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By Jed Blackwell

 

Kim Staley Fettig can see a little bit of the past when she looks at Polk County’s girls basketball team.

Fettig was a standout for the Wolverines the last time the girls team won a conference title, in 2005. She was a powerhouse on both ends of the floor – a prolific scorer, a tenacious rebounder and a fearsome shot-blocker.

In working with the current Wolverines, she sees some similarities between then and now.

“You talk about the twin towers now with Kylie (Lewis) and Kiera (Littlejohn), that’s kind of what we had with me and with Krista Overholt,” she said. “We were the twin towers, and now when you’re watching it, it’s almost like full circle.”

It’s definitely full circle in the sense that Fettig is now helping to coach the position she played for Polk County, which can clinch at least a share of the Mountain Foothills 7 Conference title Friday with a win over Chase. She’s been there. She’s seen what the players are seeing.

“It’s kind of feeling like a proud mom, just watching them,” she said,. “It’s like I remember exactly the positions they’re in. Even now, I can remember everything about it.”

One thing she remembers, and one thing that’s changed a lot, is the rivalry aspect. After a recent game against Hendersonville, Fettig reflected on those changes.

“I told them in the locker room that it’s Hendersonville, and you don’t need any more of a pep talk than that,” she said. “That’s all. When we were in school, we were fired up just by that. They’re our rivals and that’s it. We beat them, no matter what.

“Now, with social media and other things, they see the girls from other teams all the time. Back then, we were friendly, but we weren’t friends. That’s somebody you’re competing against. It was a little different.”

It’s also different due to the wealth of information at players’ fingertips.

“Oh, they can watch each other all the time,” she said. “We had game film. They have Hudle. They have NFHS, and they can watch them anywhere, any time. We either went to the gym to see them or watched film. It’s a different world now as far as that’s concerned. A totally different world.”

Fettig left Polk County with career marks for points, rebounds and blocks, and she still holds the rebounds and blocks marks. She’s one of seven Polk County girls to surpass 1,000 points, joined on that list Friday by Lewis. The Polk senior is also making a run at the rebounds mark, her current total of 876 just 26 short of Fettig’s record of 902.

Fettig said she’s having some good-natured fun with Lewis about the record.

“I tell her all the time that she’s missing shots on purpose to get more rebounds,” Fettig laughed. “And every time she does it, she’ll just point, and her and Billy (Alm, also a Polk assistant) will both look at me when she does it. I told her that I EARNED mine.”

In reality, Fettig said she’s quite proud of what Lewis is doing.

“We go back and forth, but she’s really a great rebounder,” Fettig said. “She gets to rebounds that I don’t think anybody else can get to, and she’s there every time. She just kind of knows where it’s going, and I know she works hard, but I don’t think that’s even something you can work on. That’s natural. She figures out where she needs to be to go get it.

“She’s learned the technique of tipping it to herself. If her feet are wrong, she can miss it on purpose, rebound, get herself in a better position, go back up. It’s fun to watch.”

Fettig said it’s special to still be involved at a place where she did so much as a player.

“I put a lot into this place,” she said. “These girls have, too. There’s a lot of history in this. And if it pays off in a conference title, that will be special, especially for the seniors. They’ve worked so hard. They’re really good, and they deserve it.”