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Just when Kyle Sutton’s high school career got going, it was put on pause.
“I started varsity freshman year, the first couple games, and then I went down with a torn lesion in my left knee,” Kyle said.
That knocked the Branson senior out for the rest of his freshman season.
As it turns out, Kyle’s time on the sidelines actually helped in the long run.
“It wasn’t only that I come back, it’s that I came back even better,” Kyle said.
To Branson’s Head Coach, David Brenner, that would be an understatement.
“There are shots he’s made, there are moves he’s made that have been kind of like that,” Kyle said. ‘Did he really beat that guy that way, did he really do that?’”
The answer is yes.
It’s been yes more than 50 times, as Kyle recently broke the Branson career goals record.
“I had actually come close the game before, so I knew after that game I was one away. So I knew the next game if I scored one that was going to be it,” Kyle said.
So Kyle scored that one before adding three more to help the Pirates beat Osage.
Yet, his two assists in that game stand out most to Brenner.
“That’s the person he is. [He’ll say] ‘if the shot’s not there for me, I’m going to find the person it’s there for because it’s all about the end result, not about my stats,’” Brenner said.
That selflessness also has Kyle on the verge of breaking the Pirates career assist record.
But true to form, he says he’s focused on making different history, by helping Branson get its first ever district win.
“Obviously, we’re aiming for a lot more, we’re aiming to go to the state tournament and everything but that first win would mean a lot to us,” Kyle said.
That would make this year’s team the most accomplished in program history.
“That’s our ultimate goal, to be the best team that’s ever come through these doors so that the 6th graders now, who are playing middle school for us that have been sitting in the stands look down and say ‘I want to do that some day,'” Brenner said.
Maybe someday, one of those 6th graders will be chasing Kyle’s records for the Pirates.
