NATCHEZ — Kimble Devening may be involved in sports for most of the school year, but it hasn’t stopped her from excelling in the classroom.

The Cathedral High School junior point guard currently has a 4.2 GPA. Devening, who also runs track, cross country, and plays softball, recently scored a 28 on her ACT.

Devening was quick to credit her teachers for the high score, saying they did an excellent job preparing all of their students for the college aptitude test.

“The week before (the test), we did a bunch of stuff at school to get ready,” Devening said. “Every class I was in did something different to prepare us for it. We went over a bunch of test-taking tips.”

Those tips included making sure to quickly answer questions and to answer the questions you know first.

“You can always come back and do the harder one,” Devening said.

Devening said the reading portion was the easiest part of the ACT, and the hardest part what the science section.

“Reading is easier because all of the answers are in the paragraphs you have to read. You just have to pay attention,” she said.

“Science is the hardest because you have to interpret a bunch of graphs, and you have to know how to do each one.”

Even if the ACT might seem overwhelming to some, Devening said she didn’t let the pressure get to her while she was taking it.

“I just focus on what I’m doing,” she said. “I can’t do anything else in there, and I know I’m doing it to help get into college.”

When she does go to college, Devening said she’d probably like to major in chemical engineer, though she’s not sure which school she wants to go to yet.

“I like our chemistry classes, and my summer softball coach (Rut Horne) is a chemical engineer,” Devening said. “It just seems cool to me.”

Devening’s parents, Charles and Anna, are always on top of her to make sure schoolwork is getting done before anything else, Devening said.

“When we were little, we’d always come home and do homework (right away),” Devening said. “Now that we’re dealing with sports, we do it after practice. I usually stay up until around 10ish, unless I have a bunch of stuff to do, but I’m usually in bed at 10.”

Of all the sports she plays, Devening said softball is her favorite. She also enjoys playing alongside her twin sister, Mollie, though Mollie opted not to play basketball this winter to focus exclusively on being a pitcher.

“It’s fun to play with her,” Devening said. “We can practice together and give each other tips, and we’re not worried about hurting each other’s feelings.”

Although Mollie isn’t joining her on the basketball court this season, Devening said her sister still gives her basketball advice.

“She comes to all of the games in Adams County, so she still tells me what to do,” Devening said.