Kaylee Jones heard her knee pop and knew instantly that her decorated high school basketball career was done.
As Pillow Academy’s senior star lay writhing in pain on the floor of Durwin Carpenter Court, where the Lady Mustangs hadn’t lost in three years, the home crowd fell silent fearing the worst. Up by four points at the time of the injury, Pillow would lose the North AAAA finals to eventual Overall champion Leake Academy by five points with Jones watching from the bench.
“It was very emotional watching them play and losing our first home game since 10th grade,” said Jones, the Commonwealth’s Player of the Year. “I just broke down because I remember thinking that, because we only lost by five points, if I could’ve been in there, I would’ve made that difference and we would’ve won that game.”
The unfortunate reality had yet to completely reveal itself. In the blink of an eye, the Lady Mustangs had gone from MAIS Overall favorites to merely an afterthought amongst title contenders.
Jones’ stats don’t jump off the page — she averaged 11.7 points on 54% true shooting — but her absence from Pillow’s postseason run weighed heavy and ultimately proved her unquantifiable impact on the program. The 5-foot-10 small forward was the glue that held together the Lady Mustangs’ many supporting pieces, the key cog in head coach Durwin Carpenter’s disciplined system, the spark that constantly helped her top-ranked squad catch fire.
“Kaylee’s a very integral part of the team, so when she went out — especially when she went out — it threw everybody for a loop. A big one,” senior teammate Kayla Brown said. “A lot of plays were based on Kaylee and a lot of things were based on Kaylee.”
Instead of sulking, Jones stayed active on the sidelines, embracing her new role as another coach on the bench. She attended practices and games while she wasn’t doing physical therapy, despite difficulty traveling on the team bus. And after Pillow was eliminated by Jackson Academy in the first round of the Overall tournament, Jones was one of the first people off the bench consoling emotional seniors who had just played their final game.
“After the Overall loss, she was one of the first people to come up to me and grab me,” Brown recalled. “It wasn’t the loss, what hurt me the most was that was the last time I’m playing with them. But then I turned around, and she was there.”
Jones’ bid for back-to-back Overall titles may have ended abruptly, but there’s still another chapter left to be written in her basketball journey. After a summer of physical therapy to rehab her knee, Jones will continue her career at Mississippi College, a Division II program. With the latest advances in medical technology, Jones and her coaches are confident she can return to the hardcourt 100% healthy next year.
“They took a piece of my patella tendon and reconstructed my ACL,” Jones said of last month’s surgery. “They said that’s been the longest lasting, so I’m hoping it doesn’t re-tear. The doctor says it’ll be harder to tear than the first one.”
“She is a very hard worker and dedicated to basketball,” Carpenter said. “Kaylee has been an outstanding player for Pillow the past three seasons. The hours of hard work during the summer that Kaylee put into basketball has been a great example for young athletes.”
- Contact Riley Overend at 581-7237 or roverend@gwcommonwealth.com. Follow @OverendOut on Twitter.
