HENRY – Caylin Kelly has been on a mission throughout her playing career.

The Henry native has been on the Florence-Henry varsity girls’ basketball team since her eighth-grade year, and during the span of the last five years has seen herself grow as a player thanks to the coaches that have been alongside her.

“I went from not being on varsity in seventh grade to starting my eighth-grade year,” Kelly said. “I’ve had multiple coaches that just helped me all the way through and become better, not just for me but also the team.”

This season, the senior and two-time all-state selection is determined to finish what she and the Falcons basketball team started two years ago. For the past two seasons, the Falcons have been one or two games away from reaching the Class A state basketball tournament, something that has not been done in the co-op’s history.

However, both seasons came to an end earlier than what Kelly and her teammates wanted as Florence-Henry lost to Red Cloud, 50-44, in the SoDak 16 two years ago, and fell to Flandreau, 36-25, in the Region 2A semifinals last season.

The sting of coming up short has lingered for Kelly and the Falcons ever since.

“It’s a hump that we all need to get over because two years ago we lost by (six) points to get to state,” Kelly said. “And I think we know we can get there; we just have to get over the hump and work together to do so.”

The losses have given Kelly and the Falcons extra motivation this season as she and three other seniors look to cap off their prep basketball careers at the state tournament.

“It just shows us that we know that we’re there,” Kelly said. “We just have to put in the effort, put in the time to get there, and I think we’re hungry to get to a state tournament and win big.”

It has been a rarity for the communities of Florence and Henry to experience a state basketball tournament. In fact, Florence has never qualified for a state tournament, whether in boys or girls’ basketball, while Henry’s lone girls’ appearance came in 1987, a seventh-place finish at the State B tourney.

Growing up in the small community of Henry (population 274), Kelly is hoping to change her team’s recent post-season results and represent her community on the state’s biggest stage.

“Henry is pretty small, so we don’t have very many girls that contribute,” Kelly said. “But we all have the same goal at the end of the day to make it to a state tournament and go big, of course.”

In addition to basketball, Kelly has participated in track and field and volleyball, but says being on the hardwood helps to clear her thoughts from the daily grind of life.

“It kind of gets my mind off of everything,” Kelly said. “I can just play the game without doing or thinking of anything else.”

While she is currently focusing on finishing her high school basketball career at a state tournament, Kelly has already made plans for her future. She plans on attending Minnesota State University Moorhead to study elementary education and continue her basketball career.

However, before her next stage of life begins, Kelly will soak in the community she calls home and embrace what it has meant to be a Florence-Henry Falcon.

“Just because of our community, it’s just been really great because everyone puts forth effort,” Kelly said. “At the end of the day, we’re all family, so that’s really cool to experience.”