Mount Notre Dame’s Hackney is Ms. Basketball

COLUMBUS (AP) — Kendall Hackney’s numbers are decent, not great. She averages 13.1 points a game, 6.3 rebounds, and makes almost half of her shots from the field.

But those numbers are lost next to the one overpowering statistic that matters most: 99-10.

That is Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame’s record with Hackney in the lineup.

Those 99 wins, including victories in the last three Division I state championship games, are the ones that count the most and add up to her being the 2009 Associated Press Ms. Basketball award winner.

“I had no idea about that,” the 6-foot-2 senior said when asked about her won-loss record in four years at MND. “Coach just said to us yesterday that the seniors have a chance to win 101 games if we win our final two games. That’s incredible.”

They’re clearly the most important numbers.

“We can talk about the scoring averages of some kids here, but when she has to score she can score,” said her coach, Dante Harlan, who leads MND into the state tournament for the sixth year in a row. “She had 23 [points] and 11 [rebounds] against Mason. She had 17 and three blocked shots last week. She just does whatever it is that needs to be done to win.”

Next year, Hackney will take her act to Southern California, returning to the state where she lived for six years until her family came back to Ohio when she was 12.

What makes Hackney so effective is that she has few weaknesses in her game.

Early on she was told that she’d need to be a good defender if she wanted to play in high school, so she worked hard on that part of her game and now can body up with a post player or go out on the perimeter to shut down a shooter.

With two older brothers, she had to work hard just to score points. So she worked on her offensive skills until she could shoot from outside as well as muscle her way around the paint for baskets.

During a 10-minute conversation in the middle of a busy week of classes and state-tournament hoopla, Hackney continually says how “blessed” she is. And by that, she doesn’t mean physically blessed with an athlete’s body.

She said she’s blessed to be surrounded by so many good players. Blessed to have such great parents and brothers. Blessed to have had the coaching she had.

OK, maybe she’s not so blessed to be the player everybody teases.

“Honestly, Kendall is the one kid everybody likes to pick on,” said Harlan, who has a stunning 74-7 record in three years as the Cougars’ head coach. “She’s such a goodie-two-shoes — she’s in the National Honor Society, she’s got a perfect 4.0 — that everybody likes to tease her.”

Others considered for the award included Kari Daugherty of Warsaw River View, Emilee Harmon of Pickerington Central, South Euclid Regina’s Tay’ler Mingo, Cincinnati Winton Woods’ Dayeesha Hollins, Malina Howard of Twinsburg and Yolanda Richardson of Toledo Start.