Lower’s Lauren Holden Focused on Pursuing Team

When Lower Cape May’s Lauren Holden eclipsed the 2,000 career point mark last Friday night she joined an incredible and exclusive group of six area female hoops players to scale that plateau.
Wildwood legend Monica Johnson stands alone at an unbelievable 3,173 points, but after dropping 34 against overmatched Bridgeton Jan. 23, Holden is just 182 away from second place on this impressive list of Atlantic, Cape May, and Cumberland County all-time female scorers.
At 5’ 5”, Holden relies upon an outstanding perimeter shooting touch along with a strong family legacy of hoops accomplishments on the floor and in the coaching box. Her father, Patrick, was an outstanding high school and collegiate player who, like his father, George, went on to coach the Caper-Tigers. Lauren’s uncle, Scott, is the current boys’ coach after his own stellar interscholastic and higher education career.
“There are so many people involved for me to accomplish something like this,” said the Fordham University-bound Holden. “My teammates, my coaches, my Pop-Pop, my dad, my classmates, everyone owns a piece of this. No one does something like this alone.”
The senior is clearly a team-first type of athlete who has amassed impressive statistics in each of her four seasons while working within the team’s overall goals. As a freshman she registered better than 14 points per contest and upped that to more than 18 per outing as a second-year varsity player. In her junior year she contributed a stellar 29 points per game and in this, her record-bursting campaign, she’s hovering at 30 points each time she takes to the hardwood.
Lower Cape May coach Scott Douglass has done a remarkable job in helping the team and the community maintain focus on the undefeated squad’s goal of winning the Cape-Atlantic League Championship while eagerly awaiting the monumental achievement.
“All along our thing has been to win games,” said the seventh year head coach. “We thought all along that when it happens, it happens. The Holden’s didn’t want it to be a distraction to the team but it’s something we certainly all wanted to celebrate. It’s unlike 1,000 points, which was such a major accomplishment back in the day. Now, we play so many more games. It was very special for all of us, for Lauren, and her family and they handled everything with such grace and humility.”
Holden herself mirrored the coach’s comments about her desire to keep the winning momentum and to celebrate the milestone whenever it happened to come.
“I just try to go out every time like it’s another game,” she said. “The whole scoring thing is great, but it’s about our team winning. Our defense runs our team. It sets up our offense. Defense is what we’re most proud of.”
Douglass knew and appreciated the fact that his standout scorer and all-around team player wanted to keep the focus on team accomplishment and chemistry.
“Every player and every coach needs the team to work together to be successful,” he said. “The team knows Lauren and how she operates on the floor. She’s in it for the team and they’re in it for each other and their school.”
Douglass agreed with Holden’s assertion about team defense. “We struggle sometimes offensively when opponents throw junk defenses at Lauren or a box-and-one,” he said. “So, we pressure the ball and do some trapping. That’s one of our main things. We’ll pressure people from beginning to end. We try to get 55 to 60 possessions a game and we strive for plenty of assists to set up our baskets.”
Holden, who was sent a congratulatory text message from the Fordham coaching staff, is eager to begin her collegiate career in September, but there’s very important unfinished business in Erma.
“My teammates have done a great job in stepping up and going undefeated so far this season,” she said. “Our team goal is just to go out and play every game like it is our last. We definitely want to win. Winning the CAL Championship is one of our main goals and you need everyone’s contribution to get there.”