Women’s basketball in America is grabbing popularity with young athletes like Caitlin Clark breaking records. Parkway Central’s women’s basketball is taking the spotlight itself with Sadie Levy breaking school records.
Levy broke the season record for the number of steals in a game against Affton on Feb. 2 with 11 putting her at 140 steals in the season. This was just one more than the previous record. By the end of the season, Levy made 169 steals breaking the previous record by 30 steals.
Breaking school records is no easy task and mindset is imperative in any sport. For Levy, her mindset is about staying focused on playing her best.
“I don’t go into games thinking about breaking the record for steals or getting as many steals,” Levy said. “It’s kind of just natural to how I played pretty aggressively on defense and I’m really good at reading the lanes, like the passing lanes of where they’re going to pass the ball, and I shoot those gaps. It helps us get our offense started. If we’re lucky, I get some points off of it.”
Additionally, worrying about getting injured can be a distraction and a setback. Her mindset of focusing on playing her best has to overcome the distraction of being worried about potential future injuries.
“You got to just play your game and what happens happens,” Levy said. “Injuries are definitely like a setback in basketball a lot because it’s really easy to get injured quickly.”
Coach Paul Hussmann has been a coach since Sadie was a freshman and has noticed her developments since her beginning.
“I feel like I’ve gotten to like being a part of a little bit of watching her grow up a little bit from freshman year to this year,” Hussmann said. “I feel very honored and grateful to be her coach.”
In addition to that, with Levy’s 386 points this past season he hopes to see her reach a thousand points by the end of next season; her senior year.
“She’s going to have over 800 points at the end of this season,” Hussmann said. “ It would be cool to see her get 1000 her senior year.”
Outside of basketball is not the only thing that Levy is set on. The sport she feels strongest in is actually soccer because there is less individual pressure on players.
“I think I am more confident at soccer, but when it comes to a favorite it is very hard to choose,” Levy said. “I have grown up my whole life playing soccer although I think I caught on to basketball easier. I like basketball specifically because I think it allows for more independence to show whereas in soccer not one person usually sticks out.”
Getting steals obviously isn’t her only strength. Last year she made the record for the most three pointers in a single game and tied with the boys record.
In her freshman year, Hussmann recalls a game with an impressive amount of scores.
“She hit five threes in a game her freshman year,” Hussmann said. “I can’t think of another freshman that’s done anything close to that. So, I think that was kind of like, ‘wow, this girl can really play.’”
Throughout her years on the basketball team Hussmann recalls her growth beyond her skills on the court.
“She’s really grown into a leader,” Hussmann said. “She’s a captain this year. I think that beyond the athletic accomplishments, that’s been the most impressive transformation for over the years, just watching her step up.”
