Kailey Turpening is a family girl, and keeping her focus on that kind of big picture has resulted in accomplishments and rewards of the greatest magnitude for Bethlehem Press’s Female Athlete of the Year from Freedom High School.

Turpening is a three-sport athlete, not to mention co-valedictorian of her class, best known for her basketball career as a four-year varsity starter for the Patriots.

When Turpening scored her 1,000th career point this past Jan. 24, it was Freedom’s senior night.

“I really wanted it to be that night because it was a home game, and it was senior night. Right before the game, my coach (Steve Raysley) said something like, ‘You can go for it. You don’t have to worry about going for it this game, but if you can do it, we’re gonna support you. We want you to score your thousandth, especially on your senior night,’” Turpening said at the time.

Turpening’s Freedom Family ran to embrace the new record holder as she accepted the game ball from Coach Raysley.

Turpening also holds the school record for three-pointers in a season (67) and career three-pointers (178). She was named to the East Penn Conference’s First Team this year after scoring 313 points for the Pates as a senior.

If basketball was Turpening’s sport of choice, there was always room for more: lacrosse and soccer.

Selected by Coach Bob Eaton and his staff, Turpening was a senior-year team captain for soccer this past fall, a three-year varsity starter, and a member of the 2019 District XI Class 6A championship team.

Turpening played lacrosse in the spring, coached by Charis Innarella, and was named to the EPC’s Second Team this past season.

“Since day one, Kailey has given 110 percent effort every time she touches the field. She competes with such grit, and she plays the game of lacrosse with honor and integrity,” Coach Innarella wrote. “The team has always been more important to Kailey than the individual accolades. Not only does she put herself in a position to best serve the team, she also puts her teammates in a position to succeed. She is an incredible person who has dedicated herself to her team, her academics, and her community, and I am incredibly proud of her.”

Turpening has discovered a win-win situation for her future in accepting an academic and basketball scholarship to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla.

“Once my sister had my niece down in Florida, that’s when I realized I wanted to go to Florida, so I emailed Embry-Riddle and I loved the school when I visited, and the coach (Lisa Wilson) is so nice, and I like how it’s academic-based. I could tell that was the college for me,” Turpening said. “The coaching staff is all women, and I never had a true female head (basketball) coach, and I really like that. It felt like home. Everyone is so welcoming, and it’s literally like a family there.”