Around Iredell Sports

2008 Mar-21

Gillespie eyes state title, scholarship

Statesville point guard Keyrra Gillespie led the Greyhounds to a 28-3 record and a berth in the Western Regionals as a junior, performing under the gaze of several collegiate scouts throughout the season.

By Brian Meadows
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When Keyrra Gillespie discovered Concord’s girls basketball team comfortably won the 3A state championship last Saturday in Chapel Hill, a bit of envy set in.

“It’s going to be Statesville next year,” Gillespie said with a monstrous grin. “We’re only losing three players. I think if we do what we did this year and work even harder, that’ll be us – as long as everybody has their minds on the same things and wants the same goals.”

Spearheaded by Gillespie, Statesville’s superb point guard and the R&L county girls basketball player of the year, the Greyhounds got tantalizingly close to the program’s first state title game appearance.

Statesville lost 73-65 in the 3A Western Regional semifinals to then unbeaten Forestview, but its splendid 28-3 season didn’t end quietly.

“We didn’t think we were going to lose that game,” Gillespie said, “but we just couldn’t pull it out.”

The Greyhounds fell behind 65-50 near the 5-minute mark before mounting a ferocious comeback.

They scored 15 of the next 17 points to turn a 15-point, mammoth-sized hole into a miniscule two-point deficit with 2:30 left.

Gillespie led the charge. She scored eight of her team-high 24 points during the lightning-quick spurt that spawned a deafening roar from the healthy Statesville crowd that made the trip to Winston-Salem Atkins High School.

It’s the basket Gillespie failed to convert with two minutes left that the junior remembers most, though. She boarded a Forestview miss in front of West Virginia-bound senior Jessica Capers – one of Gillespie’s game-high 13 rebounds — and darted up court for the potential game-tying bucket. But her contested fastbreak layup bounced off the rim.

Forestview rebounded and avoided an unthinkable collapse only to lose 70-66 to Concord the next night with a berth in the state final on the line.

“All the time,” Gillespie answered when asked if she replayed that sequence in her head. “The day after the game, me and Jordan Daywalt were talking, and I told her I felt like it was my fault, because those two points could have changed the whole game around.”

She may choose to accept blame, but much of the credit for Statesville’s accomplishments this season goes to Gillespie, who was backed by a viable supporting cast.

The Greyhounds captured their third straight R&L Holiday Classic championship in December. They also won all 21 North Piedmont 3A games they played en route to the regular-season and conference tournament titles.

And last, but not least, Statesville secured its first sectional championship since 1995 when it defeated Ragsdale 55-51 on Feb. 29.

“To make it that far meant a lot to us,” Gillespie said.

Along the way, Gillespie averaged 15.2 points, 8.2 assists, 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 steals per game and was named NPC player of the year. She broke the 1,000-career point barrier and moved within striking distance of the state record for career assists.

“She has so much God-given ability,” said Statesville coach Todd Jones, who has referred to Gillespie as an elite player.

Gillespie is the cream of the crop in high school basketball here, but her ego hasn’t risen to the top, according to one of her longtime teammates.

“She knows she’s a good player but she doesn’t get the big head,” said senior Kayla Bowers, who has played alongside Gillespie since the seventh grade.
That in itself is amazing, considering Gillespie is the focus of attention at almost every turn.

Opponents devise game plans to slow her down.

College coaches’ eyes descend upon her on a nightly basis, as well. Gillespie has plenty of Division I interest. Clemson, Florida and UNC Charlotte have already made scholarship offers.

Clemson recently joined the Keyrra Gillespie sweepstakes. Tigers assistant coach Saudia Roundtree watched Gillespie finish two assists shy of a triple-double in Statesville’s 50-44 second-round playoff victory over Piedmont.

Roundtree must have appreciated what she saw because the next day, Jones said, Clemson offered.

Not a bad impression to make, considering Roundtree was once the best in women’s college basketball. She was named the Naismith player of the year in 1996 when her Georgia Bulldogs were the NCAA runners up.

“She’s done what I’m trying to do,” Gillespie said of playing in college, “so it makes me feel good that somebody like that is looking at me.”

Yes, the limelight surrounds Gillespie. About the only thing lacking is the paparazzi.

“I go around school and people will be like, ‘You’re the star. You can do this, you can do that,’ ” Gillespie said. “I’m like, ‘I’m just a normal person. Just because I play basketball doesn’t make me any different than anybody else.’ ”

With one exception: Her diverse abilities on the court set her apart from the rest.

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Gillespie eyes state title, scholarship

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