Perkiomen Valley’s KT Armstrong chooses Saint Joseph’s

She started as a freshman and finished eighth among the PAC-10 scoring leaders.

She led the PAC-10 in scoring as a sophomore. And also as a junior.

She was named the conference’s Most Valuable Player as a junior and was first-team all-league as a sophomore and junior.

Katie (KT) Armstrong has defined “special player” for Perkiomen Valley basically since she stepped on the floor as a freshman. At 6 feet, 2 inches, she is the rare player who can excel at every position. The perimeter places — point guard, shooting guard, small forward — are where she really lights it up.

And the bright path Armstrong has blazed leads to Saint Joseph’s University. Armstrong recently signed a national letter of intent to play basketball there. It’s the continuation of an impressive career arc constructed by hard work.

“Since KT was a young one, she’s always worked on her game,” says Perkiomen Valley head coach John Strawoet. “She’s always been willing to spend the extra time and effort to develop those skills. Her family’s very, very supportive. It’s the goal she set for herself and it came true. She’s very versatile and her skills are very good.”

Said Saint Joseph’s women’s basketball coach Cindy Griffin upon Armstrong’s signing: “Katie is a very versatile player who can score in many ways. She brings size and skill to our perimeter.”

Armstrong gives a lot of credit to those who have coached her and worked with her to develop her skills — her dad, Scott; PV travel coach John Streeper; PV varsity coach Strawoet.

“So many people have helped me,” she said. “I really try to expand my game every year. This year I’m working on my mid-range game, trying to expand it so I can shoot from anywhere on the floor.”

Armstrong eclipsed the 1,000-point career mark during her junior season. She averaged 17.8 points per game last season while leading the Lady Vikings to a 21-7 record. They reached the PAC-10 title game and lost in the second round of the District One tournament.

Armstrong and her teammates set higher goals this season and they’ve gotten off to a terrific start — 8-0 overall, 5-0 in the PAC-10, atop the Liberty Division. Armstrong is averaging 16.3 points and gives much credit to the weapons around her.

“We have so much upside potential,” she said. “Scoring-wise, I won’t be as relied on to do as much scoring this year. We have so many offensive threats. We’re playing pretty well together so far.

“We’re a more mature team than we were last year. I think if we play smart and tough, we have a good shot at winning the PAC-10. There’s a lot of competition in the PAC-10. You can’t really look past anyone.”

Playing more point guard this season and attracting all kinds of defensive attention as usual, Armstrong is in a good position to impact her teammates. She notes that when she sees two defenders it helps everyone’s game, including her own. “It happened a lot last year. It helps me, because it makes me distribute the ball more, move more off the ball, and get stronger. When they’re double-teaming, you have to be strong with the ball and off the ball, so that’s helped me expand my game, too.”

“As she has gotten better, she has made the people around her better, too, which is a sign of a good player,” Strawoet said.

James Madison and Rutgers were Armstrong’s college finalists, but Saint Joe’s got the nod because, she said, “Saint Joe’s was the first one that offered me, so they had been there along the whole way. And all the girls on the team are so nice. They’re really a tightly-knit team, which I really like. It’s close to home, a pretty campus, and academically I think I fit in well there.”

Armstrong will major in sociology. She’s a 3.9-gpa student and also a strong participant in track and field, excelling at the discus and shotput. She stopped playing soccer in eighth grade to focus on basketball, but enjoys the benefits of a well-rounded scholastic sports experience.

“It’s nice to have something else to do,” she said. “You see so many athletes burn out when they focus on one sport all year-round.”