Blakey starting off right

PLAINVIEW, Texas - Three years into her college basketball career, Portales native Kambrey Blakey's experienced plenty. The frustration of discovering your first school wouldn't be your only school. A second chance somewhere else. A national semifinal appearance.

But until 2019 rolled around, Blakey hadn't experienced something in college that was commonplace during her three years at Portales - starting a basketball game.

Needless to say, it's been going well for Blakey and the Flying Queens, ranked No. 5 in NAIA Division I. In her seven starts, the 6-foot Blakey is averaging 13 points on 58.7 percent shooting with 4.2 rebounds in nearly 22 minutes a game.

Oh, and Wayland Baptist is 7-0 since that first start.

Flying Queens coach Alesha Ellis, in her sixth season with Wayland Baptist, decided Jan. 3 was the time to give Blakey a go at the opening tip.

"She thought it would be a good matchup," Blakey said. "Ever since then, she's been starting me, so it's been pretty exciting."

The excitement showed quickly. Blakey's first start, a 76-66 win over Southwestern Assemblies of God, was a pretty good way to convince Ellis she'd made the right choice. Blakey scored 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting, making all three of her 3-point attempts and all four free throw attempts, while pulling down eight rebounds.

"We have a deep team, they're all really good," Ellis said. "Some players are better off the bench. Some players are better when they start, and that's Kam. We decided to start her and see what happens, and she's earned the spot. She comes out with the intensity "

For the season, which continues Thursday at Mid-America Christian in Oklahoma City, Blakey is at 10.8 ppg and 5.3 rebounds per game on 47.7 percent shooting.

Blakey was a highly-sought prospect out of Portales High in 2016, after helping Portales reach two championship games, with the title in 2014, a runnerup finish in 2015 and a semifinal appearance in 2016. She was honored by NMPreps in 2015 as the top sophomore and top 3A player, and in 2016 as the top 4A player.

Lubbock Christian, however, didn't work out as splendidly. Blakey played just 35 minutes in seven games with the Chapparals, with 12 total points and 10 rebounds.

She decided to see if Ellis, who had recruited her out of high school, had another opportunity available.

"I felt like she fit into our program really well," Ellis said. "She decided to go to LCU, another school, and it didn't work there. She was very versatile. She's at the perfect height to play a guard and a post. That's what's really valuable at our level. In our offense, we set it up for post players to shoot the three and she does that really well."

Ellis credits Blakey for her ability to guard any position on the floor, and notes she's usually assigned to the opposition's best scorer.

There's a reason Blakey's first start took so long to secure: There's plenty of competition. The Flying Queens won their NAIA bracket as the No. 4 seed to reach the division's Final Four at Metrapark in Billings, Mont. Plenty of talent is back from the squad that fell to Westmont in the national semifinals, and Ellis admits she could think of about eight different starting lineups that would be about as successful as the current one.

As happy as she is to start, Blakey's fine with the deep roster.

"She can put anyone in, and we're able to execute," Blakey said. "It's good to have everybody playing, and not just some people. You've got fresh legs when you play."

The key is getting back to the final four, something she did three times in high school and hopes to do a second time in college.

"We need to be patient in our play," Blakey said. "Sometimes we rush things. We've executed well on offense, and the last few games we've been hustling more on defense. I think if we carry that on throughout the rest of our season, we'll be very successful."