Kilgore Begins Junior Season

By John Ring

Published June 16, 2022 in The Burg

It was quite a sophomore season for Kiarra Kilgore.

The now-junior Silver Streak basketball player for Coach Evan Massey was an All-Conference selection for the Western Big 6 and a 2 nd team All-State selection.

Kilgore was the leading scorer for the Streaks and the “go-to” person during crunch time. And she also won the coveted Amy Crisman Award for Excellence during the off season, which basically is the same as the Streaks Most Valuable Player.

The award is named for Crisman, who was one of the first emerging stars of Coach Massey’s long-celebrated basketball program. She was the first All-State selection in Silver Streak girls history and a graduate in 1981. Crisman was also All-Conference in 1980 and 1981, scoring a

career total of 764 points and grabbing 459 rebounds.

“I was proud of myself to win that award,” said Kilgore after the first Silver Streaks summer

game against A-Town last Tuesday night. “I put in a lot of work last year although I didn’t play much during the summer because I turned my ankle so I missed a lot of time. But I got healed and recovered so I was able to be ready to go for when the season started.”

Kilgore was also selected as one of the Silver Streak captains for next season, along with seniors Capre Ferguson and Alexis Edgersson. “I’m only going to be a junior so it was kind of surprising to get picked,” said Kiarra. “I know the importance of it and it’s a huge role to have for the team.”

This will be the 36th summer basketball program for the Silver Streak girls team and it’s one that has gotten bigger and bigger as time has gone on. Galesburg got started off against A-Town and both teams were, as expected, very, very rusty to start off with. “We definitely need to start talking more as a team and get better communicating on the floor,” said Kilgore. “From a personal level, I need to start using my left hand more and work harder on my shooting. But it feels good to be back on the floor, I missed playing with our team.”

Since it’s so early in the off season, the Streaks are working to figure out who fits where on the roster and with the graduation of senior point guard Grace Nelson, that important role is open on the team. “I might be playing point guard,” said Kilgore, “so it’s going to be important for me to work on handling the ball.”