HOWARD – She just showed up looking for a spot on the basketball team last season.
Laura Keith, then 14 years old, was a brand-new student at East Knox High School. The Jacksonville, Fla., native — 5-foot-8 and suntanned — was new to Ohio. It was one of those moments that a coach dreams about.
"This gangly girl comes up — she was very sweet — and said, 'Hi, I'm Laura, and I want to play basketball," East Knox Coach Chip Pozderac recalled. "So I go, 'Where did you play?' and she said, 'I was home-schooled, so I've played AAU but I've never played for a (scholastic) team.'"
It takes years to develop a varsity player and many raw-talented sophomores need to learn fundamentals.
"So we're watching and she's lanky and long," Pozderac said. "So I walked into open gym and she was dribbling the ball between her legs."
Pozderac was impressed by Keith's ball-handling. She was even more impressed by her outside shooting. But perhaps it was Keith's attitude that made the greatest impact.
"The chemistry with her and these kids," Pozderac said. "I've waited years to have this kind of a group."
Keith's biggest adjustment to Knox County has been the colder weather.
"It was really amazing how welcome I felt." Keith said, whose father's family is native to Knox County. "Everybody is super nice on the team. They're all very encouraging. I think the other adjustment was probably my confidence. I have to learn to be more social with people because I'm kind of a quiet person."
There are four Bulldogs (Ava Stiltner, Natalie Smith and Madi and Jayden Annett) in quarantine due to COVID-19 protocols. Also, Pozderac was absent from practice because her mother passed away.
East Knox (1-1, 1-0) dropped their season opener to Bloom Carroll (Dec. 2), but they pulled off a 45-39 win in their home opener against Northmor (1-4, 0-3) in Knox Morrow Athletic Conference play on Saturday, Dec. 5.
Alexandria Magers, Shanda Melick and Joci Totten each scored 11 points, leading the Bulldogs.
"i've got one of the best assistant coaches in Mandy Todd," Pozderac said. "She worked so hard (in my absence). Hannah McCoy (four points), Anjel Montgomery, Kaya Salyers all stepped up. That's probably the first varsity action Kaya saw."
Keith (eight points), heavily guarded throughout the game by Northmor's Lauren Johnson, managed two 3-pointers.
"That's the first time that's ever happened to me," Keith said. "My team did a great job of picking up where she stopped me from scoring as much."
In order to get an open shot, Keith had to move across the lane, where Montgomery set a screen for her.
"That way I could get open, while they (Northmor) were in their zone," Keith said. "That worked really well."
