Jet Force / Freshman finding her niche for Hauser this season

Hauser's Kyliegh Parrott, center, shoots between Edinburgh's Haven Link, left, and Annelise Lollar during a basketball game at Edinburgh Community High School in Edinburgh, Ind., Monday, Jan., 6, 2020. Mike Wolanin | The Republic

HOPE — It hasn’t been the season that the Hauser girls basketball team had hoped for, but freshman Kyliegh Parrott has been one of the Jets’ brighter spots this year.

Parrott, the team’s leading scorer, is preparing for her first high school postseason competition when Hauser plays its opening game in the Waldron Sectional against Oldenburg Academy on Feb. 5.

Parrott’s passion for basketball started at about the time when she was in first grade when her father Christopher Anthony convinced her to give basketball a try. From then on, it has become one of her biggest addictions.

“I just fell in love with it, and it started feeling natural to me,” Parrott said.

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Beginning high school basketball hit suddenly for Parrott because she did not think at first she would be a starter on a team filled with seasoned junior and senior veterans.

“I thought that maybe I was going to start out as JV, and then maybe through my career, start on varsity,” Parrott said. “I didn’t think I would start my first game on varsity.”

Back in June, Parrott caught the eye of first-year coach Chad Evans, who saw the amount of potential she had.

“It’s nice to see that as a freshman from a coaching standpoint,” Evans said. “I could see that she has plenty of potential, and she’s got some pretty high goals for herself, and hopefully, she can achieve it here at Hauser.”

Evans talked with Parrott and discussed some of her goals that she wanted to achieve. She said she wanted to help the team in any way that she could as much as possible.

When Evans asked Parrott about her personal goals, one was to start varsity. Evans gave her every opportunity to accomplish that goal, and she didn’t disappoint.

“I’m a coach that rewards hard work. If you don’t work hard, you don’t play,” Evans said. “She’s done a pretty good job. She was making freshman mistakes like normal, but she’s progressed very well. I think she’s got to do some things to get better, and she knows what those areas are, and we talk about it. Hopefully, she can with this next offseason and going into next year. We’re going to be a lot better.”

As for most freshmen that enter the starting lineup, it can be nerve-wracking, and Parrott was no exception.

However, Parrott never showed it on the court. In her first game, she scored a team-high 12 points in a win over Columbus Christian.

One of Parrott’s most defining moments this season came during the Edinburgh Tournament in a matchup with Indianapolis Lutheran. She hit the game-winning 3-pointer to cap off an incredible fourth-quarter comeback for the Jets.

Going into Tuesday’s game at North Decatur, Parrott was averaging 11.7 points to go along with three rebounds and three assists per game. She’s shooting 38 percent from the field and 22 percent from behind the arc.

Parrott has embraced the starting role quite well.

“It was kind of crazy, but it’s pretty fun,” Parrott said. “I enjoy being able to kind of lead, not just to make myself better but make the whole team better.”

Hauser entered the final week of the regular season 7-14 and will play its regular-season finale Thursday against Shelbyville before starting sectional play.

Evans said Parrott is going to be a key piece for the Jets the next three years.

“She’s going to catch on,” Evans said. “It’s going to be nice to watch her grow from here on out and see how she progresses and how hard she wants to push herself.”