Fenwick standout says playing for parents creates ‘a lot of pressure’

But because her mother and father serve as head coach and assistant coach of the team.

So Luers listens to her parents — Kamie, the head coach, and Chris, an assistant coach, — on the hardwood and at home.

The head coach admitted her daughter didn’t like playing for her at first, but she’s “coming around.”

When asked about playing for her parents, Luers said she’s “yelled at harder” and she takes the “most heat” from the coaches.

That unique situation creates “a lot of pressure” and “everybody looks at me,” she said.

What Fenwick fans and opponents are seeing this season is an improved, well-rounded player, who earned second-team all-league honors as a freshman.

Luers averages 14.7 points per game, third best in the GCL. Her 12.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game are tops in the league.

As a freshman, she averaged 14.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

“I know the game better,” she said when asked the difference between her freshman and sophomore seasons. “I have a better feel for the game. What works and what doesn’t work.”

Luers described her daughter, who typically is double-teamed, as a “very smart and calm” player who uses her athletic instincts and physicality.

During the AAU season, Luers said she enjoys sitting in the stands with her husband watching their daughter.

The Falcons finished the regular season 0-10 in the GCL, 8-14 overall and won five straight games.

Luers, in her second season at Fenwick, said the team’s record is due to playing top GCL teams twice a season. She said Dayton Chaminade-Julienne, Dayton Carroll, Kettering Alter and Cincinnati McNicholas are the top teams in the league.

Those four teams have a combined 69-22 overall record.

Lucy Luers said despite the losing record, the team is “one big happy family.”

The five starters include two seniors, one sophomore and two freshmen. Being an underclassman, Luers said she tries to be a leader by setting a good example.

She works hard on her basketball skills, her mother said. Since Lucy is 6-foot, it would be easier for her to play center and stand under the basket waiting for the ball.

When Lucy was growing up, due to her size, coaches wanted her to play the post position. Girls that size are “pigeon-holed” to play center, her mother said.

But she wants to play college basketball, so she understands eventually she will play guard. That means handling the basketball.

She is being recruited by Miami, Wright State, Toledo and Marshall. Here’s one advantage of your parents coaching you in high school: College coachers are allowed to talk to high school coaches, but not parents of a player.

So coaches can communicate with Kami Luers.

Luers, 16, said it’s odd to think about college when she has two more years at Fenwick.

“It seems a million years away, but it’s not,” she said.

She has as much success in the classroom as she does on the court. She carries a 4.0 grade point average.

Lucy was asked if her grades or points were more important.

“Points per game,” she said. Then she changed her mind. “Rebounds per game.”

STATISTICS FOR LUCY LUERS

FRESHMAN SEASON

Points per game: 14.5. Rebounds per game: 11.5. Blocks per game: 1.3.

SOPHOMORE SOPHOMORE

Points per game: 14.7. Rebounds per game: 12.4. Blocks per game: 2.5.

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