Ryan Robie distinctly remembers the moment he discovered the “it” factor that Makenzie Farmer possessed.
 
The De Soto girls basketball coach had ventured over to an eighth grade practice to get a look at the future of his high school team when he noticed Farmer needing a partner for a full-court drill being conducted. Not knowing all that much about her – Farmer hadn’t played as a seventh grader while participating for her club team – Robie, jeans and all, decided to step in.
 
“I was thinking it was a good opportunity to make a connection, so I’ll jump in and guard her,” he said. “And then she crosses me over and does a left-handed layup on the other side of the goal. Right there, I’m like, ‘OK, this kid as an eighth-grader is different.’”
 
Indeed, Farmer has been has not only been different, but a difference-maker for the Wildcat program. From leading De Soto to unprecedented success in her three-plus years to re-writing a significant chunk of the program’s record books, Farmer has certainly made Robie’s first impression of his standout point guard a lasting one.
 
“We knew she was good,” Robie said. “Did I know I was getting this caliber of a player? She’s exceeded my expectations. She’s been phenomenal.”
 
Weeks don’t get a whole lot better than the one Farmer experience last week. While a large portion of the state saw its games postponed by the snowstorm that hit Kansas, Farmer delivered a flurry of milestones of her own.
 
In the Wildcats’ 55-49 win over Shawnee Heights on Jan. 7, Farmer recorded her 241st career steal to become De Soto’s career leader in that category. She came back in her next outing, Jan. 10 against Turner, and became just the fourth player in Wildcat girls’ history to score 1,000 career points.
 
Those milestones simply have added to her collection as Farmer had already broken the school’s single game, single season and career assists record before the start of her senior season as well as setting the school’s single-season steals record last year as a junior.
 
“I really didn’t know what to expect coming in, but I definitely wasn’t thinking about records coming into high school,” Farmer said. “Obviously, it’s a great accomplishment, but I couldn’t have done it without all my teammates here. I wasn’t really expecting it.”
 
Her expectations were to come in as a freshman and find her role on an relatively young De Soto team for the 2021-22 season. It didn’t take long for that role to quickly be identified as she stepped in as De Soto’s starting point guard from Day 1 as a freshman, a position she hasn’t relinquished.
 
Right away, she flourished. With Farmer running the point, De Soto went 15-8 that season and qualified for the Class 5A state tournament. She averaged 3.8 assists per game that season and set school records for assists in a game (11) and season (87), while also adding 9.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3 steals per contest.
 
“As a freshman, we had a solid group and she came in and ran the show for us and facilitated,” Robie said. “She was really, really good at helping us get our offense started and finding people. She’s the best passer I’ve ever coached. She makes the passes that most people either don’t see or aren’t capable of making, which is impressive.”
 
Despite returning the bulk of that state squad in 2022-23, De Soto couldn’t duplicate a run to the state tournament and finished 13-8. Farmer saw her assist total dip slightly to 3.1 per game, but upped her scoring average to 12.8 points a contest.
 
Last year with the Wildcats a senior-dominated team (four senior starters), Farmer’s stats really took off as she posted career highs across the board – 4.5 assists per game (school record 103 for the season) to go with 14.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 3.9 steals per game (school record 89 for the season) – and helped lead the Wildcats back to the state tournament and a 19-4 record overall.
 
“Last year, we had a team full of kids that could flat-out shoot it so she kind of picked and chose her spaces,” Robie said. “She’s just been the epitome of someone starring in her role and she’s done that for four years.”
 
With De Soto graduating her entire supporting cast from a year ago, Farmer’s role this season has changed remarkably. While she’d drawn plenty of attention from opposing defenses over the past two seasons, that focus was going to be even greater this year as the Wildcats’ lone proven returning scorer.
 
And at the same time, she knew she was going to have to up her scoring for De Soto to stay in the conversation as one of the top contenders for the Class 5A state title.
 
“I’ve always kind of been a pass-first player,” Farmer said. “But my junior year and into senior year I got more confidence in myself in trying to be a scorer. My coaches have been encouraging me and giving me the confidence I needed in myself.
 
“This year, my confidence has really changed. I knew I was going to have to step up even more as a leader on the court. I knew I’d have teammates that could do great things, but I was still going to have to step up because we lost five great seniors from last year. Having that confidence piece for me was big because I have a different style of play this year. I’m more confident in scoring at all three levels and also still have the ability to pass to my teammates when I need to.”
 

 
Farmer spent the offseason as dedicated as she’s ever been. She put more into her weight training to handle the physical double teams she was going to see on a regular basis. She poured herself into improving her ability to score in multiple ways -- be it finding her own shot, creating off the dribble, becoming a force on the glass to get second-chance points, to go with her ability to score in transition.
 
Much of that work was done under the watchful eye of her mother, Amy, who starred for the Wildcats in the early 2000s and still holds a handful of school records, including points in a game (37) and single-season scoring average (19.3) during the 2004-05 season.
 
“She’s always been my biggest supporter and has spent hours in the gym helping me get better,” Farmer said. “Even this summer trying to get better for this season, she was there in the gym with me. We really worked on trying to score at all three levels. In the past I was just kind of a shoot when I’m open kind of player and pass if I wasn’t. This year, I’m not necessarily shot hunting, but I’m looking for my own shot more while still keeping my teammates involved at the same time.”
 
