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Westtown sweeps doubleheader against Friends' Central

01/22/2022, 12:15am EST
By Matthew Ryan

Matthew Ryan (@matthewryan02)

When Kaylene Smikle decided to transfer from Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) to Westtown after her sophomore year, she was thinking about the big picture. Her goal was simple; get ready for the next level.

“I think it was a good transition to get ready for college,” Smikle said of the West Chester-area private school, which has both day students and boards, of which she’s the latter. “Coming here teaches me how to handle my time like going to practice, getting in the gym, having to do my homework because there’s like no one on top of me. Like my parents are at home.”


Kaylene Smikle (above) committed to and signed with Rutgers in the fall. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

After Smikle led Westtown past Friends’ Central 72-29 on Friday, the 6-foot senior wing proved that she is well on her way to accomplishing that.

In the one-two matchup of the Friends’ League, Smikle simply couldn’t be stopped. The Rutgers commit finished with a game-high 27 points despite exiting the game for good with 4:44 left in the third quarter when the result had already been decided. She scored inside at will, and showed off her range, knocking down three 3s.

On a fast break in the third quarter, Smikle drove to the basket and was fouled hard, converting the layup while getting fouled. It was a physical play, but something she was used to. Smikle has three siblings, who all played high school basketball at Farmingdale (N.Y.), her oldest sister Italee Brown-Smikle going on to play at Pace. The closest of the three to Smikle in age is her 19-year old brother, Luis Smikle, who is currently doing a prep year at Rocktop Academy.

The two played against each other a lot, and during those battles, there was no lack of physicality.

“I mostly played against my brother and I feel like he’s made me play how aggressive I am today,” Smikle said. “Because he’s bumping me and pushing me, and I feel like playing against girls it’s easier.”

“[Playing him taught me] to play hard and aggressive and never quit.”

Smikle’s time at Westtown didn’t really get fully ramped up until this season. Due to the pandemic, the Moose only played in eight games last season, posting a 7-1 record and going 3-0 in the Friends’ League. This is really Smikle’s first “real” year as a member of the Westtown basketball team, and she’s making up for lost time.

According to MaxPreps, Smikle entered Friday’s game averaging 21.4 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game, both team highs. She’s the focal point on offense, averaging over 10 points more than Grace Sundback (11.1 ppg), the second leading scorer.

But while her offensive game is clearly her best attribute, over the two years she’s been at Westtown, head coach Fran Burbidge has seen his star player grow in other aspects.

“What she’s doing, she’s a really talented kid, but she’s starting to embrace the other things as far as defending, running the floor, making the extra passes and all of that, although we need her to be a scorer because she’s so good at it,” Burbidge said.

“She’s just getting better and better with her overall game, and getting better and better [at] being a leader for the kids. And to me, that’s the exciting thing because if she continues to mature and grow with that, she’s going to be really, really good at the next level because she’s got all that talent.”

Smikle committed to Rutgers in early November and has officially signed her national letter of intent. She is joining a Scarlet Knights program that went 14-5 last season, making the NCAA Tournament, and is currently sitting at 7-12 this year. Smikle will play under head coach C. Vivian Stringer, who is currently in her 27th year at the helm for Rutgers.

“I chose Rutgers because [of] the culture and family there … when I went on the visit I knew that was the school,” Smikle said. “After I met all the coaches, the players, I just felt so comfortable that I knew that was the school.”

The win on Friday gave the Moose a 1.5 game lead over Friends’ Central (10-5, 3-1) and Academy New Church (7-4, 3-1) atop the Friends League standings. While the league’s top team is still up for grabs, Westtown has solidified itself as a heavy favorite around the midpoint in FSL play.

And as the season inches closer and closer to its completion, so does Smikle’s goal of getting ready for the next level.

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(Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Smith joins the 1,000 point club

With a buzzer-beating layup at the end of the first half, senior Madison Smith entered rare company as a 1,000-point scorer at Friends’ Central. The bucket was the seventh of her 10 points on the night, and after it went down, a ceremony at mid-court took place.

“It felt really great,” Smith said of scoring her 1,000th point. “It’s been my goal since I first stepped on the floor as a basketball player.”

The moment for Smith was one that probably would have never happened if it wasn’t for her mom, Sharena Robinson, that forced her to play hoops after she didn’t want to at first. Robinson played her high school ball at St. Maria Goretti before going on to play at Penn State.

Smith became just the seventh girl and 14th player in Friends’ Central history to reach the milestone, and will now have her name featured on a banner in the gymnasium.

By Quarter
Westtown School:   28  |  18  |  15  |  11  ||  72
Friends’ Central:       6   |   7   |  11  |   5   ||  29

~~~

Westtown boys continue to win

In the second game of the doubleheader, Westtown topped Friends’ Central, 69-41, improving its record to 16-6 overall and 6-0 in the Friends League while the Phoenix slid to 3-11 and 0-3 in the FSL. It was a dominant win for the Moose, who progressively separated themselves until the final buzzer and didn’t let the Phoenix get much on the offensive end.

“I think the team did a great job of being active in a zone and not allowing Friends’ Central to shoot uncontested threes. So every shot was contested,” head coach Seth Berger said. “I thought they did a great job of communicating the zone in terms of who had the ball and who was supposed to be releasing.”

The main communicator in that zone was Duke commit and No. 1 player in the 2022 class, Dereck Lively II. Berger mentioned that Lively has been a vocal on the floor since he first saw him in 8th grade and it was apparent on Friday that still reigns true. The 7-2 big man held down the paint, finishing with numerous blocks even though Friends’ Central was hesitant to go at him under the basket.

Friday’s game was the second night of a back-to-back for Westtown, who topped Academy New Church 77-68 the night prior.

After scoring five points on Thursday, Penn State commit Jameel Brown went for a game-high 20 points against Friends’ Central. Brown showed off his range burying four 3s including one a couple of steps behind the arc as the shot clock expired.

By Quarter
Westtown School:   18  |  17  |  19  |  15  ||  69
Friends’ Central:     13   |   8   |  13  |   7   ||  41

Scoring
Westtown: Jameel Brown 20, Dereck Lively II 19, Matt Mayock 11, Seyphon Triplett 9, Quin Berger 5, Jahmare Memphis 2, Julius Kimani 2, Wade Chiddick 1

Friends’ Central: Collin Bowman 10, Fazl Oshadi 9, Reid Belcher 6, Gabriel Moore 5, Kahmai Clark 3, Isaac Moore 2, Joseph Green 2, Connor Loughran Moore 2, Sam Gerber 2


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