Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – Growing up watching her three older sisters star at City High gave Kelsey Joens a pretty good idea what to expect during her first season of varsity basketball.

While watching older sisters Courtney, Ashley and Aubrey in high school and later in college may have been fun for Kelsey playing against her older sisters wasn’t always that enjoyable for the fourth of the five Joens girls.

“They don’t take it easy on me at all,” Kelsey Joens said. “They go as hard as they can.”

The lessons Joens learned from going against her sisters in family games or workouts were tough at times but have been a big reason she has wasted no time transitioning into one of the state’s top scorers as a sophomore.

Joens ranks sixth in Class 5A in scoring at 19.8 points per game while helping seventh-ranked City High to a 7-2.

“I felt like I was pretty prepared because when I am practicing against my sisters they go as hard as they can,” Joens said. “When I got into varsity and I was playing in games with older people going as hard as they can I felt like I fit in pretty well.”

Joens certainly didn’t perform like a rookie last season averaging 10.5 points and 4 rebounds per game in her varsity debut season.

The strong debut season for Joens came in a supporting role as seniors Rose Nkumu, Paige Rocca and sister Aubrey Joens were the leaders for a City High team that reached the state semifinals.

Joens joined junior Eviyon Richardson and senior Ella Cook as returning starters from that 23-2 squad from a year ago and has taken her game to another level in her second varsity season.

“The seniors last year showed us how things are done and I learned a lot from those seniors,” Joens said. “They set the bar really high and we are just trying to reach that.”

A strong scorer since she debuted last season, Joens has flashed an impressive all-around game this season raising her averages in every major statistical category.

The 5-foot-10 Joens ranks second on the team with 6.4 rebounds per game and leads the Little Hawks with 3.3 assists and 2.4 steals per game.

“I think I’ve improved on my ball handling and my passing,” Joens said. “I tried to improve on every part of my game but I think those are two areas I’ve gotten better at.”

Joens has seen her scoring dip but her playmaking rise during a current four-game winning streak for City High which includes wins over ranked foes Dubuque Wahlert and Cedar Rapids Xavier.

The sophomore guard is averaging 17.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.5 steals during that stretch.

Joens had a double-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds seven steals and five assists in a win over Waterloo East on Tuesday.

That followed an 18-point, six-rebound, four-assist, five-steal effort against Dubuque Hempstead on Saturday.

“We just have to see what teams are giving us,” Joens said. “If you aren’t open you know that somebody else is and we know that we have people that can hit shots when they are open.”

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