While other girls were dressing Barbies and arranging tea cups, Kari was tearing up and down the driveway, dribbling a basketball with her left hand.

“Kari was doing that at age 4,” says Tim, chuckling at the memory. “By the time she was big enough to dribble, she was playing sports.”

And not just basketball. Tim recalls when Kari threw a three-hit shutout in the Rowan County Little League tournament — against the boys.

“She was some pitcher ‘til she aged out,” says Tim, who still prizes the faded balls that commemorate long-ago shutouts.

Everyone could see right away that Kari had superb coordination. But Tim soon realized that she also possessed something far more important than talent.

“I noticed was that she was a competitor,” he says. “She hated to lose. And I mean, at anything.”

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Kari Schenk lost on Thursday night, and she hated it. The last of her 112 games as a West Rowan Falcon was a 63-58 drama-filled setback to East Henderson’s Eagles in a Western Regional game that went to the wire.

Schenk’s last game at West (she finished 82-30 as a Falcon) will likely be her last official game — period. She’ll be a college student next year, but she wants to be a regular kid without the stresses and time demands of playing ball. A few dozen college coaches will locate a scholarship should she someday change her mind.

Schenk’s finale was not a spectacular statistical game by her standards — 12 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. But it was a remarkable farewell performance, nonetheless.

West trailed by 10 points with less than six minutes left, but Schenk simply wouldn’t let it fold. Schenk threw her 120 pounds around like a maniac over those final moments — diving, sprinting, leaping and demanding that her teammates not give up. And through sheer force of will, she and fellow senior Kate Goodman brought their team back to the cusp of victory.

“It’s disappointing and I’m upset, because we could have beaten that team,” Schenk said. “But all we could do was play our hearts out. I guess, everything happens for a reason.”

When it was over, Schenk stood on the court alone. Her head was bowed and her hands clasped her knees in a mixture of frustration and exhaustion.

Then she slowly shuffled to the rear of the handshake-line. As she passed No. 23, an Eagle guard named Katie Easler, who had either chased Schenk or been chased by her all night long, Easler reached out and grabbed her. The girls hugged and Easler whispered in her ear.

“She told me I was a great ballplayer,” explained Schenk. “She wished us all good luck. They were tough competitors, but they were still nice girls.”

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Nice, but tough, has pretty much described Schenk since she first set foot at West.

“Kari’s always got a smile on her face. She’s just a cute, bubbly little teddy bear,” says West coach Angie Waddell. “But she can be a feisty little teddy bear at times. She’s obviously a tremendous athlete, but the big thing has always been her heart. She busted it for this school and this team every day, every game. I don’t remember one time when she let up — not even in practice.”

Waddell has coached Schenk the past three years. Before that, it was Toni Wheeler, now the Falcons’ assistant coach. Wheeler saw enough of Schenk at West Middle School to make her the starting point guard on the varsity as a freshman. It was a lot to ask, but Schenk accepted the responsibility of directing a team that had a cast of superb veteran players — Latoya Ramsey, Ebony Pharr and Claryce Giles.

“From the first day she was a leader,” said Wheeler. “And she’s made progress every year. As a freshman she didn’t have a right hand. Now, she does spin moves.”

Schenk did OK for Wheeler. West went 22-5, rolled through its league 14-0, won the Sam Moir Christmas Classic and reached a sectional final.

Schenk’s role changed as the years rolled by. Depending on the supporting cast, she did exactly what was needed. If she had to score, she scored. If she had to rebound, she hit the glass. She was always consistent, never scoring more than 24 points, but scoring in double figures 84 times and in 51 of 58 games her junior and senior seasons.

Most of all, she enjoyed helping teammates score .

“It was great to play with a point guard who always had her head up,” said Goodman. “Kari saw you if you were open and got the ball to you.”

“The girl can play the game,” agreed East Henderson’s Mike Pryor. “Kari’s quick. She’s the key to everything West does. I was impressed with her.”

Schenk’s statistical status among the county’s all-time greats may surprise people, because she’s never been considered a shooter. But she finished as the No. 15 all-time scorer in Rowan County with 1,446 points. She stands No. 8 in the modern era (since school consolidation in the ‘60s) and is No. 3 in school history behind Wendy Hampton and Andrea Grissett.

“If anything,” says Waddell, “Kari has been underrated. It’s just starting to sink in how much different it’s going to be next year without No. 32.”

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It’s 30 minutes after the game and the redness is already gone from Schenk’s eyes. In fact, she’s actually smiling.

Smiling about joining the soccer team in a few days to compete some more. Smiling about having time to watch her brother, Ryan, play baseball. Smiling mostly about the memories she’ll carry forever of her teammates and coaches.

But it’s much harder for her dad to smile. He likes soccer just fine, but the idea that his daughter will never again bring a packed gym to its feet with a magical pass or behind-the-back dribble will take some getting used to.

“It’s hard,” he said. “You hate to see it end.”

On that count, Tim Schenk speaks for all of us.

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