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By Jed Blackwell

 

Basketball these days is sometimes barely recognizable.

Posts shooting 3-pointers. Guards posting up. Everybody flowing everywhere all at once. Positionless basketball is a trend that’s being embraced across the game.

That’s not true for the Polk County girls.

Kylie Lewis and Kiera Littlejohn patrol the paint for the Wolverines, and their often-dominant inside play is one of the teams’ strengths. It’s also kind of a throwback, with a back-to-the-basket offense, rugged rebounding, and smothering interior defense.

The Wolverines’ twin towers have been playing since they were young girls. Lewis started playing in third grade, took sixth grade off, and resumed in seventh grade. Littlejohn started playing pickup ball with her brothers in second grade. She, too, has been in the Polk County system since seventh grade.

Both 5-foot-9, they’ve always been tall. They’re lifelong post players.

“I honestly don’t remember when I started, but I’ve always liked playing post,” Lewis said. “I feel more comfortable. I wasn’t always super comfortable with basketball in general, and the fact that I can have a position where I’m not handling the basketball and can move around, I’ve always just liked.”

Littlejohn’s post presence goes back to those pickup games.

“Sometimes they picked me because I was tall,” she said with a laugh. “Tall and aggressive.”

That aggression pays off for both. One of the basics for a post is rebounding. With Lewis and Littlejohn in the game, the Wolverines can often dominate the boards. Rebounding takes practice to become good at, but for both girls, the art of rebounding has less to do with science and much more to do with effort.

“I just try to move them (opponents) as far out as I can and keep them where I want them,” Littlejohn said.

Lewis takes much the same approach. 

“For me, it’s more right now that we’re focusing on the little fundamentals,” she said. “The first thing is to find a body and box out. Our coaches are emphasizing that, and my focus is really just on boxing out so I can grab it or move them out of the way so Kiki can grab it. Anybody but them.”

Like any good post duo, the pair relies on each other on the court, and has developed a bond.

“I feel like we’ve got a good chemistry because we practically grew up together and grew up playing together,” Littlejohn said. “We call each other’s name on the court when we need to. We let each other know where we are and all that.”

“We’ve been on the team since we were freshmen,” Lewis explained. “Kiki couldn’t play her sophomore year (due to an injury), which was horrible. I trust her. I know if I’m having a bad game, she’s going to be right there to pick it up.”

On offense, particularly in the Wolverines’ transition, the girls play a two-person game that’s pretty common across the game – and beautiful when it works. Let Lewis take you through it.

“On our transition, our secondary (fast break), it really depends on who gets the rebound,” she said. “Whoever gets it is the trail. The other is booking it down the floor to try to get a pass for a layup. In practice and in games, we call that out. We talk about it. If that’s not there, we space out correctly to balance the floor. And on a lot of our set plays, we go back and forth depending on where the ball is.”

And when the ball finds the way to their side of the floor, either is adept with a handful of post moves, as both can play as true back-to-the-basket posts.

“That’s my favorite,” Lewis said. “I’m going to be honest, I’m not too comfortable outside of the paint with the basketball. But we practice post moves every day, it’s something we work on, and it’s something I feel good about. Posting up and getting the basketball and making a move, I think that’s the best part of it.”

And what’s the favorite move? Both prefer a baby hook, though Littlejohn favors one direction over others.

“I like going through the middle, because I feel like I can get up a little higher than them,” she said.

That portion of post play, going to the basket with the intent to score or to draw a foul, is also something both are really good at.

“You just have to see it coming,” Littlejohn said. “The majority of the girls we play are aggressive, and they know we are. I know they’re watching us and they see that, so we have to anticipate being fouled and get the ball to the basket.”

Lewis said finishing those plays requires something of a fearless attitude.

“You just go up strong,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re wide open, or what the opponent is doing. You have to make every move that way. You can’t go up scared. You put it up high, and you’re strong with the ball and to the basket, and if you get fouled they’ll see it, because you’ll get displaced or your arm will get hit. But you have to be strong.”

Polk’s posts are defensive standouts, too. While the Wolverines can jump into a number of looks, both prefer old-school man-to-man.

“I like it better because I know who I’ve got,” Littlejohn said. “And I know Kylie has help-side”.

Lewis agrees.

“Sometimes I feel like zone is a little bit stagnant,” she said. “If a team has good guards, they’re up at the top and I don’t know if I’m doing enough. With man, you’re in the game more even though it’s more tiring. It’s a little more fun to me.”

The two are blessed to play with good, creative guards, and don’t take that for granted. And the trust they’ve built with each other has led to the trust of the rest of the team. That allows the Wolverines to be creative even within their set plays.

“Sometimes it’s just direct eye contact,” Lewis said. “We can see it coming, because whoever has the ball will look us dead in the eyes. I’m open, or I’ve got a one-on-one, and they’ll throw it. They’ll do it with Kiki, too. Because they trust us.”