The extra work has paid off.
 
After coming into the season with a career-high scoring game of 24 points, Farmer has already equaled or topped that mark four times in De Soto’s first eight games. She opened the season with a 28-point outing against Topeka West.
 
But it was the fourth game of the season that really opened some eyes, both with what Farmer did individually and the Wildcats did in the team. Reaching the finals of their home tournament to in early December, De Soto ran into Class 6A power Washburn Rural, last year’s state runner-up that returned three starters.
 
De Soto was up to the challenge and pulled out a 58-56 overtime win to capture the tournament title. Farmer scored all 21 of the Wildcats’ points in the fourth quarter and overtime to finish with a career-high 35 points.
 
“I didn’t even realize it,” Robie said. “You’d never known because there wasn’t one shot that was forced. And she’s been that way this year. She knows she has to carry us at times this year and there’s zero pressing.  Maybe one or two times I’ve seen her take a shot where I was like, ‘Ehhh.’ We’ve rarely seen that. It’s been really impressive to watch her growth there.”
 
With six games of 20 or more this season, Farmer is currently averaging 24.4 points per game, which would break her mom’s single-season average record. In getting her 1,000th career point last week, Farmer trails only Allie Heinen (1,214), Megan Bonar (1,189) and Mackenzie Shupe (1,125) on the Wildcats’ career scoring list.
 
She’s also averaging a career-high 9.3 rebounds per game this season to go with 4 steals per game. Her assist numbers have remained strong (3.3 per game) as she’s still pushed her career assists total to 282, 50 clear of second-place Kira Gonzalez on De Soto’s career list. Her 247 career steals are now 7 better than Shupe’s 240.
 
“(The records are) a great accomplishment and does mean a lot with my mom being up on the record board, too,” Farmer said. “Seeing all those familiar names on it and leaving my mark for the little kids to see it is awesome. It means a lot and all my teammates have helped me get there.”
 
The record right now that means the most is De Soto’s 7-1 mark, the lone loss coming to Class 5A No. 1 and defending champion Seaman just before the holiday break, a 53-50 loss in which the Wildcats got down big early before fighting back and having a chance at the end.
 
After losing everything the Wildcats lost to graduation a year ago – three starters who averaged between 9.3 and 11.5 points per game – De Soto might be a bit ahead of where expectations might have had the Wildcats going into the season.
 
“Going into it, I thought if we could get to 3-2 before Christmas I’d be elated,” Robie said. “We had a tough tournament and Seaman right before break. When we were 4-1, I felt we were ahead of schedule. I knew this team could be good. We had some kids that just hadn’t had a chance to prove themselves yet. If you told me 7-1 sitting where we’re at I don’t know that I would have believed you.”

The hot start also has Farmer rapidly climbing another school record list that means as much if not more than all the others she holds. In guiiding De Soto to 54 wins in her career, she's just five victories away from becoming the winningest player in De Soto history.
 
“I’m so pleased,” said Farmer, who has signed with Central Missouri. “We’ve done very well this season and we’re going to continue to work and keep getting more wins. I think we can compete with any team in our conference and out of our conference. Beating Rural was a great confidence boost for our team. It showed us how we could compete with great teams with great players. It showed we can compete as a team.”
 
OTHER GIRLS BASKETBALL STANDOUTS

• Hayden picked up a big 46-44 Centennial League win over Washburn Rural to move to 7-0 on the season. Amelia Ramsey scored 17 to pace the Wildcats while Norma Greco shook off a rough start and scored all seven of her points in the last three minutes, including a big 3-pointer that gave the Wildcats the lead and two key free throws.
• Clifton-Clyde coach Kieran Wurtz recorded his 150th career win as the Eagles topped defending Class 1A Division I champion Frankfort 49-38 last Friday. The Eagles are now 7-1, suffering their lone loss to Twin Valley League rival Centralia 64-35 on Jan. 3.
• Rossville’s Nora Burdiek scored a career-high 31 points in the Bulldawgs’ 72-60 shootout loss to Hiawatha last week. Rylee Dick added 25 points and hit three 3-pointers, pushing her career total to 107. She had become the program’s career leader in 3-pointers made when she hit 7 3-pointers against Holton on Dec. 20, suprassing Heidi Nitsch, who made 101 in her career.
• Blue Valley-Randolph continued its hot start with a 62-40 win over Onaga to move to 5-1. Brynlyn Brockman recorded a double-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 7 steals while freshman sister Bryleigh added 21 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals, her third 20-plus game of the season.
• Clay Center scored a big North Central Kansas League win over rival Wamego in a make-up game on Monday, taking a 73-59 victory to improve to 7-0. Lily Edwards scored 28 points and added 12 rebounds while Reagann McDonald added 17 points and 9 rebounds. Edwards also had 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in a 57-44 win over Marysville last Friday.
• Going into the Christmas break with a 5-0 mark, Madison got there with a huge 51-46 win over reigning Lyon County League champion Lebo, the Bulldogs' first win over the Wolves in six years. Jalynn Weakley scored her 1,000th career point in the game, finishing the night with 20 points and 10 rebounds.