By Ken Hansard

Cherryvale High School senior shooting guard Kadynce Forman is our Southeast Kansas VYPE Girls’ Basketball Poll Winner.  

Forman says that her love of the game came from the encouragement of her older sister, whom she grew up watching as a youngster.  “My sister talked me into trying it. After that I fell in love with the game of basketball.”  Unfortunately, tragedy struck for her sister when she tore her ACL for the first time as a junior. And then, it happened again in her senior season, “That one took a big toll on my whole family, and it really changed my perspective.  I dedicated my play to her and learned to cherish the things I have and can do. Every time I step foot on this court, all I can think about is doing it for my sister, because my love of the game is all because of her.” 

Fast forward four years, and now Kadynce is a senior for the Chargers, and like her sister, she is dealing with the adversity of a difficult injury. “I tore my labrum during volleyball season. I have had to do physical therapy while pushing through basketball season. Shooting with the brace on definitely feels different.”  Fortunately for Forman, she had the foresight to do a lot of extra drill work on her off-hand over the summer – something which would have come in handy even before the injury, “I struggled a bit in the past with my left hand. I went into the gym as often as I could and did a lot of dribbling. I still do a lot of drills to work on my left.”

The Chargers finished their season last year at 16-7, which included a 5-2 record in the Tri-Valley League.  Their two losses came by one point to Neodesha and in overtime to Eureka. Their season ended with a tough loss to Girard in the sub-state championship game.  As a senior, Forman and her teammates have their sights set on something a bit bigger, “We have a lot of chemistry, and we all want to get back to the state tournament and be ‘that team’ again.  Making it back for my senior season is the bigger goal, but we have to start by focusing on the little things first.  I think we have the ability if we all buy in.”

Last season, Forman had several games with very impressive stat lines.  She finished her junior season with 239 points, 98 rebounds, 57 assists, 20 blocks, and 67 steals.  One of her more impressive games included a sub-state double-double against Columbus where she finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Forman understands that, for the Chargers to take that next step this season, they will rely heavily on her to score.  However, she knows that her leadership, and the passion she learned from watching her sister, is just as important, if not more so, “This team can do big things. We don’t have much size, so we really have to buy in and focus on details. Our defense is our strength; we are all pretty quick. If we can get going on defense, get steals, and get out in transition, our offense will follow.” 

Besides playing basketball and volleyball, Kadynce also plays softball in the spring for the Chargers. She is also active in her school community as a member of FFA and Student Council. 

Following graduation, Kadynce plans to attend a community college to earn her associate’s degree while acquiring the prerequisites that she will need for early elementary education studies. Once that is accomplished, she will transfer to a four-year university to finish getting her degree to become a teacher.