BonnerSprings.com

College freshmen usually say that the increased level of freedom they experience is the biggest difference between high school and college.

That was no different last year for Kansas City Kansas Community College student-athlete and Bonner Springs High School graduate Taryn Lane. But little did she know that conference play was ultimately going to be the biggest change for her.

Lane plays basketball for the Lady Blue Devils and is one of only four returning players from the 2007-2008 team — a season in which the team ended up with a 14-17 record.

The campaign started out well for KCKCC when it jumped out to an 8-5 record. But once the second season started — the Jayhawk Conference games — things did not go well. They stumbled to the finish line by losing eight of their last 10 games.

“Once the conference started it got a lot harder,” Lane said. “We had a lot of close games — a lot of games that we were in the lead at halftime and just lost for some reason or another in the second half. It is a much more intense style of play. College basketball is way more demanding than high school. The coaches expect a lot more out of you, which was an eye-opener.”

Lane hopes it is a little different for her team this year. She is now a leader and is expected to pass along her experiences from last season on to the nine newcomers this season. However, it may be easier to get that message across to one of those new faces. Bonner Springs standout Kelsey Stanbrough joins the team this season, making the two former Bravettes teammates once again.

“I was really excited to find out that Kelsey was going to be on the team,” Lane said. “We go way back when it comes to basketball. Her dad coached me all the way back in fourth grade. On the court I know her, she knows me … we are really comfortable playing together.”

Stanbrough is coming into the program with different expectations of her than Lane had. Lane is a rebounder, defender and role player first — not a scorer. Stanbrough is a shoot-early, shoot-often player who will come off the bench this season.

“Coach tells me to shoot even if I’m off. Shoot until I get on,” Stanbrough said. “I think it’s safe to say I have the green light to shoot.”

Stanbrough broke several basketball records throughout her career at BSHS, and she established herself as a 3-point specialist early. She hopes to continue her success at the college level but realizes it is going to take a lot for that to happen.

“The game is a lot faster pace than I expected,” Stanbrough said. “I’ve had trouble early on with adjusting to the speed of the game, plus it’s the first time that I have played with a shot clock, so that is another thing to think about and make me nervous. It’s always in the back of my mind.”

Lane, who tries to model her game off the ever-steady and quiet Tim Duncan, said that she is really looking forward to the challenges that lay ahead this season.

“Every game I want to push myself and just go as hard as I can,” she said. “My main goal is to grab as many rebounds as possible. They are very important to the success of the team and are an underrated (statistic).”

The 5-foot-9 center also said she can help her team out more this year if she stays in the post instead of taking outside shots like she occasionally did last season.

She is very disciplined in her studies, claiming that she is one of the people who actually fill out their day planners. This should come as no surprise about somebody who figured out what they were going to be in middle school, no matter how strange the decision may have seemed then. When Lane was in seventh grade she took a career test that told her she may be best suited to become a mortician or coroner. Many 12-year-olds would have scoffed at that idea, but Lane kept that at the forefront of her mind. Then it became a clear career choice when she was watching HBO one day.

“This show called ‘Autopsy’ came on, and I was hooked,” Lane said. “I was like, ‘that is what I want to do; that’s it.’”

She is not sure if she will try to own her own funeral home, or try to work as a medical examiner in a criminal justice type of position when she finishes school. Her friends give her trouble from time to time, but understand that it is what she really wants to do.

Stanbrough is playing basketball for the first time under a female coach, Valerie Stambersky, who is in her 10th year at KCKCC.

“Kelsey has a very high basketball I.Q.,” Stambersky said. “I think she can really help the club out by knowing her spots and just being the scorer that I know she is capable of being.”

Her high basketball I.Q. comes from her coach for most of her life: her father, Fred Stanbrough, who began coaching her in the first grade. He last coached his daughter officially last summer on an AAU team that had been together for years.

“Even now he still has advice to give me,” Stanbrough noted.

Stanbrough, who wants to have a career working with children in some capacity, started receiving letters about playing basketball her junior year at BSHS, but after her senior season she wanted to quit basketball altogether.

“We didn’t have a very good record and I got really frustrated with basketball,” she said. “I was not going to pursue it, but I think I would have regretted that decision so much. I talked to coach Stambersky and asked her if I could still play. She said yes.

“I have learned so much already, plus I am getting playing time and it is close to home.”

Along with Stanbrough and Lane, KCKCC has two players from Tonganoxie — Kelly Stauch and Shannon Carlin.

KCKCC has started regular season play and have a 1-2 record. Jayhawk Conference play starts January 3rd, after their return from play in the Surf N’ Slam Tourney in San Diego, Calif.

Comments