Kayla Yorko has been playing basketball since she was in the third grade. Her father played basketball when he was younger and he finished high school as the lead scorer on his team. She says that he has taught her the fundamentals of the sport. Her father is not the only person who has inspired her to play, she has always had many people who have inspired her.

”It is heartbreaking knowing that I’m a senior and this is my last year playing, but I have given my life to this sport so there is nothing I can be upset over. I will definitely miss my team the most,” says Yorko. She also says that she feels great about this season’s team and that expectations were high and the team has lived up to them. But also that they are not done with the expectations and hopes they live up to the rest of them.

Yorko’s favorite thing about basketball is being around her team and making memories. Two of her favorite memories are beating Carmichaels 49-42 her freshman year to take take away their section title and beating Cal both times for the title.

”My mom is my main supporter. She is ALWAYS at everything and wouldn’t miss it for the world. She deals with the nights that I’m being hard on myself and she is always there no matter what,” says Yorko. Her mentor is her assistant coach Ashley Knisley. Knisley had played for Jefferson-Morgan when she was in school and was Yorko’s biggest mentor growing up.

Yorko says that she felt amazing when cutting the net. She also says that it was the best feeling with her team. Yorko’s jersey number (14) has a meaning to her and that is because she has had that number since the seventh grade, but as a freshman she also had the number 21. There are 4 main goals Yorko had for this season. The first is the section championship, which she and the team have accomplished. The second was to score 1000 points, which Yorko has recently accomplished. The third is to go far into the playoffs. Her final goal for this season is to beat the record for most all-time 3 pointers.

When asked how it feels to get 1000 points Yorko responded with, “It’s pretty awesome knowing my name will always be in the gym. I hope that future players see that and it makes them work hard to get up there too. It’s a great accomplishment.”

Yorko plans to go to college after she graduates high school. She was offered to play at
Garrett College and be a possible walk on at Cal U. Going to Cal U for journalism to further her education in the field is what she plans to do.