Without a senior on its roster, one could take a look at the Kankakee girls basketball team and think the Kays are a year away from reaching their ceiling.

The Kays don’t agree.

“That’s really just up to us,” junior forward Ava Johnson said. “I feel like we can accomplish anything if we set our minds to it.”

The Kays (16-3 overall, 5-1 SAC) scored their second win of the week Thursday, a 68-27 Southland Athletic Conference home victory against Thornridge.

Against a much tougher opponent in defending Class 3A state champion Montini on the road Tuesday, the Kays recorded a 58-49 win. Save for a pair of losses at last month’s State Farm Holiday Classic in Bloomington/Normal, the Kays haven’t lost since a 65-33 defeat at Class 4A power Bloom on Dec. 8.

Malea Harrison, a three-year starting junior guard, echoed Johnson’s sentiments that it’s the fearless, team-oriented mentality the Kays have embraced that has allowed them to put together the season they’re currently enjoying.

“A lot of that is helping us perform on the court and helps us be more mindful,” said Harrison, who drilled three 3-pointers and had 13 points Thursday. “Like, oh, my teammate’s ahead, let me pass it up, or oh, my teammate went down, let me go help them out.”

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Kankakee's Malea Harrison takes a shot during a home game against Thornridge Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026. (Mason Schweizer)

Johnson, who outscored the Falcons on her own with 30 points, is also a three-year starter, although she played her freshman season at Bradley-Bourbonnais. Johnson and Harrison have found chemistry together on the court, combining to force arguably the most lethal duo in Kankakee County and the Southland.

“I love how we just look at each other and know oh, she’s going to post [up], and I’ll just lob it over the top,” Harrison said. “There’s nothing that ever verbally needs to be said. We just know each other so well, and she’s an amazing post.”

Fellow juniors London Stroud, Shania Johnson and LaMayrah Smith round out the starting five, with Smith replacing Ki’Asia Wilson earlier this year after Wilson tore her ACL. The Kays also have five freshmen on the team, including defensive mastermind Jasyia Wesby.

In 29 years of coaching boys and girls hoops, Kays coach Kurt Weigt can’t remember a time when he had a team this young. Now in his fifth year at Kankakee, he also can’t remember a time when he’s led a program with this much synergy, starting at the younger levels.

“Five years ago, when I came in, I was coaching down at Kennedy [Middle School],” Weigt said. “All of my coaches coach at the younger levels, so it’s all the same terminology, and now we’re reaping the benefits of that.

“Not a lot of people are willing to put in the time it takes to do it the right way and build the program from the ground up,” he said. “We were good, but we had a lot of talent before I got here.”

The Kays led just 14-9 after the first quarter Thursday before outscoring the Falcons 24-10 before cruising down the stretch. In a way, Thursday’s game could be seen as a metaphor for the way the Kays hope their season winds up. They start pretty well, really finding a groove as they get their footing under them and are now looking to finish the second half of the season strong.

And if it goes the way they want, Weigt said it will be due to their love of the game and their love for one another.

“It just goes back to they’re willing to do things we need to do as a program and as individuals to do what we need to do to get better,” Weigt said. “They’re celebrating each other, and we share the ball.

“If someone’s in front of us, we give them the ball, right, wrong or indifferent, and that’s a tribute to them,” he said. “I don’t sense any selfishness that way, and the really good teams, that’s how you get where you want to go.”