Girls basketball: Big decision brings big results for Brunswick's Lea Holmes

At the tender age of 15, Lea Holmes made an adult decision and decided to chase a dream. She caught it. Now a 17-year-old Brunswick senior who owns a full ride to continue her basketball career at Division II Northwood University in Midland, Mich., the 6-foot Holmes firmly believes that would not have happened had she not left Parma High, where she played some varsity as a freshman and started as a sophomore, late in her 10th-grade year. "I knew Parma wasn't going to get me where I wanted to go," she said. "I knew I wanted to play basketball in college, so that's when I started to look around to see what (high) schools would be a good fit for me. "I was doing research on Brunswick's basketball team and saw they had this really good freshman (current junior, 1,000-point scorer and D-I college prospect Journey Hildebrand) and didn't have a post player." At about the same time, Holmes' AAU season started. That's when she met Tucker Neale, the executive director of Score More Athletic Club (SMAC), and found out he was going to be on head coach Anthony Ocacio's staff at Brunswick. It also just so happened that Holmes' mother, Melanie, was about to move from her home in North Olmsted. Her parents are separated — father Larry lives in Parma — and have shared custody, so they agreed to let Holmes make what could be a life-changing choice. "My mom gave me a decision to make," Holmes said. "She had to move at the time anyway, so she told me I could either stay at Parma and she would move there or look at new schools and she'd move to the school that I picked." Ultimately, Holmes chose Brunswick and began attending classes at her new school in April 2021 after having gone to Parma her entire life. "I was so scared," she said. "It was the first time I had gone to a new school. I didn't have any friends and there was no one to walk me through my first day. I had to find my way. I was really scared and nervous, but the teachers and coaches were so welcoming." It helped Holmes' transition greatly that open gyms were being held and she was able to immediately meet a number of her new basketball teammates, including Hildebrand and current senior Maci Grammes. "They were my first two friends," she said. "It was so different. When I came to Brunswick, it was just a big culture change. The level of play was very different. At Brunswick, we focused on the little things and the fundamentals. At Parma, they expected you to know it by the time you got to high school. I felt like I knew everything, but when I came to Brunswick it was a really big reality check. "My mind was just everywhere. I was trying to make friends in school, and when you feel like you don't fit in, that's hard to do. But the basketball team members became my friends right away. Everyone had known each other since they were little and I was just this new girl that didn't know anyone, but I am so comfortable now." As it turned out, Holmes' new teammates thought so much of her maturity, leadership abilities and friendliness that they voted her a team captain prior to her junior season. "That showcases the kind of leader she is," Ocacio said. "She's one of the easiest girls to talk to. She's not a typical teenager. Talking to her is like talking to an adult. She wants to work hard and be a leader. "She's a very special person. It's very hard to go from Parma to here, but she has really blossomed. It will be exciting to see where she goes from here." That will be Northwood, but first things first for the future marketing major and still improving basketball player. With Holmes averaging 11.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.7 steals and an eye-popping 3.05 blocks while shooting 44% from the field and 73% at the line, the Blue Devils went 17-5 in the regular season. At No. 3 the top seed in the Division I Northeast 4 District, Brunswick will open tournament play Thursday at home against the winner of a sectional semifinal game between No. 29 North Olmsted and No. 24 Revere. A win will likely mean a meeting with fifth-seeded Highland in the district semifinals, with No. 4 Midview, which beat the Blue Devils 47-31 on Monday, the probable opponent should the Blue Devils reach the district final. A win there would secure the Blue Devils' first district title since 2007. "I'm not going to lie, I'm trying to hang a (district championship) banner," Holmes said. "We are trying to go to the next level." If a Brunswick team that also features Hildebrand, Lexie Bertemes, Faith Vlcek and Kennedi Neale is to do that, Holmes will be right in the middle of things. With long arms, great leaping ability and incredible timing, Holmes' biggest asset is her shot-blocking ability. "I don't know how to put it into words," Hildebrand said. "It's incredible. She'll come out of nowhere and swat a shot six feet out of bounds and I won't even know she was behind me. She's not the tallest, but she's one of the best shot blockers I've seen." Holmes' offensive skills also have greatly improved in her second season with Brunswick. After averaging 8.6 points as a junior, she became the focal point of the offense during June workouts because Hildebrand was out with an ankle injury. "She really picked it up and it just carried into this year," Ocacio said. "She's always been our X-factor. When Lea plays well, we play well." "It's night and day from last year to this year," Hildebrand said. "I would give her the ball last year, but this year, if she's open, I'm giving her the ball every time. Her shot has improved tremendously in just one year. "She came in and made this her home this season. She seems a lot more comfortable. She's a goofball. Any time I come into the locker room, she has the music blaring and is jumping around, even if she's the only one in there and has headphones on. She's just such a joy. I'm so glad she came to Brunswick." No one is happier with that decision than Holmes, who still keeps in touch with a number of her Parma friends. "It's probably one of the greatest decisions I've ever made," she said. "I've met so many great people and had so many opportunities. I feel like I've just blossomed." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on Twitter.