said with a laugh. “Hopefully something in sports.”