By VINCE LOVERGINE
TopSports.news
There’s no question that over the last few years, Silver Lake girls basketball has been one of the best programs in Class 3A.
In 2025, the Eagles were the state runnerups. In 2024, they won it all, in 2023 they took fourth, in 2022, they took third and in 2021 they made an appearance as well.
Two-time All-Shawnee County Top 10 pick Kailyn Hanni is back for her senior season for perennial Class 3A contender Silver Lake. [File photo/TSN]
It’s Year 6 for coach Kyle Porter and he’s just as excited to begin another journey and make a run to the state tournament once again.
The Eagles have a sign in the old gymnasium that says 'Championship Habits, Championship Communication, Championship Shape,' that helps lay the foundation in the first week of practices on who Silver Lake want to be.
“We’re not a team that is openly vocal, we struggle to communicate at times with our teammates and we have to constantly reinforce and require them to use their voice, to use their body language to create energy themselves because in times of adversity, it’s easy to go silent, easy to get siloed up and we have to come together as a team,” Porter said.
“We’re going to be pretty similar to how we’ve been in years past. We want to get easy baskets in transition when we can. We want to attack through the paint… and we want to do the opposite on defense.”
Star senior guard Kailyn Hanni has been a focal point of this program for several years now and stepping into her final season, Porter can’t wait to see what this year can bring for her.
“She sets the temperature for our team on a daily basis,'' Porter said. "I think we go, whether it’s fair or not, depending on the temperature she sets. The mentality she brings to the team. I think she’s learning each and every day on how to impact others in a positive way to help them be their best.
"I love the leadership she provides. She’s a competitor and our goal is for her and the team is to make sure that everybody else on the floor is a weapon so that we can feed off of what she brings.''
“It gives me confidence to play freely and I don’t have to play outside of who I am. It makes me feel good about myself and how I can lead this team,” Hanni said.
Hanni herself is ready to step up as that senior leader and they’re very connected as a group from seniors to freshman.
“We play like a true family and that’s been like that since the summer. We’ve been focusing on really getting up and down the court, getting in shape, running in transition and playing really well together,” Hanni said.
With the Big East conference being as tough as it is, Porter said it helps you prepare for a state championship-type atmosphere and game.
“The message is always the same but how you deliver it might be different,'' Porter said. "The end goal is always the same. We want to be tough to play against and beat come March.
"For this team, we have to have positive mistake response habits that will allow us to win the next play and that’s what we're trying to reinforce specifically for this team this year because we think if we can do that, stay tough and together, that's kind of our mantra this season that those outcomes at the end will take care of themselves.''
