Harrison Central basketball teams celebrate season at year-end banquet

A large crowd of athletes, family and fans was present Sunday, March 22, to participate and join in the celebration as Harrison Central’s varsity and junior varsity basketball teams held their year-ending banquet in the press box inside Wagner Field.

Following the food service, Harrison Central Head Girls Basketball Coach Chase Smith opened the program. He was flanked and assisted by assistant coaches Steve Coffman, Erin Smith and Tara Kenny.

“My spiel every year about basketball includes that our junior varsity was lucky enough to play 20 games this season,” Smith said. “The team completed the season with a record of 16-4. That is a great season, but an absolute luxury considering the state of girls basketball in the Valley, Ohio and the Midwest.

“We had some upperclassmen that sacrificed their pride so that we could get full games in, and the staff is very appreciative. It also provided that a group of underclassmen got some great minutes of play, and we are appreciative of that as well. Those minutes during previous seasons would not have been available. Coach Coffman consistently does a great job with the development of our girls.”

Smith went on to say that the varsity completed its campaign with a season record of 9-13. He reflected that during the first game of the season against Edison Local, the team had 36 turnovers. With a remarkable turnaround, he reported that the team finished the season in a contest with Indian Valley with only 12 turnovers. That was symbolic of how the team progressed in other areas throughout the season, he said.

“We were a team who lost a ton of production from last year’s 16-win team, with a few new additions and a great group of freshmen,” Smith said. “We spent a large part of the season continuing to understand roles within our program, and with the large majority of that group coming back, it will definitely help going into next season.”

“The varsity team was at a record of 7-5 before a season-ending injury to guard Kelsey Powers occurred,” Smith said. “I would be remiss not to mention the impact that injury had on the team’s season. When Powers was injured, she was second in points scored, second in steals, and finished the season first in free throws and charges taken, while missing 12 games. The decent start by the team was still good enough for the Lady Huskies to sneak into the top four of the OVAC, finishing fifth in the 4-A Class and second in the Buckeye 8 North.

“We had several bright spots throughout the year, including breaking the all-time record for bonus field goals in a season. The record was previously held by the 2013-14 Lady Huskies, which included Coach Kara Kenny. The total of bonus field goals then was 125.”

Four Lady Huskies had more than 20 bonus field goals, with three of the group shooting at 30%. Bailey Smith and Kara Blackburn led the team with 23 bonus goals each. Ella Smith had 22 bonus goals, and Emily Cope had 21. Cope’s shooting netted her 32%. Mikayla Pelegreen and Shayla Nameth each had 14, Kelsey Powers had five and Zoey Whipkey had three.

The 2025-26 Lady Huskies also had eight leading scorers, and an underclassman led the pack in scoring on multiple occasions. A program that normally had a rotation count of seven or eight during the season bumped those numbers to 11 letter winners, which indicates the diversity in how the team played and how many girls were needed for different roles on different nights throughout the year.

The year-end stats include points: Emily Cope 174, Mikayla Pelegreen 133, Ella Smith 111, Shayla Nameth 109 and Kara Blackburn 105. Rebounds: Blackburn 120, Cope 118, Pelegreen 90 and Nameth and Ava Conley 75. Assists: Pelegreen 42, Blackburn 32, E. Smith 27, B. Smith 18 and Cope 17. Steals: Blackburn 42, Cope 34, Pelegreen 33 and Nameth and E. Smith 22. Blocks: Pelegreen and Conley eight. Charges: Powers six, Blackburn four, Cope three, Ady Stull three and Pelegreen two.

The team awards were presented to freshman Destinee Robinson, JV Player of the Year; junior Peyton Visser, Most Improved; junior Ady Stull, Hustle Award; freshman Reagan Applegarth, Coaches Award; sophomore Emily Cope, PPOTY; and senior Kara Blackburn, MVP.

The team letter winners were senior Blackburn, third; freshman Conley, first; sophomore Cope, first; freshman Nameth, first; junior Pelegreen, third; sophomore Powers, second; junior B. Smith, second; freshman E. Smith, first; junior Stull, first; junior Visser, first; and senior Whipkey, first.

Postseason accolades include junior Pelegreen, first team D-4, District 5, All-Buckeye 8 and Eastern District special mention; senior Blackburn, first team D-4, District 5, All-Buckeye 8 and honorable mention Eastern District; sophomore Cope, second team D-4, District 5 and All-Buckeye 8; freshman E. Smith, honorable mention D-5; and freshman Nameth, honorable mention D-5.

“Seniors, you have been in the program for six years and the last four with most of this coaching staff,” Smith said. “You don’t go through five months a year for four years and not have some ups and downs and some disagreements, but it has truly been a pleasure to coach you. We are genuinely sad to see your time with us ending, but I am absolutely sure that you are both going to go on to do amazing things in so many ways.

“I hope that in some way you look back on your time with this program with a smile on your face and hope you also know that the door is always open to come back and be around the program in some way. If you ever need anything from any of us, please let us know.”