ASHLAND – Renee (Stimpert) Holt never knew what it felt like to be in the basement.
She helped lead the Crestview High School girls basketball team to a perfect regular season and a state poll title her senior year in 2016, then proceeded to play on teams at Ashland University that went a combined 133-4 with two undefeated seasons.
Individually, the numbers from her playing days were seemingly unreachable as well. Holt was the leading scorer in the Firelands Conference all four years at CHS and still carries the Ashland-area record for career points (2,305).
She then went to AU and posted the top three single-season assist totals in program history, with her 839 career assists an astounding 271 more than anyone else to come through the NCAA Division II powerhouse.
But when she took over the Ashland High School girls program as head coach a handful of weeks after graduating from college in 2020, Holt went from living at the top to starting at the bottom.
The Arrows were 1-22 the season before she arrived. Frustratingly, she discovered it takes time to climb out of the basement.
“I always tell people that this was probably one of the hardest things I’ve endured,” Holt said. “I’ve been through injuries, college basketball, COVID – a lot of things – but transitioning from a collegiate athlete to coaching high school girls, it’s a whole different world.
“You wouldn’t know it until you’re in this position.”
The Arrows lost their first six games under Holt – more losses than she’d endured in her final five seasons combined as a player (157-5). They went 11-52 in her first three years, including a 7-28 mark in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Ashland High School has never been a juggernaut in girls basketball. It’s been nearly 30 years since the program last won a league title.
At times during her first three seasons, Holt – a sixth-grade social studies teacher for Ashland City Schools – wasn’t sure she wanted to stick with it.
Then along came this year and a fiery group that features what might just be the most talented collection of underclassmen ever to come through the program.
With starters including freshmen Kennedy Lacey and Cici Steury, sophomores Camryn Cox and Madison Hoffman, and senior Alex Huckleberry, the Arrows and Holt are 9-12 heading into their regular-season finale at home Saturday against Findlay after starting the season 1-5.
Their 8-6 record and third-place finish in OCC play is tied for the best they’ve done in any league since 1995. It’s also more conference wins than the team had the last three seasons combined.
“My first three years I came in with that collegiate athlete intensity and a coach told me, ‘Not all these girls are here to eventually play college ball. They’re here for their friends or for fun, they’re here just to be involved,’ ” Holt said.
“I’ve been making that adjustment in Year Four of understanding and allowing different things. Let them go and look ahead, just the little things; building stronger relationships with these kids.
“It’s been fun, it’s been rewarding,” Holt said. “With patience, I’m finally figuring out how to communicate, how to adjust, how to coach these high schoolers.”
Things easily could have remained the same. Holt said five players from last year’s team didn’t return because they didn’t want to match the intensity she wants to see as a coach.
The Arrows also lost their leading scorer from the last two years, junior Makaree Chapman, who moved into the Lexington school district.
In spite of all that, Ashland is on the rise.
“We told the freshman coming in, ‘It’s not going to be easy. Every day is going to be tough, we’re practicing just like (AU) practiced (when Holt was there),’ ” said the 6-foot-1 Cox, who entered Thursday averaging 10.9 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.
“She’s used to hard practices and knows that the harder you work, the easier it’s going to be when you get into a game.
“We’ve had some growing pains but we’ve really come a long way since she first got here.”
Hoffman, who Holt said has been playing more complete games as the season has gone along, agreed.
“I think our work ethic has been tremendous in the gym,” said the sophomore guard, averaging 8.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game. “We were very young from the start (of the season) and we knew we had a lot of growing to do, but I think we’ve put everything together.”
Cox and Hoffman emphasized that it’s been a family-like atmosphere all season.
Bring in massive freshmen spark plugs like Lacey (forward) and Steury (guard), then mix them with senior guard Huckleberry (3.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game) and junior guard Lauren Green (back from injury as a returning All-OCC player) and it’s one of the most balanced attacks in recent memory at AHS.
Lacey is off to a torrid start to her high school career, boasting 15.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game. Her 316 points put her on a school-record pace for career scoring and are more than any Arrow has had in a season since Steury’s older sister, Alyssa Steury, had 446 in 2018-19.
Cici Steury, meanwhile, had a coming-of-age game in a win a month ago at Wooster, netting 21 points while hitting all five of her 3-point tries.
“They’re just playing together,” Holt said. “Our motto on the board every game is, ‘One more.’ One more pass, one more rebound, just that one more sprint, and doing it together as a team.
“You’re here for four quick years. Have fun out there.”
Holt, who also noted the off-the-bench play of sophomore guard Grace Tobias, said the underclassmen have pushed the upperclassmen to work harder.
Cox and Hoffman both agreed that seniors like Huckleberry and Gabby Carver have been critical in helping with overall team growth.
For her part, Cox turned in one of the best performances in the history of AHS basketball in a 69-59 win Jan. 10 against Sandusky.
She piled up 32 points, 23 rebounds, three steals and three blocks, but said it all came together because her teammates boosted her along.
“We can feel how it is when we’re low; that coming in every day (thinking), ‘I don’t want to be here,’ ” Cox said. “It changes your whole mentality when you start to feel what winning feels like. You start to reap the rewards and you just want it more and more.”
“Everyone holds each other accountable and that has been a big part of our season.”
The Arrows have slowly begun to collect building blocks despite their youth.
A three-game win streak and a 5-1 run highlighted their January. They’re 3-1 in games decided by three or fewer points.
The lone defeat in those tight games came Thursday night at Ontario, 61-59. But Ashland overcame a 12-point halftime deficit to take a lead late in the fourth quarter before Lacey just missed forcing overtime on an in-and-out jumper.
In its losses this year, Holt said only three times has her squad not at least been within a few points of a lead in the fourth quarter.
“We all want it so bad,” Hoffman said, “and I think that’s the difference between this year and last year.”
It’s been a vitally important breath of fresh air for Holt. Now married to husband, Blake, and with a toddler, Henry, she said she’s had the opportunity to join the Ashland University staff with head coach Kari Pickens, but she didn’t want to leave the school setting she’s in now.
“I love being around kids,” she said. “And these kids, they were growing on me.”
While she said they have surpassed expectations this season, the next step is a big one.
The Arrows have just one tournament win since 2017 and they’ll need to prove they can win games against winning teams.
If they want to compete for titles in the OCC, they also will need to prove they can run with powers like West Holmes and Mansfield Senior, who split this year’s conference crown.
But having the youngest team in the league just might set up the long-term turnaround the program has waited decades to see.
“We’ve seen what happens at our worst, but we grew this year to be so much better,” Hoffman said. “I think these next couple of seasons are going to be incredible.”
“It’s been a journey to get where we are, but we can’t settle – we have to keep working hard,” Holt added. “I’ve put them through collegiate practices to get to that point because you have to work extra hard to get out of the basement.”