Derrick Webb, Staff Writer
MANCHESTER — For the past four seasons, Brooke Kennedy has been the undisputed heart of the Manchester Greyhounds.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
The 1,000 point scorer can pull up from anywhere while making a difference on the glass and under the bucket on both sides of the floor. She’s flat-out dangerous with the ball in her hands.
Her time at Manchester has almost come to an end. She’s destined for Thomas More next winter after signing with the Saints this past August.
But before she arrives on campus, she’s got business to attend to first at her soon-to-be alma mater.
We caught up with Kennedy to discuss her short-term goals, the Greyhounds’ stable of scoring option, playing for a coach and a dad, and much more.
Question: You’ve had so much success over the past four years. If you had to pick one memory to relive, what would it be?
Kennedy: My favorite memory over the past four years would have to be playing in the district semifinal against Notre Dame. Our student section and crowd made the game really fun to play in just because they were all so into it.
Q: Individually, you can do so many things on the court. But what do you feel like your best-on court trait is?
BK: I think my best on-court trait would be my versatility since I’m able to be out on the perimeter to shoot, drive and even set up an offense. But I can also go into the post whenever we need someone else down low.
Q: Your team has multiple scoring options this season. What’s the key to keeping your offense going in the right direction?
BK: We’ve kind of had a rough start to the season, since our starting point guard was injured in our second game of the season. So other people have been trying to step up and fill her spot and it’s just been difficult. But once we finally get used to it and find the right person to do it, I feel like our offense will really take off because we’ll get people more shots that they might not be getting right now.
Q: It won’t be long before you’re at the collegiate level. But you still have plenty of goals to reach at Manchester. What are those goals and how can you accomplish that?
BK: Some team goals that I really want to meet this year is winning a district title, which would be the first in school history for any girls sport. Individually, I want to get my 1,000th rebound and become the all-time leading scorer on the girls side.
Q: If this team plays to it’s potential, how far can this group go?
BK: If we play to our true potential and play like we know we can, we would have a great shot at winning [a district title] and going even further.
Q: Your dad [John] is your coach. That’s gotta be pretty cool. Can you tell me what it’s like to play for him and how important that is to you?
BK: Being a coach’s daughter can have some benefits and disadvantages for sure. I love playing for my dad because I know what he expects out of me and my team, and knows how good of a team we can be. He’s coached the seniors since we were in first grade. But along with that, he knows my potential and everything that I can do. So he’s harder on me than he is with anyone else when he sees that I’m not playing to my full potential. Getting to play for my dad is really important to me because there have been some coaches that just don’t care about winning. But my dad loves to win. In fact, he’s always said to me that he hates losing more than he likes winning. So it’s just nice to know that you’re not just wasting your time with a coach that doesn’t care if you’re there.