“She exemplifies the definition of student athlete.”

That’s what Porter High School girls’ basketball coach Corey Miller says about senior Kelsi Kilgore who plays basketball, softball,and soccer for the Pirates. “I’ve been around Kelsi for three years now, but this is my first year coaching her. I’ve coached boys for 24 years, but Kelsi is one of the reasons I took a leap of faith to coach the girls this year. She’s one of those players that you don’t get very often as a coach but when you do you know you’ll always get the most out of her.”

As noted, Kelsi plays several sports, but basketball is probably the one that gets most of her attention.

“My brother Tyler and cousins all played basketball so when I got the chance to play in the fifth grade, I took it. I think I like it more because of the longer season and I probably put more time into it than the other sports.”

As a senior leader this year, Kelsi has a good idea of what strong leadership should look like.

“I think a good leader has to be able to do what she’s asking others to do. I feel like if I’m out there working my butt off, the others will follow. When I was in the eighth grade there was a good group of seniors here that I looked up to and that I thought showed good leadership.”

In addition to her athletics, Kelsi is also in the National Honor Society, student council and in troop support where volunteers make goodie baskets to send to military personnel overseas. As the 2023 season unfolds, Kelsi is optimistic that she can help get the Pirates back on the winning track like her sophomore year when they made it to the regional finals with a 19-6 record. She says she would like to play college basketball if the opportunity arises and would like to be remembered as someone who played hard that others could look up to when she leaves Porter High.