There was not even a full second left on the clock at I.C. Norcom High School on Jan. 21 when Lakeland High School sophomore guard Kayla Barnes went to the line to shoot two free throws. She needed to make only one to break the 77-77 tie, and the Lady Greyhounds would have only four-tenths of a second to respond.

Barnes missed the first foul shot, sending the Norcom crowd into a frenzy.

“I was surprised that it didn’t go in, because I usually don’t miss a lot of free throws,” Barnes said, but she did not let the surprise rattle her, instead moving forward in confidence. “I made an adjustment and made the second one.”

The Lady Cavaliers won 78-77, Barnes finished with 14 points and seven assists, and her heroics helped make her the latest Duke Automotive-Suffolk News-Herald Player of the Week.

“I felt like I did OK,” Barnes said of the Norcom game. “I felt like I encouraged my team to do what I wanted them to do and felt like I made them proud when I made the free throw.”

Her evaluation illustrated perfectly how she has grown to be a vocal leader, as well as a leader by example.

Lakeland coach Brandey Blunt said that when Barnes was in eighth and ninth grade, “I wanted her to be more vocal.”

The message was received, and Barnes has stepped up to the challenge.

“She’s very in-your-face now, very aggressive, and she takes the game a lot more seriously,” Blunt said.

One of the things that makes being a vocal leader a challenge is that if someone is going to talk the talk, requiring things of their teammates, they need to walk the walk, producing in games and in practices themselves.

When she was asked why she is as good as she is at basketball though only a sophomore, Barnes said it is because she works hard, spends time in the gym and pushes herself.

But this was the result of a firm commitment she made, because she did not start out with the inclination to push herself and work hard.

“I used to be real lazy,” Barnes said. “I would not want to go to practice or anything, but my coach kept pushing me to do the stuff that I needed to do.”

Now, she is motivated by her team to give her all on the court, “because I know when they’re down, I can pick them up, and I know they’ve got my back when I’m down,” she said.

Blunt described Barnes as one of those players that is “going to give 110 percent every time.”

In a 71-34 Lakeland victory over Tallwood High School on Jan. 16, Barnes produced a balanced performance, with nine points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.

“I had confidence in myself, and I had confidence in my team, and I (did) whatever my team needed,” she said.

And though she’s only a sophomore, her work has not gone unnoticed at the college level.

“I’ve had a few coaches mention her name to me,” Blunt said.