There are many things to admire about Lake senior Kaysie Brittenham.

Her basketball talents stand tall, as witnessed by her seven school records, and her work ethic is unmatched. She is an exceptional student as well.

“She works harder than every other kid and she set the tone for every other kid at practice to work that hard,” third-year Flyers coach Denny Meyer said.

There is, however, more to Brittenham than what the public sees.

“A lot of people don't know it because she seems like a real quiet kid,” Meyer said, “but one thing we're really going to miss from her is her sense of humor. Just little one-liners out of nowhere.”

The 5-foot-9 guard, Lake's all-time leading scorer, said she gets that from her dad, Garth.

“We both have that sense of humor,” Brittenham said.

On the court, Brittenham is all business. She earned special mention and honorable mention All-Ohio honors as a junior and sophomore, respectively, and she is sure to gain another statewide award this week.

In addition, Brittenham was named the Suburban Lakes League Player of the Year this season and is the Allen Miller Jewelers All-Press Player of the Year for 2010-11. She was chosen All-Press POY by a unanimous vote of 10 area coaches and 10 local sportswriters. The Associated Press followed by awarding Brittenham first team All-Ohio in Division III.

Brittenham will graduate as the most decorated girl in Lake basketball history. She finished her four-year varsity career with a school-record 1,394 career points, and she scored a school single-game record 37 points in this year's Division III district finals against Elmwood.

Brittenham's other school records include points in a season (472), career assists (265), 3-point field goals in a season (47) and career (155), and single-season steals (108).

“As I got closer to my senior year, getting the school (career) points record was a bigger thing for me,” Brittenham said. “I was trying to get as close to it as I could.”

Brittenham, who played for coach Dick Fox as a freshman and for Meyer the past three years, led the Flyers to an 80-11 record and three SLL titles in four years. She averaged 19.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 2.7 assists a game this season as Lake advanced to the regional tournament for the first time since 1986.

The Flyers won 59 of 60 regular-season games during the past three years. Meyer said Brittenham's work ethic rubbed off on the entire program.

“Every drill we do, she goes as hard as she can,” Meyer said. “Some players will go hard, but every drill we've done in the three years I've been coaching her, she goes hard in every one.”

Brittenham began playing organized basketball in the fifth grade, and she later went on to lead her eighth grade team to an unbeaten season. At that time the Flyers' varsity program was trying to find an identity, but that was about to change.

“The girls' program was definitely struggling,” Brittenham recalled. “We had gone through a whole bunch of coaches and it was just not the greatest girls basketball program.”

Fox coached Lake for one season, in 2007-08, and guided the Flyers to a surprising 14-7 record. Brittenham was a starter as a freshman.

“We had just finished a great junior high career and I think all of us (freshmen) were looking forward to high school,” Brittenham said. “We wanted to help change the program and help get some wins for Lake. I don't know if I had too many expectations going into that freshman season. Everyone got a lot more confidence and started doing better as we went on.”

Brittenham became more of a centerpiece when Meyer took over in 2008-09, and the Flyers went 20-0 during the regular season. They finished 22-1 after losing to Liberty-Benton in the D-III district finals.

The Flyers went 22-1 and lost to Liberty-Benton again in the district finals last year, but they reached the regional semifinals this season and finished 22-2. Brittenham said the mental part of her game improved as her career progressed.

“I just learned what to do and what not to do,” she said. “I got a lot more consistent as the years went on. My accuracy and shooting improved.”

Brittenham has played summer AAU ball for coach Karey Segler's Northwest Hoopstars for the past several years.

“He's helped a lot,” Brittenham said. “I worked on the fundamentals of the game and all of the basics that were really important. We usually did fairly well in the tournaments we played in.”

Brittenham will continue her basketball career next season at Cedarville University, located near Dayton. The NAIA program is bumping up to NCAA Division II status next season.

“It was definitely a big decision and I had a hard time making it,” said Brittenham, who has a 4.59 GPA. “I wanted to go into pharmacy, and I narrowed my choices to Ohio Northern and Cedarville. I went on a visit to Cedarville and I liked everything and I thought I would fit in there, and that sealed the deal. It also worked out for me financially.”

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