SCN's Smith's stands above them all

Even as a freshman, there was something incredibly special about Kelsey Smith.

The 6-foot-4 center on the St. Charles North girls basketball team seemed incredibly mature for her age, already had mid-major Division I schools looking at her and led the North Stars in scoring and rebounding.

It's now two years later, and all the above is still true. Only now, she's even more mature, averaging even more points and boards a game and has some major schools from some major conferences after her.

"Kelsey has not let anyone down," St. Charles North coach Katie Sauber said. "She hasn't let her teammates down, she hasn't let me down, she's not letting her parents down.

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"Every year, she continues to get better and better. She continues to work hard, and her dreams are coming true."

Are they ever. Smith was the force behind the North Stars making school history this season, as she led them to their first regional and sectional titles. They were among the top 8 teams in Class 4A and posted back-to-back 23-win seasons, which was also a school record.

As a result, Smith is this year's Tri-Cities All-Area captain for the 2007-08 basketball season.

She finished the season leading the North Stars for the third consecutive season in scoring at 16.2 points (third in the area) and 8.5 rebounds a game (second in the area). She also eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in mid-January against East Aurora.

In the 5 playoff games alone, Smith averaged 20 points and 11.4 rebounds per contest.

What brought the playoff run on? Smith -- and the rest of the North Stars, for that matter -- had an early exit in the postseason last year after falling in the regional title game. Smith did not want to experience that this year.

So she and the rest of the North Stars didn't, and instead went on a nice playoff run until they met powerhouse Buffalo Grove in the supersectional, where the Bison ended their season.

"It was awesome," Smith said of the playoff run in which she scored 100 points and grabbed 57 rebounds in five games. "I loved our team. When you are in (the playoffs), you get caught up in it and think it's so cool, but then all of the sudden when it's over, you take a step back and think what we did was really special. We made history. That was huge and we'll never forget it."

All of the North Stars' opponents sure won't forget Smith, either. She was such a powerful presence in the paint, teams double- and triple-teamed her.

Well, tried to, at least.

Smith still managed a career-high 34 points to go with her 15 rebounds in the sectional semifinal win against Jacobs.

In the sectional final game against Hononegah, the Indians sure made her work for those 16 points, 16 rebounds and 6 blocked shots.

Against Larkin in the regional semifinal, she scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds.

"She knows she can lean on her teammates and she knows she is not a secret anymore," Sauber said. "She has learned to lean on her teammates#8230;anyone who saw any of our playoff games saw that. She was getting beat up in the paint, but she never stopped."

"It doesn't matter to her," senior Nika Sircher added on Smith having to constantly fight of multiple opponents. "She's got the height and she doesn't back down from anything."

The black and blue bruises on Smith's arms show just how much of a battle she had to put up with in the post.

"It can be frustrating at times, but at the same time, it's motivating," Smith said. "You have to say to yourself, 'You have to play through it. You just have to deal with it.'"

Smith will sure have a lot more to deal with in the next year. She will finally be a senior and will leave St. Charles North as the best girls basketball player ever.

In three years, the all-state honorable mention selection has scored 1,218 points. Smith averaged 10.5 points as a freshman and 14.9 as a sophomore. She finished this year with 469 points.

By the time next season starts, Smith said she will already know where she is playing in college.

The fun -- or frustrating part, depending on how she looks at it -- is that Smith pretty much has her choice where she wants to play. Schools from the Big 10, Big 12 and ACC want her.

"She is fortunate she gets to take her pick," Sauber said. "It's not like she is wondering who will pick her, but it's more like who is she going to pick."

"It's going to be a lot of fun," Smith added. "It's going to be thrilling and fast. It's going to be a heck of a year."

"She's going to be really something, definitely special next year," Sircher added.

As if Smith isn't something special already.

Past captains

1998: Molly Jones, St. Charles

1999: Katy Issel, Batavia

2000: Karen Bauer, Geneva

2001: Nicole Manny, St. Charles East

2002: Lindsey Koehn, Geneva

2003: Jill Krivacek, Rosary

2004: Claire Sheehan, St. Charles East

2005: Claire Sheehan, St. Charles East

2006: Bailey Hansen, Geneva

2007: Taylor Whitley, Geneva

2008: Kelsey Smith, St. Charles North