Willing to do the work: Tigers athlete knows importance of practice

February 8, 2017

For The Tribune

There’s an old saying that in sports: practice makes perfect.

Crothersville High School senior Kashmir Kelshaw takes that to heart and said she realized early on just how important practice was.

“Practice is important,” she said. “The way you play in practice is the way you’re going to play in a game. If you practice hard you’re going to play hard.”

Kelshaw played basketball and volleyball both for four years, softball for two and was a cheerleader for two.

She played a guard position in basketball and in the back row in volleyball throughout her career.

On the court, Kelshaw isn’t afraid to put up shots from distance.

“I love the outside shot, but when we have the chance to run it down the floor that’s a lot of fun, too,” Kelshaw said. “I like playing on the left side more than I do the right side. My 3-pointers have improved a lot over the years. This year (moved into the) top five in 3’s for a career. That’s a really big accomplishment.”

Another big accomplishment was helping the Tigers break the school record for wins in a season and winning the school’s first-ever sectional title.

Her high-point game this season is 19 points against Springs Valley.

Kelshaw said she likes when the Tigers press opponents.

“Every once in a while we’ll change it up, but usually our man-to-man is what really gets teams,” she said. “Communication is probably the biggest thing (in basketball) because if you have a player open on the backside and no one is there they are just going to get a wide open shot.”

In the fall, Kelshaw played the libero position in volleyball for three seasons.

“My favorite part was passing,” Kelshaw said of volleyball. “I enjoyed my teammates. We all really worked well together.

“Communication was huge. If you don’t have communication you really don’t really know what’s going on. We used numbers and sometimes we used letters, like ‘1’ was for the far outside.”

Winning the first set gave the Tigers momentum and confidence.

“It was very important,” Kelshaw said. “If you win the first set all of your energy is up and you’re ready for the next two, and you’re hoping to get those over with.”

Kelshaw said her highlight win came early in her career.

“I’d say beating West Washington my freshman year was pretty big because they had a lot of good seniors,” she said. “I remember that match was hard-fought all the way through.”

She said in both sports she loved the home games because of the crowd support.

Kelshaw said she has enjoyed attending Crothersville High School.

“I love that we’re such a small school and everyone can be themselves,” she said. “We’re all friends, and we’re all close. I’ve loved it here.”

[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Kelshaw file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]

Name: Kashmir Kelshaw

School: Crothersville High School

Parents: Clara and Floyd Kelshaw

Siblings: Jeanette, Butch

Sports: Volleyball, four years; basketball, four years; softball, two years; cheerleading, two years

Athletics awards: basketball: Coaches award, school record for wins in a season, sectional championship.

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