Women’s basketball: Kira Klapprodt, Emily Gilbert powering Kishwaukee College

MALTA – DeKalb grad Kira Klapprodt – 40 minutes. Genoa-Kingston grad Emily Gilbert - 40 minutes. DeKalb grad Ariana Smith – 40 minutes.

With only seven players on the roster, three local players are eating up the minutes for the Kishwaukee College women’s basketball team. They each played 40 minutes in Thursday’s 87-67 loss to Highland Community College, the Kougars’ first game in almost a month.

Even with the extended workload, Klapprodt said she’s enjoying all the playing time.

“It’s honestly kind of a compliment,” said Klapprodt, a 5-foot-3 sophomore guard. “In high school I wasn’t playing 40 minutes. I’m not mad about it, it’s a compliment. This is a sport I love. I think we practice enough that, yeah, it’s 40 minutes, but it feels like 20 sometimes, so it’s not bad.”

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Kishwaukee College's Kira Klapprodt drives against Highland Community College's Alexis Lacy during their game Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, at Kishwaukee College in Malta. (Mark Busch)

Klapprodt scored 19 points, just above her 18.2 average heading into the game. Gilbert, averaging 14.9 entering the game, had 24.

The Cougars (6-8) led by as much as 14 in the first half. Gilbert’s second-half surge – she had 18 after the break – helped pull the Kougars (4-9) to within 50-47 with 3:54 left in the third.

But Highland scored eight straight after the Raven Meeks’ bucket cut it to three, and Kish never got within seven again.

“For not playing for a month I thought we played decent,” Kish coach Krystal Gundy said. “Not good, but decent for not playing for a month, only playing each other, only having seven players.”

The Kougars were outscored 29-16 in the fourth quarter. They allowed only 30 points combined in the second and third quarters.

Klapprodt finished with 19 points, seven steals, eight assists and 12 rebounds. Gilbert had 24 points and five rebounds, Smith had five points and five rebounds, and Meeks – also a DeKalb grad – had eight points, four blocks and eight rebounds.

After Klapprodt flirted with a quadruple-double, Gundy said the guard doesn’t back down from a fight.

“Kira is my go-getter,” Gundy said. “I ask a lot from her. I get on her, she takes it. She’s very coachable. When she’s on, the rest of the team is on. ... She’s earned the respect of her teammates to take shots early in the shot clock because the trust is there.”

Klapprodt said she doesn’t plan on playing basketball beyond this year. She said that’s something definitely on her mind as the season winds down.

“I was thinking before the game, this is conference. This is the end of the season,” Klapprodt said. “I just need to put my foot on the gas.”

Gilbert also is in her sophomore year and not sure of her future basketball plans. She missed most of last season with an injury, and Gundy said she’s been a silent leader for the Kougars.

“You’re not going to hear from her, she’s not going to say nothing, but she’s going to come out and play every night and show why she’s here,” Gundy said. “Emily is still kind of in the headspace of a freshman. We lost her early last year due to an injury. She was in a boot for a lot of our season.”

Gilbert is second on the team with 14.9 points per game. She said the Kougars have been prepped for the small numbers on the roster coming out of winter break, and it’s more of a mental hurdle than a physical one.

She also said that may help the Kougars sneak up on some teams later this year.

“I think we can go pretty far,” Gilbert said. “I think teams underestimate us just because of the numbers we have. But we’ve gotten so much better since the fall, since we started. We have a good group of girls, we can keep pushing, and we can win more games than we’re expected to.”