All-Area POY: Kendra Kitchen sets tone for 21-win Davis, which repeats in Region 1
2024 Standard-Examiner All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year
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- Davis High senior Kendra Kitchen poses for a photo Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Kaysville. Kitchen is the All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season.
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- Davis High’s Kendra Kitchen (30) drives against Syracuse’s Camden King on Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, in Syracuse.
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- Davis High senior Kendra Kitchen poses for a photo Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Kaysville. Kitchen is the All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season.
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- Davis High senior Kendra Kitchen poses for a photo Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in Kaysville. Kitchen is the All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the 2023-24 season.
2024 ALL-AREA GIRLS BASKETBALL
TEAM OF THE YEAR: Box Elder
1ST TEAM | 2ND TEAM | 3RD TEAM| HMs
Kendra Kitchen made a big leap one season ago. As the only returning starter for Davis High girls basketball, she increased her points per game by 7.4 and rebounds by 1.2, stopped getting in foul trouble, became a threat off the dribble and blossomed as a two-way force.
Davis was 20-3 and won its first region title in 10 years as Kitchen averaged 18.7 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.4 blocks and 3.0 steals per game.
As a senior signed to Utah Valley University, what else did Kitchen have left to prove for the 2023-24 season?
Her on-the-court abilities were just as good, and becoming smoother by the week. It was off the court, though, where the do-it-all, wing-forward hybrid made a big impact.
“Sometimes good players just stay the same because they’re already good,” Davis head coach Anne Jones said. “But she has this drive, she’s a competitor, and she spends hours and hours on her own getting better.
“Her teammates watch her work … that work ethic, that competitiveness rubs off on other players.”
Whether it was the gym or the weight room, Kitchen put in the time.
“I wanted to be prepared for college and just work hard now,” Kitchen said. “We realized we had to work hard, pay attention … we just had to buy in and work hard to get where we wanted to go. It’s like, everybody just hop on board.”
This time around, Kitchen averaged 16.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.5 blocks per game to lead the Darts to a repeat Region 1 championship and 21-2 record, while shooting 44% from the field and 88% from the free-throw line.
So, for the second straight season, Kitchen is the Standard-Examiner’s All-Area Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
While her statistical output remained relatively the same, the number Jones liked the most this season: Kitchen’s 3.2 assists per contest, up from 1.9 from her junior year.
“(For two years) she’s been kind of a marked player, and everyone had to decide how they were going to defend her,” Jones said. “Two to three players to double- and triple-team her, be physical with her, and she really learned how to distribute the ball … she became a better passer and as a result, I think everybody else became better around her because they learned to find a window or an opening so Kendra could find them.”
Teammates stepped up; as good as Kitchen has been, no team gets through the regular season with one loss without a roster of good players. Sophomore guard T’Maea Eteuati doubled her scoring average (6.5 to 12.6), senior Kate Richards bumped up her production from 7.7 points per game to 10.1, and those two shot 46% and 42% from the 3-point line, respectively.
Seniors Avery Dain and Shea Miller provided a veteran presence, while freshman Kate Willard pitched in 4.7 points and 3.5 rebounds per game on 35% shooting from distance.
It was those teammates who helped create one of Kitchen’s favorite memories: after losing at home to Syracuse, the Darts hit the road on Feb. 9 to avenge their only regular-season defeat and deny the Titans a bid at unseating them atop Region 1.
Davis shot only 7 of 20 on two-pointers and still won by 23. That’s because the Darts tossed in a whopping 17 3-pointers (17 of 28), tied for second-most in one game in Utah girls basketball history. Eteuati drained 8 of her 11 takes, Richards made four, Willard one, and Kitchen four of her own.
“We played as a team and it was just so fun. In my mind, it felt like we missed like two 3s,” Kitchen said. “Everyone was so hyped just knowing they beat us last time … such a good feeling.”
Kitchen finished her career with 1,217 points, 753 rebounds, 212 steals, 208 blocks and 184 assists, and it’s clear Jones will miss having her in the gym.
“That combination of natural talent and ability, and work ethic, that’s what makes Kendra special,” Jones said. “Those are special players that don’t come along very often but hopefully she set the bar really high and others follow along. Now it’s someone else’s turn to take over.”