(Graphic Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

PARKERSBURG — For the seniority who lead and the young stars who learn, the 2025-26 Parkersburg Christian girls’ basketball team is prepared to make a leap for success in their upcoming season.

The Knights ended the 2024-25 season with a longtime high 11 wins, a factor that gives both the players and coaches the determination to build upon this high in order to achieve greatness.

“I truly believe we have the potential to be better than the 11-win season last year, which was a high number of wins for us,” said Parkersburg Christian girls basketball coach Kevin Husk. “I believe that we’ll be better, although it may not translate in wins and losses.”

Parkersburg Christian returns all of their players from last year, including two seniors in Shianne Posey and Katlyn Wood.

Posey has been the Knights’ starting point guard since transferring from Parkersburg High School following their 2023-24 season, while Wood returns after leading the team in rebounds the year prior.

“Shianne is really the kid that makes things go for us,” said Husk. “She really defines the mentality we have going into games while Katlyn seems to handle a lot of the dirty work we face.”

Parkersburg Christian also returns sophomore Kenzi Lucas, a young star who led the team in scoring last year and has proved to be a gem within the Knights’ roster.

“I truly believe that Kenzi is our best all-around player and she was built to play the game of basketball,” said Husk. “She doesn’t know that she’s our best player because she looks up to our seniors so much of the time, but she has the potential to be a really dominant player in the next couple of years. I believe that Kenzi has the potential to be a 1,500-point scorer by the time she’s done here. She’s really a true and pure basketball player that I believe will be unstoppable as time goes on.”

The Knights also return junior Kallie Martin, a power forward that could be described as a Swiss Army knife amongst the roster.

“Callie is sort of our glue kid– you look at her sometimes and she’ll have five rebounds and two points, which isn’t anything spectacular, but she’s the kid that no matter what I ask her to do, she’s going to do it. She shows up to everything and plays any position I ask her to play in order to help the team, and I’m truly grateful for her leadership.”

With both Posey and Wood being the only seniors on the roster, the girls are prepared to look toward the two for motivation and learning as the season goes on.

Both of the girls return this year as captains after serving as the teams only captains in the year prior with Martin and Lucas stepping up to fill two extra spots to fill out the team’s ring of leadership.

“Both Shianne and Katlyn really do a good job of bringing the kids together, and I truly value their commitment,” said Husk. “Having everybody back this year is a huge strength that we plan to take advantage of. We don’t have very many big players, and we don’t deal with pressure very well. Shianne and Katlyn are sometimes put in these situations and do their best to take advantage of them, and I feel like the younger kids see that and learn from them.”

Parkersburg Christian plans to use their diverse talent to capitalize on more wins this season in a schedule filled with tough matchups that will test their ability to stick together during stressful times.

“We’re going to really hustle this year, and were going to do our best to show that. We may not always win but we are going to grind every single possession for what we want. Bringing that maximum effort is key to winning, and we want to show that when we travel to Heritage Christian on (Monday),” said Husk. “These young ladies are bought in, and we want to make a team worthy of being cheered for.”

BOYS BASKETBALL

The 2025-26 season will be one full of fresh faces and big goals for the Parkersburg Christian boy’s basketball team.

The Knights return following a 12-win season, a high that the team hopes to ride on coming into the new season with new head coach Gary Shelton.

Parkersburg Christian only returns one player in Ashton Peoples from their previous season, a factor that gives a sense of freshness to the team and gives Coach Shelton the opportunity to develop his players on his own terms.

Peoples was the team’s leading scorer in their previous season and is taking up a new role within a team filled with fresh faces.

“He’s our starting point guard and everyone one the team is basically just following his lead which I believe will be good for the new players,” said Shelton.

The Knights know they are young and on the uphill to becoming more than they are now, but don’t expect them to be uncompetitive even in the face of new challenges.

“We want to compete each and every game to give ourselves a chance. Am I expecting two win every game? Absolutely not. But at the same time I’m not expecting to lose everything. We’re really putting a focus on discipline and hard work,” said Shelton.

Regarding the team’s game plan for this season, the Knights are planning on using the youth to their advantage to see what works best and how they can develop more over time.

“We’ve got twenty faces on the roster and we plan on using that to our advantage. They’re all new, and we’ll probably split their playing time pretty evenly between them all. We’ve really got to experiment and test what works where and who works where,” said Shelton. “I’m looking at team ball for the majority of the year. Some guys aren’t going to get to play a whole lot as we progress further in the season and maybe some will, so it all depends on how they practice. I’m just looking for consistency out of my players.”

Despite having to create a new culture in a roster full of unfamiliar faces, the Knight’s have more of a focus on the future rather than having a win-now attitude.

“Having the young players really gives me a chance too develop them. I know it’s not a one and done, and that really helps. The majority of them will be back the next two years, so Im excited to get familiar with them and build a culture that sticks,” said Shelton.

The Knights know that winning may not be easy in rebuilding times, but they do know that the ability to stick together to build a culture for years to come is the true success that they desire and they plan to show what they’ve got when they travel to face Ignite Athletics on December 6th.

“Be ready for us,” said Shelton. “We’re going to show everything and try everything, and I think it will be entertaining. If our community has faith in us, we can make beautiful things happen.”