Kirbyson showing steady improvement on court
Ashley Kirbyson does not play basketball year-round.
But the Liberty Ranch High girls basketball player, a junior forward, has been playing like a seasoned veteran that has earned Kirbyson top honors in recent weeks.
At the Hawk Holiday Shootout toward the end of last week, Kirbyson was the lone Liberty Ranch player to be named to the all-tournament team. The Hawks took second place in their own tournament, losing to Franklin of Elk Grove 65-34 in the title game.
During the three-day tournament, Kirbyson averaged 14.6 points per game. In the winner’s bracket game in which Liberty Ranch (12-2) posted a 57-31 win over Rio Linda on Dec. 15, Kirbyson scored 25 points.
Two weeks ago, Kirbyson earned was named MVP of the Linden Tournament. In three games Kirbyson averaged 17.3 points per game. In the tournament title game in which Liberty Ranch defeated Ben Holt Academy 61-44 on Dec. 9, Kirbyson had 25 points. She also had 22 points against Tokay in the winner’s bracket game on Dec. 8, as Liberty Ranch posted a 5837 win over the Tigers.
For the season, Kirbyson is averaging 15.2 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. Her average in scoring has nearly doubled from last winter, where Kirbyson averaged 9.2 points per game. As a freshman moved up to the varsity squad during the 2015-16 season, she averaged 4.3 points per game.
Steady improvement in shooting from almost anywhere on the floor has been the difference for Kirbyson the last two seasons.
“When I was younger, I would always shoot a lot outside just to get my shots,” Kirbyson said. “(Now) if I’m open, I shoot. If not, I pass.”
Shooting at the 3-point line is Kirbyson’s “comfort zone.” She works on that skill at her church’s gym, if not a basket set up at her family’s home where she takes 200 shots. Along with practices at the Hawks’ Nest, that’s nearly four hours of practice each day.
“I just go out and shoot,” Kirbyson said. “Just get a feel for the ball and do a lot of form shooting and working with my coaches (Liberty Ranch coach David Moore and his assistant coaches).”
Other than playing at Liberty Ranch and her middle school team, Kirbyson is unlike the bulk of the area’s high school basketball players. That is once the high school basketball season is done — be it regular season in mid-February or when a squad is eliminated in the SacJoaquin Section or NorCal playoffs — those
players move on to play for AAU teams in the spring and summer months. Kirbyson has never played on an AAU girls basketball team.
“I have been asked, but my mom (name) wants to hold off it,” Kirbyson said. “We’ve been talking about it.”
But for now, Kirbyson and the Hawks are focused on this season. Liberty Ranch is off to its best start in varsity girls basketball since the school opened its doors in 2009. After two more non-conference games, Liberty Ranch opens Sierra Valley Conference action next month.
“We have all of my age group (on this year’s team),” said Kirbyson of the nine juniors on the team. “There are seven, eight of us that have been playing together since sixth grade. We have great communication on the court. I feel we work really well together. I feel I have a great connection with my teammates.”
The Hawks won’t have a target on their backs. That belongs to defending champion Union Mine, which is 10-1 this season, and returns the bulk of its players from last winter’s squad.
Whether she plays on an AAU team next spring or summer, Kirbyson does want to continue to play basketball after she graduates from Liberty Ranch in the spring of 2019. She hopes to play on the women’s basketball team at the University of the Pacific, where she plans to major in physical therapy or become an athletic trainer.