Coupeville Sports

Kailey Kellner, here back in her high school days, is a sweet-shooting sophomore at D’Youville College in New York. (Photo by JohnsPhotos.net)

Kailey Kellner is New York’s modern-day answer to John Havlicek.

Coming off the bench Monday as D’Youville College’s sixth man (or woman), the Coupeville High School grad pulled down almost as many minutes as the other five Spartan bench players combined.

And Kellner used her time well, banking home five points, including her first three-ball of the season, while also snagging four rebounds.

It wasn’t enough to save the D’Youville women’s basketball squad, however, as the Spartans fell 79-63 to visiting Elmira.

The non-conference loss evens Kellner and Co.’s record at 1-1 on the young season.

Like Havlicek, who revolutionized the sixth-man role during his Hall of Fame career with the Boston Celtics, Kellner gave her team a spark when she hit the floor.

The former Wolf sharpshooter logged 15 minutes, while the other five Spartans on the bench Monday combined to play 17 minutes.

Maybe the D’Youville coach should have put Kellner in the game a wee bit quicker.

When she made her first appearance of the night, a minute-and-a-half was gone in the second quarter and the Spartans trailed 29-14.

Less than 12 seconds later Kellner tickled the bottom of the net with a sweet jumper, followed shortly by glomming on to a pair of rebounds.

She also netted her trey during her run on the floor in the second quarter, providing the kind of instant offense D’Youville had trouble mounting the rest of the night.

The Spartans fell behind by 10 after one quarter, watched the margin widen to 14 at the half, then staged a 13-7 run in the third to tighten things up for a moment.

Elmira finished emphatically, however, rolling up a 26-18 advantage down the stretch to notch its first win of the new campaign.