By Tom Robinson, NEPAElite.com
NEPA Elite Clark 17U guard Cadie Lewis used the time between winning a district championship and starting the state playoffs with the Dunmore Lady Bucks to settle her future plans.
Lewis, a Dunmore senior, has committed to King’s College to study in the physician’s assistant program and continue her basketball career.
“Over the summer, I went with a lot of unofficial visits with my parents, local schools and also some schools that were in the two-hour away mark,” Lewis said. “It was definitely hard to narrow down, but when it came down to it, it was down to Marywood, Neumann and King’s.”
King’s coach Caitlin Hadzimichalis won out.
“King’s just seemed like the right fit,” Lewis said. “Coach Hadz was always coming to my games and always supporting me.
“That was big in the forefront of my decision.”
Lewis was a fourth-team Hoop Group Showcase League all-star for the NEPA Elite 16U Sheehan team in 2021.
“It was always my dream to play college basketball,” Lewis said. “ … Playing for the Lady Bucks and NEPA Elite, it started becoming a reality.
“During my sophomore AAU season was probably when I started getting e-mails from college coaches and was able to say, ‘OK, this is definitely a possibility’. That was real exciting for me.”
Lewis then helped the NEPA Elite 17U Clark team reached the HGSL Championship Game in the highest age group for the third straight season.
Lewis is hitting more than 40 percent of her 3-point attempts this season while leading Dunmore in that category. She is the team’s assist leader, second-leading scorer and has earned a reputation as one of District 2’s toughest defenders on the perimeter.
Dunmore has won Lackawanna League Division 3 and District 2 titles the past two seasons with Lewis starting. It opens the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 3A state tournament Friday at home against Bloomsburg.
“It was definitely a big relief,” Lewis said. “It feels great to finally know where I’m going and just focus on trying to win a state championship this year.”
King’s went 7-9 in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom and 8-17 overall during the 2022-23 season.