Sometimes fate has a strange way of turning your worst moment into your greatest triumph.
California High School 2022 senior KaLynn Irey endured one of the most turbulent moments of her young life when she tore her ACL last summer playing summer league basketball. Many questioned whether or not Irey would return for her senior season with the Lady Pintos. But with the help and support of her family, friends, and physical therapist, Irey overcame the odds and return to the hardwood just in time for help propel the Lady Pintos to district title and state tournament appearance.
The daughter of mother Michelle Irey and stepfather Homer "H." Cavette, KaLynn "Beast Mode" Irey was born in Jefferson City and grew up in Latham until she moved to California when she was in the sixth grade. Throughout that time, she became intrigued into playing sports and it wasn't long before she was playing multiple sports throughout the year. Irey played softball, volleyball, and track growing up.
But it was basketball the she loved the most and it quickly became her passion.
"I just decided that basketball was really what I wanted to focus on because I was so in love with it," Irey said. "There wasn't one particular moment, but rather the year I joined Phenom (basketball organization), just going into practice and going into these huge tournaments, and realizing that are there. The competitive level of those girls was just insane and I wanted to be like that."
Once Irey had her sights set on the basketball court, there was no stopping her. The inspiration Irey got to play the game came more from her family than anyone else. With their support and encouragement, Irey spent several years learning how to play basketball at a high level with the help of numerous teammates and coaches, including Lady Pintos head coach Bobby Sangster.
"One of the biggest fundamentals I learned was just pushing myself in practice. I had played with one of my closest friends Rylee Hees and we were always close in middle school, especially during basketball," Irey said. "We would just always feed off of each other and I just loved playing with her. It was a dream of ours to go on and play together in High School at the varsity level. Having goals in Middle School is what kept me going and I knew that I wanted to compete in High School."
When Irey got to high school, one of her goals was quickly accomplished when she got the chance to play for the Lady Pintos. Irey had also connected with Sangster when she was in middle school and the rest was history when she started playing for him.
"Our relationship was strong from the beginning. He said that he was hoping that I was going to play in high school and once I got to high school and tried out, he was exciting that he could bring some of us to the varsity level. Because we had a lot of freshman that year," Irey said. "In order to do that, he needed to build trust that freshman year and that's exactly what he did. We just have a really close bond and the trust was always there from day one."
Irey said what separated Sangster from the other coaches she had was the way Sangster held her accountable for her actions from her first high school practice. Sangster also recommended a book to Irey called What Drives Winnin by Brett Ledbetter and it completely changed Irey's entire mindset about basketball.
Irey spent her first three years in high school with glory on her shoulders while playing for the Lady Pintos. But as she was getting ready for her senior year in the summer of 2021, disaster struck. That June, California was at a team camp hosted by Central Missouri. During a game at the camp, Irey was running the floor on a fast break. As Irey went to step around a defender, she planted her leg the wrong way and tore her ACL.
"I knew something was bad when it happened. It hurt so much. It was the worst pain I had ever felt. I had never broken a bone or had any sort of major injury before tearing my ACL," Irey said. "When it happened, I had a feeling it was bad because I couldn't walk out there and they slapped me in a wheelchair and then I had to go home. That night, my knee was so swollen."
Waiting for an x-ray was the hardest part for Irey and it became even worse when the x-ray confirmed that she did indeed have a torn ACL. Suddenly her plans for her senior year went up in smoke and any hope of her playing basketball again was in jeopardy. Irey spent the next few months working with physical therapist Eric Lange before having surgery June 30. Irey went to physical therapy two to three times a week and did exercises religiously for the next few months. Irey's goal was now to not only get back to the basketball court, but in time to play her senior season.
"I knew I had to take every single part of my recovery seriously and I can not thank Eric enough for what her did. At all," Irey said.
When the Lady Pintos 2021-22 season began, Irey was still recovering and couldn't help the her team on the court. But what Irey could do was lend a hand from the sidelines. Irey spent the first weeks of the season providing support from the California bench as one of the Lady Pintos' biggest bench voices. The encouragement proved to be a beneficiary factor for the Lady Pintos as they won five of their first seven games.
"The injury taught me that no matter what, every role is special. I kind of already had that idea. But being on the bench gives you another perspective. It gave me the aspect that somebody had to be encouraging at all times," Irey said. "That encouragement leads others to encourage and that only helps the people on the floor. It doesn't always matter if you're on the floor or not. You always have to be a team player."
All the while, Irey was trying to working her way back and recover in times to join her troops. On Dec. 21 in Rolla, Irey defined the odds and made an early return to the Lady Pintos. California lost the game 61-46. But in the final minute, coach Sangster inserted Irey into the game and the crowd went wild. The crowd later went berserk when Irey scored her first points of the season with a layup in the final seconds. Despite the loss, it was an emotional night for California. Irey was back and she quickly became an inspiration in her hometown. Irey said she still gets goosebumps about that night every time she thinks about it.
With Irey in the lineup and back in the game, California went on a tear by winning 14 of their last 17 regular season games with Irey scoring a season high 17 points along the way. But for the Lady Pintos, it would all be for naught if they couldn't accomplished what had been Irey's goal for years -- winning a district championship.
The Lady Pintos made swift work of Springfield Catholic 52-39 in the district semifinal and the stage was now set for a showdown between California and Fair Grove in the Class 4 District 10 championship game. The championship game went back and forth for four quarters with California holding onto a four-point lead with less than 20 seconds left. But Fair Grove stunned everyone with four points in the final seconds to send the game to overtime. In overtime, California made all the big plays and walked away as district champions with a 70-66 win against Fair Grove.
Irey said that it was the best basketball moment of her life.
"It was a really exciting moment for me. It was phenomenal and it felt amazing. Nothing beats a team win like that especially at districts," Irey said. "It may not have been the year I had always dreamed of. But it was the year that I needed. I wouldn't change anything."
California's season ended in the first round of the state tournament with a 70-55 loss to Helias and Irey's high school career was now done. Irey was in tears, but not for long. Earlier that season, her basketball dreams lived on when she signed to play for Stephens College in Columbia.
Irey said she is beyond excited to play for the Stars and head coach Andre Bell next fall. Irey will be one of 10 newcomers from across the country for Stephens next season while going there to study psychology. For Irey, the 2021-22 season was a storybook finish to one chapter of her life and the start of another. As she closes the book on her California High School chapter, Irey put down the final period after expressing her gratitude to California.
"I truly cannot express how thankful I am. I don't think words can express it because it is a small town and there is a lot of support the comes from that. Every basketball game, I look up in the stands and there always seems to be more and more people every night," Irey said. "I really can't thank the community enough for all the support. And not just from me, but from the team. Thank you so much California."
Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes Irey made her return to the Lady Pintos on Dec. 21 against Rolla and scored the first basket of her senior season in the final minute. Her first two points of the season sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes Irey and the Lady Pintos celebrate winning the 2022 Class 4 District 10 championship.
Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes Irey and the Lady Pintos won the 2021-22 Class 4 District 10 Championship over Fair Grove 70-66 in overtime.
Irey was one of the Lady Pintos biggest voices for California High School. (Democrat Photo/Evan Holmes)
Photo courtesy of KaLynn Irey Irey announced her commitment to Stephens College on Nov. 11, 2021.
Photo courtesy of KaLynn Irey Irey averaged eight points and five rebounds per game in her senior season with the Lady Pintos.