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88 GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com B y the second game of Kayana Traylor's high school career, her coach knew he had some- thing special. Only a freshman, the 5-foot-9 point guard poured in 32 points in an overtime win at Terre Haute North about a year ago, a game after she had a dozen or so, plus a bunch of turnovers, in a season-opening loss to Columbus North. But there was more to her immediate improve- ment than statistics. Some of the errors she'd made against Columbus North — the Bulldogs are very good, having lost only 16 games the last six seasons, including just one last season when they won the Class 4A state title — she'd fixed only 24 hours later. "She has such a good understanding of the game," Martinsville coach Vince Cerbone said of Traylor, a Purdue commitment. "You combine that with how athletic she is. She has the ability to break people down — as a freshman in high school, she broke ev- erybody down last year. To have that type of athletic ability and run a team as a 14-year-old, while aver- aging 18-and-a-half points per game, it's impressive. She has a very good feel to the game." Stands to good reason. Traylor has basketball in her blood. Her mom, Danielle Traylor, played at LSU; aunt April Traylor, a former star at Martinsville, was a standout at Florida State; and dad Jeff Walker played at Iowa. Kayana Traylor is driven to im- prove, calling herself a competitor in about everything she does. It manifests itself best on the basket- ball court, where she's constantly looking for where she can gain another edge. That characteristic showed up from her first weekend as an Artesian. Guard Kayana Traylor could be a future Indiana Miss Basket- ball, her Martinsville High School coach says. A Good Understanding Commitment has deep basketball knowledge W O M E N'S B A S K E T B A L L R E C R U I T I N G INCOMING BOILERMAKERS 2016 Commitments Aerianna Harris F 6-1 Indianapolis/Lawrence North Miracle Gray PG 5-6 Stone Mountain, Ga./ Stephenson Dominique Oden G 5-8 Lithonia, Ga./Marist 2017 Commitment Dani Lawson F 6-2 Shaker Heights, Ohio/ Hathaway Brown 2018 Commitment Kayana Traylor G 5-9 Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville