Aubree Kleinhans could have easily gotten lost in the shadows.
And why not? It’s safe there.
Kleinhans could have simply let the legacy of her sister, Averee, overwhelm her and not attempt to carve out her own memories of playing basketball at Nocona.
The Lady Indians are glad she chose a different path.
Kleinhans has emerged from those shadows, establishing herself as a key figure in Nocona’s run to the Class 2A State Tournament.
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And when the Lady Indians’ starters are announced before the semifinal matchup with Wellington at 10 a.m. Friday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Kleinhans’ name will be among them.
“It hasn’t been easy,” said Kleinhans, a sophomore guard. “I really struggled with my confidence and with carving out my own role. I try not to compare myself to Averee because she was the star of Nocona. I know I’m not that kind of player. I’m not going to score like she did, but there are a lot of things I can still do for my team.”
Averee Kleinhans’ star still shines bright. She’s one of just three girls basketball players from the TRN Sports coverage area to score more than 3,000 points in her high school career, joining Windthorst’s Tatum Veitenheimer and Bowie’s Rene Hanebutt.
The older Kleinhans was in McKinney for Nocona’s Region II-2A semifinal win against Muenster, commanding the attention of the Lady Indian faithful as she walked into the gym. But as tipoff approached, Averee faded into a crowd of black and orange, cheering for the Lady Indians to continue their latest deep playoff run.
“We have a good relationship. We’re pretty competitive with each other, but we support each other, too,” Aubree Kleinhans said. “She comes to my games when she can, and I got to her games in college (at Texas Woman’s University). We don’t really talk about basketball. We just talk about life.”
The younger Kleinhans is getting to do something her sister never got to do in high school – play in the state tournament. In fact, Averee’s Lady Indian teams, which played in Class 3A, never broke through to a regional tournament with Brock and Peaster serving as giant roadblocks.
“I definitely am going to bring that up a lot,” Aubree said. “At least, I’ve got that.”
Aubree may not reach all these point milestones or rack up the notoriety of her older sister, but she remains an integral part of the Lady Indians’ success.
“We moved her into the starting lineup during her freshman year right as district was starting,” Nocona coach Kyle Spitzer said. “We saw that she could really help us in a lot of different ways. She can do a little bit of everything well, but it was her rebounding that got her into the starting lineup.
“She has the ability, like her sister, to just know where the ball is going off the rim to be in the right spot to get the rebound. Her shot has improved dramatically. She can take on several different roles for us, whatever we need.”
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Aubree Kleinhans overcomes sister’s shadow to help Nocona reach state
