By Zach Gewelb
Kaelynn Satterfield took a big step forward as a sophomore and now is planning to continue improving as she prepares to enter her junior season with Christ the King.
The hoops standout played a big role for the Royals last season. She helped guide the team to a 17-6 record and an appearance in the BQCHSAA ‘AA’ title game. But it wasn’t always easy for Satterfield.
“Last season started kind of slow for me,” she said. “It was my second year on varsity, but it was a whole new team because all the seniors had left, so I had to get used to playing with the girls who moved up.”
Along with learning how to play with a new set of players, Satterfield also moved to point guard after playing off the ball as a sophomore. The new role took some time to figure out, but she found a way to adjust.
“Maybe five games into the season, I kind of got the hang of it and I just started dominating,” Satterfield said. “I played smart and I passed the ball very well. Sometimes you have to adjust to your personnel and I was able to do that.”
Once Satterfield made her adjustments, she — and the team — took off. The 6-foot guard led the way for the Royals, putting up a solid 17.3 points per game to go along with 6.2 rebounds.
She led the Royals deep into the playoffs, which came as a surprise to those who follow city hoops. Even Satterfield admitted the team overachieved a bit, despite falling to Mary Louis in the championship game.
“With our team being so young last year, I feel like we did extremely well even though we fell short in the [championship] game,” she said.
Satterfield’s journey to stardom began when she was 7 years old. Basketball runs in the family, and she picked up the sport quickly working with her parents — both former players — even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to play right away.
“It took me a while to like it a first,” she said. “My father played basketball and my mother played, too, and they really wanted me to play. But I had to get into it, myself.”
She picked up a lot of learning from her parents and is grateful for their help over the years. But she didn’t want to be a carbon copy of her parents on the court.
“I really wanted to be my own player,” Satterfield said. “My dad was more of a shooter, while wanting to do a little bit of everything.”
Even now, Satterfield still relies on her father to help her hone her skills during the offseason.
“I’ve been working a lot with my dad,” she said. “I’m a versatile player, so I have to be ready to play at different positions. We’ve been working on a little bit of everything every day.”
Satterfield is already a star, but she believes that — with her work ethic — she can be even better.
“I think my biggest competition is myself,” she said. “Sometimes I get down. But if i stick with it and keep working hard like I do with everything every day, I think I can be pretty good.”
Satterfield has put in the work, and she know’s her teammates have, too, which means the team will have high expectations moving forward.
“We want to win States for sure,” Satterfield said. “Even though we didn’t make it that far last year, the team has been working hard all summer. I think we’ll definitely be ready for the season.”
Reach reporter Zach Gewelb by e-mail at zgewe
