Kasey, then an NHS senior, exploded for 30 points in a triple overtime loss to Southington in the semifinals of the CIAC Class L state tournament. Kasey drilled a Hail Mary shot from just inside half court to send the game into OT. Southington, the state’s No 1 ranked team, finally managed to pull the game out, but nothing could overshadow Kasey Keating’s efforts.

Like a one-woman wrecking machine, Keating scored from all areas of the court, sending the Newtown crowd into a frenzy. But the star athlete fouled out late in the third overtime and her teammates struggled without her down the stretch.

“That was probably my fondest memory from high school. We ended the season ranked tenth in the state and that was the first time [a Newtown girls’ basketball team] had ever been ranked,” Kasey said.

That season, Kasey led her team to the league finals and the state semifinals, while also becoming the school’s all-time leader scorer (a record since broken by Lynn Lattanzio). Keating also broke records for points scored in a game (36) and for a season (500) and remains one of the school’s all-time leading rebounders.

Keating’s four-year run at Newtown remains one of the best by a female athlete. In addition to scoring 912 career points as a member of the basketball team (she was all-state as a senior), she also broke swim team records and put up huge batting numbers on the softball team where she was also named all-state her senior season. All the while, she did so while displaying a sense of sportsmanship second to none. Kasey was also honored as Newtown’s female scholar-athlete during her senior year.

She told us this week that her class rank was 14th, but upon further review, the Bee sports team discovered she was actually ranked seventh in her class of 1989. How typical of Kasey to downplay her accomplishments, always quick to turn attention away from herself and to give credit to others.

Today the Southbury resident is considered one of the top female golfers in the area. She recently took home the club championship at the Pomperaug golf course in Southbury and twice captured the Candlewood Valley golf title in New Milford. She once considered a run at the LPGA tour, but thought better of it after honing her skills under the hot sun of Houston, Texas.

“I went down just to see what my options were for playing golf, but I broke my arm after I’d been there for two weeks, so that kind of put my plans on hold,” Kasey recalled.

This week, The Newtown Bee recognizes Kasey Keating for her amazing athletic achievement, her humble nature, and most importantly, her class. We congratulate her on her induction into the Bee Sports Hall of Fame.

The Bee sports department caught up with Kasey earlier this summer as she was moving into her new home in Southbury. Kasey, who recently turned 30, admits time has passed quickly since those glory days. More than a decade has passed since she graduated from NHS and several standout athletes have since come down the pike. But it was Keating who many credit for starting it all, especially on the basketball court.

Very Little Rest

Between Seasons

And it was the winter and spring seasons of Keating’s senior year in 1989 that put her over the top. Keating averaged nearly 20 points per game that year and led the basketball team in just about every statistical category: scoring, rebounding, assists and steals.

At 5-10, Keating was a dominant force inside along with teammate, Jennifer Wyslick, but she wasn’t afraid to play from the perimeter. She is believed to have sunk the first-ever three-point basket for Newtown during her sophomore season, a season in which both Kasey and her sister, Patty, played on the court together, along with last year’s Hall of Fame inductee, Laura Oberstadt.

Owen Gallagher was Keating’s basketball coach in those days and he often refers to Kasey as being one of his all-time favorite athletes to coach. No doubt, he has used her as a benchmark for others who have come along since.

There was little time to rest between the basketball and softball seasons, but Kasey made the switch in sports look easy. Keating, playing first base and catcher, burst out her senior year, smacking the ball all over the field. With the help of April Ertl, Sarah Kenyon and others, Keating led Newtown to the Western Connecticut Conference (WCC) crown and a berth in the CIAC Class L state championship, which it eventually lost to Lyman Hall. For the season, Keating batted .500, drove in 48 runs (believed to be a school record) and banged out nearly 30 hits.

Keating was named Newtown’s scholar-athlete of the year that spring, along with Mike Willis, her high school sweetheart. Both were honored at a ceremony at the Aqua Turf in Southington. The guest speaker was former Celtic player and coach KC Jones, who coached a player, who some might say Keating often played like… Larry Bird. Kasey, like Bird, had an unselfish, easygoing style about her that helped make her teammates better. Both had tireless work ethics, which led to one win after another.

After high school, Kasey, the daughter of John and Kathy Keating, studied at Villanova University in Philadelphia. There, she went out for the women’s basketball team as a freshmen, but soon decided against trying to balance athletics and academics. Keating did excel on the gridiron as a flag football player, however, and helped her team advance to the college championships in New Orleans two years in a row.

These days, Keating continues to try to improve her golf game and her handicap is about the dip into the single digits. She hopes to eventually compete in the Connecticut Amateur event. Who knows? A strong finish could end up leading to something.

The Keating legend lives on…