Ashland’s Lacey primed to take another leap forward

By Doug Haidet

ASHLAND – It seems like Kennedy Lacey’s entire basketball career has revolved around sending warnings. In her first varsity game as an Ashland High School freshman, she posted a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double against Norwalk. Four days later, Lacey went for 12 and 10 against Mansfield Senior. By the end of her freshman campaign, the Ohio Cardinal Conference first-teamer had five double-doubles and six 20-point games, averaging 15.7 points per contest. The league was on notice, and last year was a reiteration.

As a sophomore, Lacey notched six double-doubles and averaged 14.2 points per game as the No. 1 defensive priority for every opponent on Ashland’s schedule. She was named OCC Player of the Year – the first sophomore to earn those honors since West Holmes star Laina Snyder in 2012 – and was third-team All-Ohio. Snyder has been playing professionally overseas since turning in one of the best careers in Ashland University history. Lacey also became just the third Arrow in history to net at least 350 points in back-to-back seasons, joining fellow All-Ohioans Taylor Rogers and Joy Roberts on that exclusive list.

So what was the warning shot to open this season on Nov. 21 against Dalton?

How about a career-high 25 points to go along with 11 boards, five steals and three assists.

Lacey and the Arrows are 1-0 heading into their home-opening game Monday against Willard. She’s clearly ready to carry the torch again.

“Man, she’s a worker; you can’t get her out of the gym,” sixth-year AHS head coach Renee Holt said. “She’s always the last one to walk out and she’s always the first one here.

“She’s just the definition of a ballplayer.”

That much has grown evident since Lacey’s freshman year, when her 362 points were the ninth-most in a season in program history. When she tore through opponents as a sophomore last winter, the Arrows constructed a historic season together as well.

Ashland tied a program record for single-season wins (20-6), won a district crown for the first time since 1979 and captured a league title (11-1 in the OCC) for the first time since 1995.

These are the benchmarks that come for a squad that has a clear-cut virtuoso on the court.

Now it’s about ratcheting things up even more.

“She’s taken that next step,” Holt said. “She’s really going into that upperclassman (approach to the game).

“She won’t come out and say things about being OCC Player of the Year – she won’t talk about that stuff. She barely talks on the floor. She’s just going to show you by example.”

As a junior, Lacey’s biggest leap forward figures to come in the perimeter game. She fired up just a pair of 3-pointers in each of her first two seasons – missing all of them – but buried 2-of-3 against Dalton in the opener. It’s a facet of the game that could unlock an almost unstoppable version of Lacey. Holt said her junior no longer has to lean on pushing her offense downhill and playing “bully ball.”

“I basically trained the entire offseason – ball-handling and shooting especially,” the 5-foot-10 Lacey said. “My entire shot got changed and for about a month straight I was just working on that.

“Learning how to be a guard is definitely different from being a forward or a post player down low.”

Adding another outside shooter to the Arrows’ repertoire surely will make the squad that much more potent. Ashland already boasts big perimeter threats in returning All-Ohio senior guard Madison Hoffman and junior guard Cici Steury. Then there’s all-around threat and 6-1 senior post Camryn Cox, herself a solid shooter and a double-double waiting to happen. Hoffman has committed to the University of Mount Union to play both basketball and softball, and Holt said Cox has colleges knocking on her door if she chooses to play hoops at the next level as well. It’s a core that has the Arrows pushing a program renaissance on the hardcourt, and Holt said Lacey also has fine-tuned her left-hand attack on offense.

“I told her, ‘If you can go both ways without even thinking about it, nobody will guard you,’” Holt said. “You don’t see many girls at the high school level being confident with their left hand and going each way.

“She’s getting confident enough that it’s like, ‘Which way is she going?’ That growth is cool to see.”

Lacey bumped up her per-game assist total from 1.5 as a freshman to 2.4 last season, and that figures to increase even more as she draws defenses farther away from the basket.

But with 743 career points – already tied for 11th in Ashland history with essentially two full seasons left to play – her scoring talents are what will keep the Arrows forcing their name into the conversation as one of the top Division III teams in Ohio.

Lacey already has linked up with an elite AAU travel team based out of Medina for after this high school season that will travel the country. She said some of the players on that roster are even from out of state. The junior is getting more and more attention from colleges, and the next few months will carry some big moments for both her and the Arrows.

After two full seasons of sending out warnings, Lacey knows the right mindset is the simplest one.

“I like to just take it a day at a time,” she said. “I don’t really like looking forward too much, that way there’s no anxiety build-up.”

The anxiety part is best left for her opponents to deal with.