Smith doesn’t shy away from expectations

By Rich Polikoff

Posted: November 8, 2009 at 5:19 a.m.

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CHARLESTON — Upon entering Charleston, drivers are greeted with a billboard that lists all the state titles won by the high school.

It’s not bragging so much as a statement of fact. Charleston has done a lot of winning this decade.

Kally Smith, the Lady Tigers’ 6-1 senior center, is proud of that sign and that she has added to it.

Smith was an imposing figure in the lane last season for the Lady Tigers (27-6), playing a key role in Charleston winning the Class 3A girls basketball state championship. It was the school’s first state title in the sport.

“It’s a very nice sign,” Smith said with a smile. “I hope it keeps going. [The school’s success] gives you more confidence. Once you’re a winner, I think it’s just expected.

“It makes you want to do well, and when you don’t, it’s a big bummer.”

Smith attended County Line schools until her sophomore year, when she moved to Charleston.

The basketball team was thrilled to have Smith. She had just gone through a growth spurt and shot up to 6-1, making her among the taller players in Class 3A.

Smith started as a sophomore, averaging 6.0 points a game for a team that went 32-4 and reached the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Prior to her junior year, Coach Jason Rucker predicted a big season out of Smith, and she more than delivered by averaging 16 points and 8 rebounds per game.

“She’s just a matchup problem every night,” Rucker said. “You’ve got to decide how you’re going to guard her. If you guard her 1-on-1, we feel like we’ve got the advantage. If you give a lot of help, we’ve got people on the perimeter that can knock down shots.

“It just puts the other team in a bind as far as how they’re going to guard us, and it allows us to do things offensively that other teams can’t because they don’t have that size.”

The Lady Tigers stormed through the 4-3A Conference, going undefeated in conference play for a third consecutive year. The district and region tournaments were in Charleston, and everything was set up for a deep run through the state tournament.

But after winning the district tournament, Charleston was stunned in the Region 1 final when it lost by a point to Lincoln. Smith was devastated, and determined not to let it happen again.

“My girl made [the winning shot] at the buzzer, so I took it the hardest because I thought I had ruined everything,” Smith said. “It made us feel like we didn’t ever want it to happen again. It focused us.”

Smith may have had a momentary crisis of confidence, but Rucker didn’t. He told Smith the team was going to need her to dominate in the lane inthe state tournament.

Smith scored 18 points in the quarterfinals against Jessieville and 14 in the semifinals against Cave City, leading the Lady Tigers both times as they knocked off No. 1-seeded teams on consecutive days in Searcy.

Tellingly, Smith calls those two games her best games of the year, even though she rang up larger point totals many times during the regular season.

“[Winning state] was a dream come true,” Smith said. “Every high school athlete dreams of it, especially me, coming from a 1A school to a 3A school. It was like a fairy tale, just amazing.”

Now a senior, Smith is one of only two returning starters for Charleston. But she thinks the Lady Tigers can contend for another title, and she wants to keep the Lady Tigers’ 46-game conference winning streak going for another year.

There is a lot expected of Smith this year, and she’s fine with that.

“I hope [the streak] keeps going,” Smith said. “I don’t want it to end my senior year. It’s pressure, but everybody likes pressure. I do.

“At Charleston, we have a big target on our backs.”At a glance NAME Kally Smith SCHOOL Charleston CLASS Senior HEIGHT 6-1 POSITION Center NOTEWORTHY A two-year starter, Smith was a Class 3A all-state tournament selection last season, averaging 16 points and 8 rebounds a game during the season. Charleston is 59-10 over the past two years and undefeated in 4-3A Conference play. … Also plays first base for Charleston’s softball team.

Special, Pages 91 on 11/08/2009

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