Lily and Brady Scholl each lead Northridge girls and boys basketball, respectively, in points and rebounds per game.
MISHAWAKA – After Northridge girls basketball’s 44-39 defeat against Penn on Thursday, January 29, Lily Scholl was trying her best not to let the loss get to her. It was a tough January for the Raiders, losing three of their seven games and enduring the loss of senior leader Cam Conley to a season-ending knee injury.
Scholl recited numerous Bible verses, including James 1:2, which reads “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.” Faith is not important only to Lily; it is the foundation on which the entire Scholl family stands.
“The way He has loved us and cared for us and given us these gifts – we are able to run and walk and even play basketball – it gives you inner peace,” she said. “Everything could be going wrong … but it’s going to mold you to be a better person.”
It has helped Lily and her older brother, Brady, grow even closer. Most siblings bicker, and while the Scholls certainly do so with just 11 months separating the two in age, they have continued to grow closer and closer as they grow older.
“I thank God for giving me a sister like that; she’s a great friend,” Brady said.
Lily, ever the little sister, one-upped Brady when it came to describing their bond.
“He has been my best friend for as long as I can remember,” Lily said.
As the girls (17-7) head into sectional play with an IHSAA Class 4A semifinal against Concord (11-11) set for 6 p.m. Friday, February 6, at Goshen, and the boys (15-1) surging after nine straight wins, the Scholls serve as the faces of Northridge basketball. Each leads their respective squads in points and rebounds per game, and Brady recently reached 1,000 career points.
Brady, a senior, will continue his career collegiately at Indiana Wesleyan University, while Lily, a junior, has received numerous offers to do the same.
Lily began playing basketball in fourth grade, quitting ballet to pursue the sport her brother had recently started playing. When he was younger, Brady focused more on football, the sport in which their father and younger brother specialize, until finding a stronger passion on the hardwood.
“I think basketball has helped grow that bond,” Brady said. “I don’t really know how it happened, but me and my sister fell in love with basketball.”
The two still work out together and even play one-on-one, but once Brady grew taller than six feet (now 6’7”), Lily told him he couldn’t dunk or shoot layups against her anymore. All scoring opportunities have to be jump shots.
Northridge’s boys head coach Scott Radeker, who has led the Raiders for nine seasons and coached Indiana high school basketball for 25, put Brady’s personality on and off the court into perspective. It’s one he and Lily share.
“The things people don’t know about him is that even though he has all these accolades, he’s one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever coached in my career,” Radeker said. “He looks you in the eye, and he doesn’t argue with you. He just goes and does it. He’s selfless, and the players love him.”
Raiders girls head coach Doug Springer said the Scholl siblings’ shared passion for basketball and life itself rubs off on everyone they cross paths with on the court, whether it be teammates or coaches.
“[Lily] just goes about trying to find the joy in everything; that is what makes her such a special kid,” Springer said. “That allows her to play free. Knowing what their true purpose as a family is allows the siblings to push each other and allows them to enjoy the process that it takes to be a good athlete.”
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at [email protected] or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Northridge boys and girls basketball finding success through Scholl siblings
Category: General Sports
