(ABC 6 News) — Ask anyone on the Lourdes girls basketball team and they’ll tell you they wouldn’t have made it to State without their defense.

But they also wouldn’t have made it without Lauren Hust, just a sophomore and a leader by example.

“I feel like I’ve been more aggressive,” Hust assessed. “I feel like freshman year I knew what my role was and I was supposed to make passes and assists to our seniors.”

“I think she knew that she had to do that,” senior Caroline Daly added. “She had to step up from last year, because we did lost a couple of posts last year.”

Hust has made strides on offense and is consistently the top scorer for the Eagles, often in the double digits.

“We graduated three real good scorers this past year,” head coach Todd Greguson noted. “And she didn’t bat an eye, she jumped into it.”

Her growth as a defender is not to be discounted either, utilizing pressure and sticking to the opposition like a pesky fly.

“Offense, you’re not going to hit every shot and defense you can always work as hard,” Hust continued. “Anyone can be good at defense, it’s just all about the effort.”

“She can guard a good perimeter player and she can guard a good post player,” Greguson said. “So, she’s so versatile for us both on the offense and defensive side of the ball.”

Hust’s impact will be part of the Lourdes mentality for the next few years. Her persistence on defense is one example of many the Eagles team upholds. Whenever she’s in the starting five, don’t expect Lourdes to give you an easy window even once.    

“Just going hard, it’s just all about energy,” Hust concluded. “How much you really want it and our team really does want it. We work together as a team and it works, it’s not just one person, it’s everyone.”