Kara Meredith knows all about playing winning basketball.
Meredith is a sophomore at Holy Family University, and when she was in high school, she collected championships like they were baseball cards.
While at Archbishop Wood, playing for Cardinal Dougherty grad Mike McDonald, Meredith won two Catholic League championships during her four years there.
Oh, and she also picked up three state championships while playing for the Vikings. That’s five championships in four years, and she did it against the best competition in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.
“My mom and all her siblings went to Wood,” Meredith said. “When I was growing up, my two older sisters went to Ryan and they loved it. I was planning to go there, but then my dad started working at Nazareth, so it was between there and Ryan. Then I visited Wood and it felt like home, so I decided to go there.
“My dad would have loved if I went to Nazareth, but he told me it was my decision. The year I graduated, Nazareth joined the PCL, so I was one year off. And now my dad is at Lansdale Catholic. But I never had to play against his school.”
Now, she’s doing her dad, her entire family, her entire school and all of Northeast Philly proud because Meredith just helped Holy Family through a very successful season and a memorable run in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers advanced to the Sweet 16 in Boston before bowing out after falling to top seed and host No. 3 Bentley in the NCAA Division II East Region Final on Monday night.
It marked the end of a great season for the Tigers, who finished 26-7 overall, their most wins since 2013. It also marked the fourth time the school appeared in the East Region Final in program history.
Meredith scored eight points in the loss, a game after she recorded 12 points in the team’s final win of the season.
It wasn’t the perfect ending, but it was the close of a darn fine season that saw the Tigers eclipse just about everyone’s expectations. Just not their own.
“Last year it didn’t happen so I never experienced a season like this in college,” Meredith said. “In high school, we made states, but making the NCAA Tournament is a surreal feeling. I watched March Madness and now I’m here. We had a team meeting, and we said, ‘Do it our way.’ ‘Our way’ is our motto and we’ve stuck to that.”
Sticking together has always been a formula for success for Meredith.
It starts at home.
According to Meredith, both Wood and Holy Family share a lot of similarities with her family. It’s all about support and sticking together.
“I have four sisters, two younger, two older,” Meredith said: “Anna, Mary Grace, Abigail, Danielle. My oldest sister (Anna) played basketball until eighth grade, then she stuck with volleyball. Mary Grace never played basketball, she played soccer, and is more theatrical. Abby plays basketball, she’s going to be something to watch out for. She’s in sixth grade. Danielle, my youngest sister, is a free spirit, she plays sports and is really good. We’ll see what she does. When I was about 12 or 13, I really got close with all my sisters.”
And then there’s her parents, who not only made the trip to Boston to watch her, but rearranged their schedule to stay up there to see the Tigers’ entire run.
“They got here, came to first game, and then they left to book the next few nights,” Meredith said. “They have been my biggest support system. My dad is the best and he’s the most supportive a person can be. I know it’s hard dealing with teenagers, but he always asked the right questions, ‘How do you feel?’ He was always at games, high school or five AAU games in a row. My mom coached me when I was young, so her voice is in my ear a lot. That’s a huge part of my game. My mom played at Wood, and there’s a pic of me playing at Wood next to her playing at Wood. I couldn’t do it without them.”
Her family is there to help her when she’s coming up against a great defense, or when she has a tough test at school.
Meredith is studying nursing, and it’s going well, but it can be a challenge, especially when she’s in another state playing basketball.
“I know today we had a break and we were all doing homework,” she said. “This semester is first semester of nursing school, so I’m trying to find a routine. I’m halfway through the semester so I know what to do.
“I’ve always been drawn to health care community. My senior year, I was looking into it, and my sister’s best friend is a Holy Family nursing major, and she loved it. One of my teammates is a nursing major and she said it’s a well-respected program. Once I started, I saw this is what I want to do. I like this.”
Almost as much as she loves playing for Holy Family.
She loved her time at Wood and looks at her time at HFU the same way she felt at Wood. That’s as high praise as you can give.
“We pride ourselves on how deep we are,” Meredith said. “Most teams aren’t that deep. Girls play 35-plus minutes. We have 12 girls that can play and keep the same energy. I know my role and that’s the biggest thing. Energy, offense and defense. It starts with defense and rebounding. To excel on offense we have to play defense and get rebounds.
“This team, everyone works hard. Everyone plays together. We play well together because we are all friends. I think that makes it way easier. We have a really good team with a lot of good players, but we are definitely better because of the way we play together. That’s what got us here.”
