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Kemp's Milestone Tip of Iceberg for Put Valley Cagers
Visions of County Center dance in their heads
by Ray Gallagher
 | | Christine Kemp scoring her 1,000th career point last week |
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There are two sure-fire things about the state of Putnam Valley at this point in time: its political fiascos are making a mockery of local government, and its female athletes are the ones putting its six-year-old athletic department on the New York State Public High School Athletic Association map.
Day after day it seems; the young ladies on the varsity sports scene are as destined for athletic greatness as its town's politics are bound for folly.
Last week, senior point Christine Kemp, a three-sport captain in field hockey, hoops and track and field, scored the 1,000th point of a brilliant basketball career while the town's leaders scurried to avoid political mayhem, yet again. Perhaps Kemp should run for town government, what with her sound leadership ability and her penchant for making friends. "It was really nice that everyone knew about it because all of my friends and even their parents heard about it and everyone showed up to support me," said Kemp, who took a feed from senior co-captain Kim Kastuk to hit the milestone. "It feels great to accomplish 1,000 points. All my teammates, throughout the past four years and myself, have worked hard enough to allow me to achieve it. I owe them all because you can't ever get something like this done in a team sport by yourself. I will never take it for granted or not be happy that I had the chance to do it."
 | | Put Valley's Christine Kemp with her mom, dad and Coach Kelly Thompson after getting 1,000 points. |
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Kemp is that rare breed of athlete that puts a tremendous amount of pressure on herself to achieve, then goes out and backs it up with selfless, tenacious play, according to every coach who's ever mentored her and most everyone associated with Putnam Valley sports.
"She's the best teammate I've ever had," said Boston University-bound Kastuk, who has played alongside "Kempy" since the two could first dribble a basketball. "I was really happy for her, she deserved it. She is a great athlete and a great friend. It was awesome that I was able to give her the assist because we have been playing together for so long and we have been buddies forever. She's worked so hard at basketball and I'm just very happy that I got the chance to be with her when she achieved this amazing feat."
The list of amazing feats includes a NYSPHSAA Class B Field Hockey Championship in her All-Section junior season, plus a third appearance in the Class B sectional title game this past fall when she secured All-NYS honors. She will undoubtedly garner a second All-Section nod on the basketball court in this, her senior season, and later this spring she'll be in line for the Class B sectional championships in the 100- and 200-meter sprints, in addition to the long and triple jumps.
For now, though, she'll settle for a second trip to the Mecca of Section 1 basketball; the Westchester County Center, where Kemp hopes to lead her streaking Tigers as part of the Class B Final 4 this March. Since its stunning 60-57 victory over Class AA powerhouse North Rockland in the championship of the Red Raiders tournament back on December 27, Putnam Valley has amassed an eight-game winning streak, with a win over previously state-ranked Class B heavyweight Briarcliff and another over Cardinal Spellman of the Bronx. The versatile Kemp has led the way with 18.1 PPG, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 steals and 5.9 assists in the hopes of holding on to the league title the Tigers won last year. At 7-0 in league play, 10-5 overall, only Briarcliff stands in the way of a third league title in five seasons of varsity action.
"I really feel that with Kempy playing at the top of her game, we have a good shot at making it to the County Center," said Kastuk, the Tigers' low-post threat and primary beneficiary of Kemp's unselfishness.
Should Kemp and Kastuk cut a swath to White Plains, they would lead just the second Tiger team in the school's brief history to do so. Both were youthful, but primary parts of the Kristi Dini-led Tigers who did so back in March of 2005 before Dini, the alltime scoring leader at Put Valley, went on to star at Boston University where she currently averages 8.4 PPG and leads the Terriers with 37 3-pointers through 18 games. Coach Thompson has been there every step of the way.
"Seeing all the fans with signs and posters shows that our fans not only appreciate what a great player Christine is, but they also root for her because everyone just loves the kid," said Thompson. "I have been coaching basketball for 16 years now, and I have never coached anyone with any more natural athletic ability than Kempy. But what impresses me the most, is that she wasn't satisfied with just using her athletic ability. She has improved her ball-handling and shooting every season. She has worked extremely hard on her game and now she is one of the best guards in the section."
On and off the court, the kid is a gem, providing a smile and a down-to-earth approach with each passing day.
"Christine has a great sense of humor and knows when to lighten things up as well," Thompson said. "She is a very humble star for us. She will go down with a handful of other female stars, including Kristi Dini, Melissa Mazin, Amanda Murphy, Katie McNamara and Kim Kastuk as the best PV has ever seen."
Getting back to the County Center won't be easy and beating state-ranked (No.4) Albertus Magnus and the other Class B contenders for the school's first basketball sectional title will be even tougher, but with a driven, fiery Kemp dishing and swishing at her current rate, anything is possible.
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