Kensley Feltner is averaging 26 points per game again for Lawrence County this season.
Basketball is something Kensley Feltner has played since she was in preschool and has always loved the sport.
“She was just always a little faster than most kids her age. She could dribble early on,” said Melinda Feltner, Kensley’s mother and Lawerence County head coach. “She plays softball. She’s a shortstop and has done well. She played in the junior all-star game last year. But basketball is the sport she loves and has been able to excel.”
The Lawrence County senior probably is the most under appreciated player in the state. Going into this season, she already had scored 3,150 points and pulled off 1,204 rebounds. She also had 664 assists and 342 steals and was verbally committed to play college basketball at Belmont University in Nashville.
She became the all-time leading scorer at Lawrence County when she scored 43 points on 14-for-18 shooting (3-for-3 from 3) and also had 13 rebounds, four assists, four steals and one block against Letcher County. That moved her to 3,241 points — 13th best in state history — and in front of the previous scoring mark at Lawrence set by Timmy Dalton.
Feltner had 3,302 points — 10th best in state history — going into play this weekend at the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic. After Christmas her and her teammates will be off to the Carolina Invitational in Charleston, S.C.
Feltner’s father coached her when she was younger and her mother has been her high school head coach. Feltner made the 58th District all-tournament team as an eighth-grader.
“I think a combination of things make her a really good player,” Melinda Feltner said. “I really love that she is a great teammate, something that can get overlooked. The thing the Belmont coaches like best is that she tries to make sure where teammates are on offense and defense. She is a leader on the floor but if she is on the bench, she’s the first one to congratulate a seventh-grader after she hit a 3 in a scrimmage. She wants everyone to do well.”
Feltner’s numbers certainly should make her a Miss Basketball candidate. However, she plays in the 15th Region where Pikeville has dominated the region and that’s also where current UK freshman Cassidy Rowe played for Shelby Valley. That’s one reason Lawrence will play Anderson County in Louisville in January and is playing four games in the Traditional Bank Holiday Classic.
“Kensley has also only played AAU the last two years,” her coach/mother said. “We have a son playing basketball at Morehead, so she just has not played. She kind of exploded on the AAU circuit as a junior and got 14 offers that summer. She also does not like to post a lot on social media about what she does.
“Some people in our region are the only ones who get attention and that’s just the way it is. We are not loud about her. We have taught her to be humble but she really is a phenomenal player and that is just not me talking as a mother. We have won three straight district titles and should battle for a fourth. We hope to get to Rupp (Arena for the state tourney). We lost by three points to Pikeville in the regional final last year.”
Feltner led the state in scoring at 26.9 points per game last season when Lawrence won a school-record 27 games. She is averaging 26 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this year.
If she stays healthy, she could become only the fourth female player to score 4,000 or more points in state history. Her mother says that is one of her goals but she focuses more on the team.
“She has aspirations like any player does. She does want to be Miss Basketball,” the Lawerence coach said. “She played varsity in seventh grade and I probably should have started her then. She puts in so much extra time and work.
“She can run the point and run your offense if you need her to do that. She can guard a post player. She is 5-10 and can go inside. I post her up a lot on smaller guards and she can score whenever she wants. Nobody in our region can guard her. She can shoot the 3. She would rather take you to the hole but she can hit the 3. She also likes to rebound.”
Feltner came close to signing with Western Kentucky and also liked the coaching staffs at Northern Kentucky and Murray. However, once Belmont offered her a scholarship in July, her decision was made.
“The campus is great. They have played in the NCAA Tournament and won games. She loves the coaches,” Melinda Feltner said. “It is also a Christian school and that is very important to her, so it was just the perfect fit.”
Here are the Kentucky high school players who have are ahead of Kelsey Feltner on the all-time scoring list listing the point total, player, school and years played:
5,527 Whitney Creech (Jenkins) 2008-16 *
4,948 Jaime Walz (Highlands) 1991-96
4,385 Geri Grigsby (McDowell) 1975-77
3,952 Kim Mays (Knox Central), 1985-90
3,726 Carolyn Alexander (Hazard) 1993-98
3,621 Savannah Wheeler (Boyd County) 2012-19
3,469 Lisa Harrison (Southern) 1985-89
3,368 Maci Morris (Bell County) 2009-15
3,325 Erin Boley (Elizabethtown) 2010-16
