JESSIEVILLE — Most wouldn’t have thought Kellie Lampo could have done much more for her Jessieville team as the regular season wound down.
Lions coach Matt Carter knew different. After watching his versatile post player dominate for four years, he knew she had another gear, and he was right.
After a late regular-season game in which Lampo, a 6-foot-1 forward, scored 20 points, the coach approached her in practice.
“She just didn’t score like she normally had, and it wasn’t a typical strong game,” he said. “I told her she was doing great, and it was nothing bad, but knowing what our goals are, she needed to carry more of the burden and score 25-plus points in order for us to win.”
That sort of demand may turn some players off. After all, a 20-point night is a career-best for some players, but the four-time all-stater and Harding University signee isn’t just some player.
“It didn’t catch me off guard,” said Lampo, who passed up NCAA Division I scholarship offers to sign with Division II Harding. “[Carter] does that every year and challenges me. It helps me and gives me a new goal. I knew what I needed to do to rise to the occasion and be the leader for my team. That pushed me, and my teammates helped me so much. It really comes down to who is around you.”
As a result, Lampo scored more than 25 points in eight of the final 11 games. She also pulled down double figures in rebounds in all of those games. One of her top performances was a 37-point outing against Arkadelphia. She also added 19 rebounds. Lampo also poured in 33 points against Elkins in the first round of the regional tournament. In the first round of the Class 3A State Tournament she led the Lions with 32 points against Genoa Central.
“She stepped up her game, and it was everything, not just scoring,” Carter said. “She was rebounding and blocking shots and taking charges. I really loved that because in girls basketball, taking a charge is like a dunk in boys basketball. It is a big momentum booster.”
Despite Lampo’s late surge, the Lady Lions’ season ended in the second round of the tournament with a narrow loss to eventual state champion Hoxie. Carter said his team “didn’t execute at times.”
“It was tough to lose that game because we had such a shot at it,” Lampo said. “I just tried to think of my entire career as a whole. I realize I didn’t get what I wanted in the end, but when you look at the whole picture and how much I improved as a person and a player and how much we grew as a team, that is what I will remember.”
Lampo, who helped the Lady Lions to two state-tournament semifinal appearances, leaves as one of the more decorated athletes in school history. She was a four-time all-conference and all-state honoree, and was a two-time KATV Channel 7 Full Court Awards finalist. She was also an Arkansas Basketball Coaches Association Top 5 player as a sophomore and junior, and an All-Arkansas Preps honoree the past two seasons. She was the Garland County Player of the Year twice and the Newcomer of the Year as a freshman.
Lampo, who averaged 24 points and 15 rebounds per game as a senior, is the school’s all-time leader in points (2,595) and rebounds (1,649). Carter said the rebounding mark will be the all-time state mark as soon as he submits it to the Arkansas Activities Association.
“There is no question that anytime you lose a player of that magnitude, it is tough, but that is the challenge of high school sports,” Carter said. “She is a great kid, and with all of the things that she does on the court and for the team, she is just fun to be around. She is very positive, and we can just sit down and have a normal conversation and not even talk about ball.
“She just has her head on straight, and she is very coachable. She is a person with great faith and high character.”
Carter said that within days of the season ending, Lampo was running. She knows she will have to be in even better condition to adjust to the college game next winter.
“I want to get in the best possible shape I can,” she said. “You can’t lose that because it is hard to get it back, so I started right away. I am going to do a lot of running , lifting weights and jumping rope this summer. I will also do a lot of basketball stuff to keep my skills sharp, but being in shape and being able to adjust to the speed of the game are important.”
Harding is coming off an NCAA Division II Elite 8 appearance, but after witnessing four years of Lampo’s dominance, Carter won’t be surprised if she stands out as a freshman.
“Harding has a great team, but [Lampo] has those intangibles that make her a great player, such as taking the charges, and she just lays it on the line every night,” he said. “She is going to have a chance to help them.”