Hanover Central senior Hailey Vanderhye has saved the best for last.
The 6-foot center/forward earned her first varsity experience when she a freshman, occasionally cracked the lineup as a sophomore and has been starting for two seasons.
Vanderhye said she believes she’s playing at her highest level yet.
“This is the biggest jump I’ve made, from junior to senior year — by far,” she said.
After a productive summer of workouts and weights, Vanderhye has smoother post moves and a broader repertoire. Her jump shot is sharper, so she’s encouraged to step out on the perimeter for 3-pointers and said she is “not afraid” to miss.
“I really pride myself on my defense, especially my help defense,” she said. “I always have my teammates’ backs if they get beaten off the dribble.”
Larry Govert’s return to coaching has been a catalyst for Vanderhye’s development.
“He really works with us on our individual things, and we’re just working together as a team a lot better and knowing our roles and not playing as individual players,” she said. “He built us back up to where our confidence should’ve been. We all had super low confidence at the beginning of the year, and now we’re all confident in ourselves.
“I’ve been working on my confidence. I always knew I had the ability to do it, but now I have the confidence in myself to get the stuff done.”
Vanderhye is averaging team highs of 11.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocked shots to go along with 1.8 steals as Hanover Central (11-9) closes the regular season against Calumet on Thursday. She averaged 7.2 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks last season.
“She’s been very consistent,” Govert said. “She’s put in a lot of time. She’s improved from last year to this year from what I’ve seen. And the want-to, she really wants to be good. She’s put in the time and effort.
“She’s been a good leader. She’s been good to the younger kids coming up, even the junior high kids. She’s an excellent role model. She’s always doing the right thing. She’s a really good kid, and it helps when we have a team of them.”
Vanderhye is a co-captain with junior guard Skylar Ferry. It’s a role she takes to heart, especially on a team with an array of underclassmen.
One of those younger players is Vanderhye’s sister Ava, a sophomore who has joined her on the varsity team. Hailey Vanderhye said she hopes her sister can succeed her as the Wildcats’ post player next season.
“I’m getting to play with her, and I was hoping to do that before I graduated, and now I’m doing it,” Hailey Vanderhye said. “That’s exciting.”
The Wildcats’ roster has just three seniors, and Vanderhye is the only one who starts alongside three juniors and a sophomore.
“I’m doing my best as a captain,” she said. “I just try to get everyone to stick together, even where we’re down in games, and engage with the younger girls. We’re going to have a younger team next year, and we have a younger team now. I want them to learn how to be leaders now and to continue their love for the sport.”
Vanderhye discovered that love when she started playing in kindergarten. She used to play volleyball — a popular sport in her family, prompting her to say with a laugh, “I kind of went astray there” — and dabbled in soccer when she was “really little.” But she opted to focus on basketball when she reached high school.
Vanderhye signed with Calumet College earlier this month, and she is planning to study education with an eye on becoming a high school teacher and possibly coaching.
Junior guard/forward Gabi Comia, for one, isn’t quite ready to say goodbye to Vanderhye.
“She’s our big man, and she’s been our big man the past two years,” Comia said. “She’s a key player for us. She plays a really important role.
“She works hard in practice and pushes everyone to be better players. She pushes everyone to get better as individuals and as a team. She challenges everyone, which is what we need if we’re going to win something big.”
The Wildcats’ first sectional title since 2015 would fall into that category. They placed second in the Greater South Shore Conference to Lake Station.
“We’re going into sectionals with a great mindset,” Vanderhye said. “We think we can win and go to regionals.”