LASHAY HOLT
St. Paul Humboldt • basketball
In guiding the Hawks to the championship of the Irondale tournament last week, the 5-9 senior wing had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a semifinal victory over FAIR School and topped that with a triple-double -- 30 points, 16 rebounds, 11 steals -- in a 62-58 victory over the host Knights in the finals.
Holt is averaging 28.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game -- not bad for a player who didn't play organized basketball until ninth grade.
"And I hated it," Holt admitted. "I felt left out. I didn't feel like I was good enough. I stopped going to practice, but my mom forced me to go. I thank her for that now."
She stuck out her freshman season and returned as a sophomore when Humboldt hired current coach Paul Richardson. She's been tearing up the St. Paul City Conference ever since.
Richardson's approach ignited a spark in Holt, she said.
"I liked him right away," she said. "He made me feel like I belonged there. Now, basketball is something I want to do all the time. It's like my second breath."
With a little more than two years of varsity experience, Holt admits that she wishes she had pursued the sport years earlier.
"I think about that," she said. "My coaches say I've got natural talent, that I'm a sponge. But the most important thing is that I'm playing now. I never want to stop playing."
