Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

SOLON – There isn’t a lot of things Kaia Holtkamp hasn’t seen on the basketball court.

That on-court experience is a product of 60 career starts over the past three seasons.

“There are not a lot situations that she hasn’t seen and I think she’s grown from that,” Solon coach Jamie Smith said. “With the amount of minutes Kaia has played a lot of things have become instinct for her.”

The experience of Holtkamp has been a big reason Solon has been among the most improved teams in the state over the past two seasons.

Holtkamp helped the Spartans climb from three wins in her freshman season to a 9-13 mark a year ago.

This season a more experienced Holtkamp has been a major factor in Solon taking another huge step helping the Spartans to a 13-5 record and a number 12 ranking in Class 3A.

“It feels really good to be able to win big games and win close games,” Holtkamp said. “We’ve gotten to the point where I think we feel like we can win any game.”

A starter since the first game of her freshman season Holtkamp has grown into a leader for the Spartans along with classmate fellow three-year starter Makinley Levin.

With 60 games of experience Holtkamp has experienced a career worth of time on the court in her first two plus seasons.

“I would say a lot of her improvement has just been maturity and having an overall basketball sense,” Smith said. “She has played more than 60 games in her career and that on-court experience at the high school level just can’t be duplicated.”

Holtkamp was a third-team all-state selection last season as a sophomore while handling the point guard duties for Solon.

This season the 5-foot-8 Holtkamp has moved off the ball, teaming with freshman point guard Callie Levin to give Solon one of the best backcourt duos in 3A.

“She had to have the ball in her hands a lot the past two years and I think she adjusted to not having the ball in her hands as much and I think that fits her role and it helps us,” Smith said. “I think she has become a better finisher at the rim too.”

Holtkamp is averaging 8.2 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game this season and has been at her best as of late.

She had a season-high 21 points including the go-ahead layup with 1:38 left in come-from-behind win over Benton Community last Friday.

Holtkamp had three rebounds, three steals and two assists in the win over the Bobcats and followed with a 15-point, three-rebound, three-assists effort on Tuesday against Dyersville Beckman.

“She reads the defense well, she knows when to drive and when not to and she is quick with the ball,” Smith said. “There are not too many people quicker in 3A. When she goes, she has some kind of special burst.”

After winning 12 combined games in her first two seasons, it didn’t take Holtkamp long to see that this year’s Solon team had a chance to be special.

Solon opened the season with a 27-point win over currently eighth-ranked Center Point-Urbana.

“I think after the first game I saw what we were doing and I knew we could be something really special,” Holtkamp said. “That game really kind of opened my eyes.”

Solon has raised eyebrows around the state this season and in the process raised its expectations.

The Spartans have their sights set on their first state tournament trip since 2006.

“Coach always keeps setting higher goals for us which I really like because I like achieving those things,” Holtkamp said. “We’ve definitely improved but it’s a never-ending thing where we know we can always get better so we haven’t hit the point yet where we are satisfied.”

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