Owensboro’s Ella Hall’s game day routine consists of a healthy breakfast that sometimes includes a smoothie, and then later a hearty lunch. She always arrives at the field early to warm up and then mingle with her teammates. Once everyone arrives, they write bible verses on their legs, a tradition that started the previous year.
Hall’s front yard is home to her private Saturday practices – consisting of improving her footwork by dribbling through cones. A regime that has become second nature to her has culminated in her blasting through the school’s record books.
Even though Hall and the Lady Devils’ season has come to a recent end, falling in the 3rd Region Championship to rival Daviess County, the junior has entrenched herself as the program’s all-time assist leader with 50 and counting. She also broke the school’s record for assists in a season with 22.
“It felt great. I was here when Sydney Lovett broke her record, and I know how it felt for her,” Hall said. “So, I just had that same feeling for myself. I didn’t think it would happen because in my freshman year, I only had 10 assists. But that is now back-to-back seasons with 18 or more, so that was a huge difference.”
Toward the end of her sophomore season, Hall realized the school’s all-time assist record was within reach. Entering this year, Owensboro had to completely revamp its starting defense due to the previous starters graduating. Hall was shifted to the back line, but she still found opportunities to push up the pitch and flex her playmaking abilities.
“It feels great because that just shows how much I have been able to make plays being in the defense,” Hall said.
With the record in sight, it took until September 27, in an 8-1 win over Muhlenberg County, for Hall to break into the school’s history books. Tying the record earlier in the game, Hall located and fed a cross to Lily Nieman, who tapped it in, putting the playmaker alone at the top.
“It was an easy goal because it was a great pass,” Nieman said. “We did a little chest bump at the end, and that was pretty cool too.”
The two have formed a special connection on the pitch, dating back to when Nieman was in sixth grade and Hall was in seventh. During the off-season, the two work out together alongside teammate Amelia Calhoun and compete in multiple winter tournaments.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better teammate. She’s always looking for someone else and is never selfish,” Nieman said. “I think that she does a great job of finding others through the chaos and also finding ways to calm everyone down when we can definitely get angry or too excited at times, too. She is just a great teammate to have.”
Not to be overshadowed by Hall, Nieman broke Owensboro’s record for goals in a season with 36 and is currently fourth all-time in Lady Devils history.
“Ever since I was younger, I have always dreamed of being a key contributor at Owensboro,” Nieman said. “So, it was just really cool for me to accomplish that.”
A versatile scorer, Nieman can hurt opposing defenses in multiple ways, but she prefers to receive the ball at the top of the box in a 1v1 situation.
“I like being able to beat that defender off the dribble and just putting it into the back of the net. I like being able to stop the ball so I can have control to hit it.”
Nieman also finished just two assists behind Hall for the single-season record. At the end of the regular season, the two were tied with 17 assists, and it took deep into their playoff run for Hall to edge out her teammate by two assists.
As the season has wound to a close, Hall and the Lady Devils are fresh off the school’s best finish in over a decade.
“I’m excited for next season because we have a lot of eighth graders coming up,” Hall said. “It will be great and it will just increase our scoring opportunities to be able to give me more assists.”
