Calabretta, Kellogg teammates on a perfect run so far
This year’s Kellogg High girls basketball team can be described in many ways.
Overconfident, however, is not one of them.
At least not if you listen to junior point guard Kaela Calabretta.
After an unlikely run that ended in the state title game a season ago, Calabretta and the Wildcats are off to a 6-0 start and expectations are understandably high in the Silver Valley.
“I don’t think we’ve been too cocky,” said Calabretta of the Wildcats, who already have a couple of wins over bigger schools on their resume. “If anything, I think we’ve underestimated ourselves.
“Against Sandpoint and Lakeland, we went into the game looking to stay with them, and we didn’t blow them out, but we gave them a run for their money and we had good leads on them.”
So the secret is officially out.
“Last year, it was maybe a blessing to start out as the underdog, because nobody really expected much from us,” said Calabretta, a junior who is making the most of her first significant playing time. “That gave us room to grow and to kind of sneak up on people and that’s exactly what we did.
“I thought it was amazing, because I never thought I would play for a high school basketball team in Kellogg that would make it to state – it was surprising and awesome.
“We’ve had a taste of state now, so of course we want it again so bad,” added Calabretta, who credits coach Steve Bourgard for how hard he pushes the Wildcats, often beyond their comfort level. “We work so hard every day in practice – everything we do, we go 110 percent.
“Last year, we gave 100 percent and this year we give 110 percent, because we want it that much more.”
It can’t be easy, though, when the only way to improve on last year is to again reach the state championship game – and win it this time.
“Because there are big things expected from us, like our coach told us, we have a target on our back,” said Calabretta. “There’s a lot of pressure, of course, and we go into every game really nervous, because we want to keep it up.
“We don’t want to disappoint anybody, but we really want to prove that it wasn’t a fluke, and that we deserve it.”