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42 Northwest Arkansas Basketball Sunday, November 4, 2018 Johnson County Westside's Criss constantly working to improve Practice makes perfect C L A S S 2 A K elsey Criss has come a long way since she was known as "Happy Feet" on the basketball court. She earned that nickname because she strug- gled dribbling a basketball until she was in the seventh grade. Six years later, the senior is fresh off a Class 2A All-State selection and is ready to lead the Johnson County Westside Lady Rebels in her last season. Criss has loved basketball all her life, an affair she started when she was in first grade, but she hasn't always excelled at the sport. It wasn't until she got the chance to start for her middle school team in the district tournament before she had the resolve to improve. Ever since then, Criss has practiced her game almost daily. She often stays after practice to get shots up. She goes home and practices her shooting after that. Even her mom has pushed her to work on her ball-handling and shot, Criss said. "Basketball is the passion," she said. Criss knows she will be taking on an even bigger role than she had to shoul- der last season, as one of two seniors on a team full of underclassmen, she said. "We're a very young team this y e a r," C r i s s said. "My goal is to just lead my team and push them." Criss is the only returning starter for the Rebels from a year ago, but she's not worried about being on a team with so much inexperience. She's focused on getting back to the state semifinals, where the Rebels lost to Quitman, 58-50, last season to cap a 28-8 season. Quit- man also knocked off Westside in the regional finals. "I just want to go back and get them," Criss said. "We worked so hard to get there, and then it's gone again." That eight-point loss to Quitman still sits in Criss' mind. The memory is part of what drives her in her final season, going into which has been bittersweet. "It breaks my heart. It's all I've known. It's all I've done for the past six years," she said. "Knowing that this is my last season — it hurts. But we got to go and get things done." College basketball is definitely in the future for Criss if she has anything to say about it. She's already received some interest from two colleges in Arkansas, she said. Outside of basketball, the multi-sport athlete enjoys hanging out with her friends while also being on the softball, golf, cross country and track teams at Westside. She would play volleyball too, if the school had a team, she said. ALEX NICOLL SPECIAL TO NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE KELSEY CRISS SCHOOL Johnson County Westside CLASS Senior HEIGHT 5-7 POSITION Point guard NOTABLE Was named to the Class 2A All-State and All-State tournament teams. Helped Lady Reb - els to the Class 2A state semifinals and 28-8 record. … Averaged 11 points per game during the regular season and 15 per game in the post-season. … Shot 35 percent from the 3-point line. … A multi-sport ath - lete, she also plays softball, golf and runs track at Westside. NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER