Westminster Academy’s Lena Girardi is Broward Girls’ Basketball Player of Year for 4A-2A

In an alternate universe, Lena Girardi could have been a baseball star. Until she got to middle school, she was.

Girardi played up until she was about 11, always against boys, and was a lights-out pitcher. She even still has a few of her home-run balls from her baseball days.

She eventually fell in love with basketball, though, from days playing against her older brother in the driveway and it set her on her current path. Only a sophomore at Westminster Academy, Girardi is already the Miami Herald’s Broward County Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year for Classes 4A-2A.

“It’s on my mind 24-7,” she said of her new love.

Girardi, who’s the daughter of former MLB manager Joe Girardi and younger brother of FIU infielder Dante Girardi, was an important part of a state championship as a freshman and even better as a sophomore. The 6-foot wing averaged 23.3 points, 12.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals per game, and already holds scholarship offers from Pittsburgh, Northwestern and several Ivy League schools.

She traces her roots as a star back to those front-yard games against her older brother.

“He never took it easy on me, so that’s what got me to be the competitor I am,” Girardi said. “He talked so much smack to me and he never let me win, but it has helped me become who I am today.”

As a freshman, she was one of the top options for Westminster, averaging 20.2 points per game, to help the Lions win a Class 3A championship. A year later, Claire Erickson, who was the Herald’s Broward County Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year for 4A-2A in 2022, was gone and Girardi had to step up to fill the void.

Although it fell to eventual-champion Miami Country Day in the Region 4-3A championships, Westminster was again one of the best teams in Florida, thanks to Girardi’s all-around contributions.

Her resume is already stacked, but Girardi’s not satisfied. She has two more years in Fort Lauderdale to get the Lions back to Lakeland.

“It’s just a lot of hard work,” Girardi said. “My coaches have helped me a lot, my teammates, my parents have helped me a lot, just sacrificing to make sure I can always get in the gym, those late nights, early mornings.”