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After all those sneaky steals, the array of head-spinning passes, all those times she’s sliced through high-pressure defenses as if it was second nature, little Lydia Lawson has a small secret.
Looks can be deceiving.
“I’m not as quick as I seem,” Lawson said. “You have to work on footwork, and just being ready.”
It appears Holy Redeemer’s 5-foot-3 dynamo of a point guard has been prepared to play on the state stage for a long time.
She’s the one picking the pockets of opposing point guards. She’s the one whistling precision passes through thickets of arms and legs and into the hands of point-producing teammates. She’s the one driving the ball up the floor on offense and making other teams slow down when Holy Redeemer’s playing defense.
“Lydia Lawson is the little energizer battery that never stops,” Holy Redeemer coach Chris Parker said. “She’s like a little motor. She’s a tiny kid, but a tough kid. We have (Iona-bound All-Stater) Alexis Lewis, we understand how special she is.
“But she (Lawson) is the one that makes us go.”
That Lawson’s point production is going up in the postseason is only a bonus for 24-2 Holy Redeemer, which faces 25-3 North Schuylkill at 7 p.m. tonight in a second-round PIAA Class 2A girls basketball tournament game.
It was Lawson who opened the scoring and finished with a double-double of 10 points and 12 assists Friday in Redeemer’s state-opening 57-17 domination of Central Columbia, after putting up 13 against Holy Cross in the District 2 semifinals.
This from a player who didn’t even average eight points per game during the regular season.
“Obviously, if she give us 11, 12 points, it’s a huge help,” Parker said. “She’s not a score-first kid. She knows the game so well, she sees the floor so well, she always looks to get everyone else involved first. But if they leave her open, I tell her, ‘You have to knock it down, make yourself a threat.’”
The real danger for other teams, though, comes from trying to keep Lawson contained.
She’ll leak through even the tightest defenses, regularly beating even the most athletic opponents up and down the floor.
As a prime example, Parker points to a January game when his Royals rolled over traditional national high school power Riverdale Baptist during a Showcase Tournament in Maryland.
“Lydia Lawson controlled that game,” Parker said. “And she scored two points.”
That’s typical for Lawson, the junior daughter of former WVC All-Star shooting guard Eric Lawson of Hanover Area. She revels in watching her teammates get the points and the praise.
She’ll be happy to take the assists instead of the glory.
“I’m not about being in the spotlight,” Lawson said. “I just like to get people the ball and get as many assists as I can.”
She’s had an uncanny knack for finding the open shooter since she stepped on the court as a kid.
“Part of it’s the natural talent I’ve been gifted with,” Lawson said.
Part of it is her unquenchable desire to be at her absolute best during every practice, every game, every play.
“Something I didn’t know, and it’s what the other kids told me, Lydia Lawson is a perfectionist,” Parker said. “She wants to win at all costs and be the best she can possibly be.”
No matter what the obstacles are.
And at her size, she finds a lot of them, regularly giving away almost a half of foot in height.
“I’m small. I don’t really get intimidated,” Lawson said. “I feel confident I can dribble the ball and go up against anyone, no matter how tall they are.”
There’s another little-known tidbit Lawson has been keeping tucked away.
With enough drive and dedication, even the smallest player can have the biggest influence on games of giant proportions.
“I don’t think there really is a secret to it,” Lawson said, “just experience and court awareness. And seeking the (open) girls out.”