The Lady Gales Varsity basketball team began their post-season competition with a win against Pickerington North, but lost to Olentangy Liberty on Wednesday in the district semifinal. The team finished the season with a 12-10 record in the regular season. The Lady Gales fought through many challenges but are finishing strong. Emalene Chevalier, Harper Allen, Ky Pugh, Lilly Stoughton, and Molly Stedman are starting for the Lady Gales.
LHS Head Coach Dusty Miller talked about the highlights of their 2024-2025 season.
“There have been a couple of highlights this year for us thus far. Our girls have fought through so much adversity this season. Coming out of winter break having won four games straight to bring us to 6-6 was not easy, and I am proud of them for that. Another highlight is beating our rival Logan in front of a big home crowd. Anytime you can get a rivalry win it is a highlight of the season,” said Miller.
Some of the players agree that specific games were a highlight for them.
“We have had a lot of big things that we have accomplished. One of them is probably winning against Reynoldsburg for the first time since 2007. We also crushed Groveport, we scored 82 points and that hasn’t happened at Lancaster in a long time” said LHS junior Harper Allen.
“One of our biggest highlights of the season was beating Reynoldsburg and we haven’t done that in a long time,” stated LHS sophomore Audrey Whitlatch.
Coach Miller talked about standout athletes.
“There are so many girls I could highlight for this year’s team. Ky Pugh is a 4 year letterman for us, our starting point guard, and shoots the ball so well for us. Lily Stoughton is a big piece to our success, getting big in the paint as an undersized post, grabbing boards and making hustle plays. Molly Stedman has hit her groove for us as of late. She is scoring in the paint at will and handles the ball for us as well. Emalene Chevalier and Harper Allen do a lot for us on both sides of the ball. Other notable players for us include Kyndra Nagle, Caralina Crowell, Audrey Whitlatch, and Courtney Kern” stated Miller.
Although the Lady Gales had a great season and are in post-season tournament play, they faced some significant challenges.
“We have had many ups and downs this season from injuries, girls not being able to play, buses not showing up but we all have good attitudes about it and work just as hard no matter the situation” stated senior Kyndra Nagle.
Like most successful athletic teams, communication, collaboration, and teamwork are vital.
“The team dynamics this year are good considering it is not the same team as last year. I think this year we all have realized what it is going to take to win a game and that is to cheer each other on and want success for others” stated Nagle.
Coach Miller agrees with Nagle.
“Family. Our program is a family. We all fight and disagree, just like families do, but at the end of the day we are there for each other and care for each other. We break our huddles with our family. We preach being there for your sisters on the court and that’s exactly what
they do. We are looking to finish this year strong together” said Miller.
A new addition to the team, freshman Koewynn Rouge talks about her role on the team.
“It’s been a crazy ride being a freshman on varsity and getting used to the game of high school. My role is just doing the little things and guarding the taller girls when I go in [the game] as well as rebounding and defense mostly. I had to learn a lot and prepare for next year,” stated Rouge.
