Boys Basketball: Noah Lawrence carries on family legacy with Westerville North Warriors
Noah Lawrence does more than facilitate the game for the Westerville North boys basketball team as its point guard.
The Warriors’ 5-foot-11 senior also carries the legacy of his family name, as the youngest of three brothers to have played in the program and four overall to be athletes at North.
And if Lawrence wraps up a four-year varsity career the way he hopes, the award that carries his late father’s name might await.
“I know I’m doing all of this for him. It’s what drives me and motivates me every day to get up and go work,” he said of his father, Pat, a longtime program supporter who died of cancer in 2016. “He would come to every game and be loud and support us. He was always there, just being a good role model for everybody.
“(The award) just means to always work hard and always do the right thing.”
That award is the Pat Lawrence Award, which since 2018 has been given to “the Warriors boys basketball player who exemplifies Pat’s determination, dedication and courage.”
Julian Malone was the first honoree, Bailey Lawrence — the second-youngest Lawrence son, after 2015 graduate Alex and 2018 graduate Evan — won it in 2019 and 2020, and Collin Cook earned the award last year.
“(Pat Lawrence) was someone who was an excellent role model for all the kids,” North coach Shan Trusley said. “Everybody wanted to be around him. He always had kind words. He represents everything we want our program to be about. He meant a lot to our program and still does.”
Noah Lawrence has played an integral part in North’s success this season, as the Warriors were 8-3 overall and 5-1 in the OCC-Capital Division after defeating Worthington Kilbourne 56-34 on Jan. 11.
He averaged 8.3 points, 2.5 steals and 1.7 assists through 11 games and was shooting 79.3 percent from the free-throw line.
His career-best scoring output before Jan. 11 was 20 points against Kilbourne on Jan. 8, 2021, and his season high this year was 17 in a 60-48 win at Big Walnut on Jan. 7, a game in which Trusley said Lawrence also excelled defensively.
A shooting guard as a freshman, Lawrence took over for Jeremiah Keene at the point before his sophomore season and has been there ever since.
“He’s a great point guard,” said senior forward Caleb Iheukwu, a teammate and friend of Lawrence since sixth grade. “He’ll pass up his own shot for a better shot from anyone who’s open. He tries to create for us, but he’s a guy who’s able to get his own. He handles the ball well and has a nice little pull-up (shot).”
Lawrence hopes for a college basketball career and has received interest from Capital, Heidelberg, Marietta and Otterbein among other Division III schools. As one of four starters back from last season, Lawrence also hopes the Warriors are on track for their first league championship since 2018.
“I’m happy with where we are now but we could always improve,” Lawrence said. “Our goals are still the same, (to) win the league and then get to a district final. We want to be more consistent. We’re going through some adversity and trying to go game by game and win every one.”
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@ThisWeekDave
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Boys Basketball: Lawrence carries on family legacy at Westerville North
