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Saturday, February 10, 2007
Tribute paid to departing Cain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Four years ago, Kelley Cain walked onto the court at St. Pius’ comfy little gym as a wide-eyed freshman with no idea of what was to come. She strutted off it Friday night to a standing ovation, a majestic symbol of excellence.
She and her team did away with Southwest DeKalb, 54-37, in a manner that embodied her brilliant career. That is, when it came do to it, Cain got it done.
A blocked shot here. A left-handed put-back there. And on and on. Suddenly, a game that the Panthers had visions of taking was overtaken by one of the most dominant players of her era.
The endless pats on the back and hand slaps were the St. Pius community’s way of saying, simply, “Thanks.”
“It’s been great here,” Cain said afterward, her Senior Night plaque clutched against her body. “I was pumped up and ready to go. I wanted to end my four years in this gym with a win.”
Cain was the anchor, as always, but the catalyst was sophomore point guard Morgan Toles. Gritty and cunning, Toles is the reason St. Pius has more than a puncher’s chance to take its third state title and second in a row of the Cain epoch.
Toles, who played nearly the entire game in fifth gear, scored on two strong drives in the fourth quarter, the last one putting the Golden Lions comfortably ahead, 44-32.
But her on-court leadership and control — even in her youth — are invaluable.
So, there was quite a poignant moment amid the hoopla of Cain exiting the court for the final time in a regular-season game. The 6-foot-3 star slapped hands with the 5-foot-6 10th-grader — the keeper of the court soon to be gone acknowledged by the new ruler who is just arriving.
No doubt, Toles will assume command of the team next season, and she has had the personification of grace and class in Cain to learn from this season.
“She’s just a sophomore,” Cain said, shaking her head. “She’s already a great player. Imagine how she will be when she is older.”
Cain said she did not imagine the career she has crafted. But once she started working under coach Stephanie Dunn, “I knew anything was possible,” she said.
“She’s such a great leader and coach. And the entire coaching staff has been great. You can’t help but respect them all.”
If this sounds like goodbye, not so fast. There remains the matter of going for another championship. “We lost three seniors, one starter, so we expected to be a good team again,” Cain said. “But it hasn’t been easy. We’ve had a target on our backs for every game. That’s the way it is when you are champions. We know we’ve got to come with our ‘A’ game.”
Their “B” game was enough to hold off Southwest DeKalb, which received an admirable effort from Charenee Stephens. But Cain and Toles got valuable aid from Krista Tate, Taylor Davidson and Alaina Smith to go to 22-3 on the season.
One of St. Pius’ losses was to Collins Hill, which is led by the nation’s No. 1 player, Maya Moore, who was on hand to support her friend perhaps one last time Friday night.
The two will be rivals next year with Cain at Tennessee, Moore at Connecticut. It won’t leave much time for reminiscing about their sensational high-school careers.
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