There’s a narrative in sports that talks about an athlete leaving it all on the court, and senior guard Josh Kahley is living that out in spades for Batavia.
Despite playing with a knee injury — and knowing that his competitive athletic career is over after this season — Kahley is literally leaving it all on the court for the Bulldogs.
“I’m getting surgery right after the season and then I’m done with sports,” Kahley said. “This is the last ride for me. Especially when at the start of the year I was told I wasn’t going to be able to play.
“That puts things in perspective. It’s a blessing to be out there.”
Batavia is certainly happy to have him on the court. He hit a key 3-pointer with 6:50 left in the fourth quarter Thursday night, pulling the Bulldogs even at 40-40 in a DuKane Conference game.
Down the stretch, Batavia then fended off host St. Charles North for a 55-49 comeback win.
Senior guard/forward Jax Abalos led all scorers with 16 points for Batavia (8-12, 3-5), followed by Joe Reid with 13 and Brett Berggren with 11. Braden Harms had 13 for the North Stars (5-16, 1-8).
Batavia coach Jim Nazos knows other players garner more attention than Kahley. That’s not what matters to him, however.
“Why do teams win?” Nazos said of Kahley. “They look at Reid scoring and Jax scoring. We win because we have guys like him that just defend, move the ball, and then all of a sudden, when it’s his turn, he’s going to hit it.
“That’s why we have a chance going forward to do some special things.”
Kahley thought his competitive athletic career was over before the football season even started. It all come down to pain tolerance, however, and he has answered that bell.
“He’s playing on one leg,” Nazos said. “He never complains. I’ll talk to him and he’ll say, ‘I’m a little sore.’ I know he’s a lot more sore. He might be the toughest guy I’ve ever coached.”
Kahley has followed the lead of his older brother, Ryan, in terms of having a tough mentality. Being a star on a football team that played for a state championship also has helped.
“I’ve kind of embraced that winning mentality,” Kahley said. “In football, they grill that into you and that’s something that carries into this.”
St. Charles North led by as many as 13 points in the first half and by 11 points halfway through the third quarter Thursday but couldn’t sustain that as Batavia slowly climbed back into the game.
“We had great effort,” North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. “We just made too many mistakes in the second half. It’s a tale of two halves in terms of execution and confidence.
“I’m not sure what changed. We have to figure that out.”
Kahley said his goal this season is easy, and he embodied his philosophy in the fourth quarter.
In addition to hitting the game-tying 3-pointer, he made two key defensive stops in the late stages to help secure the win.
“I try to produce winning plays,” Kahley said. “That’s what we call it. It’s the first to get to the ball when the ball is on the court. We preach diving on the ball when it’s on the ground and getting it.”
Kahley was a key part of Batavia’s run last season to a regional championship. In that manner, Nazos isn’t surprised how Kahley is emerging as a key piece of the team this winter.
“He’s been like this since fifth grade,” Nazos said. “He doesn’t know any other way. He loves hoops. He just competes at whatever he does.
“After basketball, he’s going to fix his knee and hope he can walk when he’s 40. He’s literally leaving it out there. It’s an unsung story in the area that’s worth noting.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
