By Chris Cox

Cleveland senior Reagan Coffey began playing basketball, like many others, when she was young.

“I started playing when I was about three,” she says. “I got interested in it watching my older brother (Jacob) play. My dad was also coaching me and teaching me.”

While a lot of kids play when they are young, very few stick with basketball for roughly 15 years. But Reagan said she found a love for the game by just constantly being in the gym.

“It was really fun,” she says. “I loved being in the gym and working. Something else I like about basketball is my teammates. It’s not just me out there, it’s us. The environment and us coming together is something I enjoy.”

While bonding with her teammates is an important part of the game for her, her motivation comes down to just one thing.

“I want to win,” she admits bluntly. “I’m pretty competitive and that probably comes from my dad. He’s helped me by always pushing me further than my limits and making sure I always show up.”

As her final season gets underway, Coffey wants to make sure she and her Cleveland teammates take advantage of the opportunities in front of them.

“I want to get to 1,000 (career) points,” she says. “I also want to make the All-State team. As a team, I want us to have a better record than last year. We also want to be a faster team and put in more work than we have before.”

Being a senior, Coffey, and her fellow seniors, takes their leadership role seriously.

“The younger ones always look up to us,” she says. “We want to set a good example for them. We always have to watch what we are doing because someone is always watching. I like to push the younger girls, and they push me. When I leave, I want them to say, ‘I want to be like her.’”

Being a senior, Coffey’s time at Cleveland is coming to an end and she is making sure she is making the most of her senior year. Along with basketball, Reagan was also a member of the Cleveland softball team and will be a part of the soccer and track teams as well. Following graduation, Reagan plans on attending college. While she is unsure where she will attend, she currently several offers to play basketball.