Kylee Dennis set to become first Sayre player ever to score 2,000 points

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Kylee Dennis is second in the state with her 28-point scoring average. (Wilderberry Photography/Matthew Longbottom)

Kylee Dennis, one of the state’s leading scorers, will be in Danville Saturday when Sayre takes on Boyle County in a 3:30 p.m. matchup.

The Southern Indiana signee is averaging 28.1 points per game this season — the state’s second best mark this season — and shooting 44.5 percent from the field. She also pulls off 5.3 rebounds per game.

She is close to becoming the first Sayre basketball player ever to score 2,000 career points and is already the first female basketball player at Sayre ever to sign a Division 1 scholarship. She had 1,966 points going into Saturday’s game after scoring 32 against Henry County Thursday night and will still have nine regular-season games after the Boyle contest.

“She’s fought hard for many years at a small, underdog school to help make them relevant,” Harold Dennis,  Kyles’ father and a former Kentucky football player, said.

Dennis was a starter her eighth-grade season at Sayre. She’s also played high level AAU basketball since middle school and one of her teammates has been Lawrence County senior Kensley Feltner, the state’s sixth all-time leading scorer who is within range of 4,000 career points.

“We have had fewer games than some bigger schools mainly because we have not gone very deep in the postseason,” Harold Dennis said. “However, she’s been blessed to be able to do a lot of things.”

He says her defense and speed in transition from defense to offense are her best strengths.

“This year she has stretched her shot out  more,” Harold Dennis said. “She is so athletic, long and fast that she can create a lot of scoring opportunities for herself. She has long legs and really good speed to cover a lot of ground in a hurry.

“She is usually the focus of the opposing defense, especially this year because we only have one other senior. She has started to see more double teams. She is the marquee name for opponents on scouting reports.”

Harold Dennis said his daughter has been keeping track of her points in her pursuit of reaching 2,000.

“She has a note in her phone with the total. The NIKE EYBL summer team she is on has a bunch of girls either at 2,000 or getting ready to reach 2,000. There’s a competition between them,” Kylee’s father said.

She signed with Southern Indiana in November rather than wait to see if more schools might offer her a scholarship during the season. Some schools that recruited her when she was younger backed off after they got other commitments.

“The recruiting process is very cut throat now and once she determined which schools were really serious about her, she just decided to lock in Southern Indiana early and get it settled,” Harold Dennis said. “It’s close to us. She liked the school and coaches. The pieces just fell in place.”

She participated in soccer, lacrosse and track before settling on just basketball and that dedication has paid off with a college scholarship and soon 2,000 career points.

“In our gym there is a banner for boys and girls in the 1,000 point club,” Harold Dennis said. “I’ve told them at school to get ready for the 2,000-point club banner because there will be a member really soon.”

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