HAMILTON — Walk into the Pfirman Family Activity Center at Badin High School on just about any morning this summer, and the basketballs are bouncing. It’s BHS senior Mahya Lindesmith & Co. answering the question … how are great basketball players made? In the offseason.
It’s been a family affair for Lindesmith, 17, a first-team Greater Catholic League Coed Division selection who helped lead the Badin girls into the Division II regional finals in March.
For two years at Lutheran High School of St. Charles, Mo., she played varsity basketball with her older sister Jada, a current sophomore at Missouri University of Science & Technology in Rolla, Mo. Now it’s Mahya with her younger brothers, incoming BHS freshman Nathan and even seventh-grader Ben, playing just about any hoop game you can come up with.
“It’s been fun,” Mahya said. “It’s nice to have Nathan with me. He’s grown a lot — he has a lot of talent and strength. We tell each other the moves we’ve been learning. Playing against a boy who’s bigger than me definitely prepares me. It’s been a real cool experience.”
“We come over several times a week, shoot around, compete, play just about any game you can think of,” said Nathan, 15, who just completed the eighth grade at Immanuel Lutheran School in Hamilton. “I want to be a better shooter than Mahya. I probably don’t want to admit it, but she’s a better shooter than me right now. She shoots so many 3-pointers and makes them. It’s very cool.”
The Lindesmiths come by their athletic talent honestly. Dad Nate, a food service executive, was a college basketball and baseball player in Minnesota. Mom Fran, a homemaker, played college soccer and ran track.
Mahya said she “played just about everything” growing up, but by the fourth grade, told her father that she just wanted to play basketball year-round.
Her first year at Badin was memorable as she led the team with 13.9 points per game, handled the ball well and featured a dazzling outside game that had people joking that her shooting range was the parking lot.
“It was a great season, so much fun,” Lindesmith said of the Rams’ 18-10 trip to the Elite Eight. “It was very nerve-racking early because I was new and I wanted to live up to the expectations people had of me. The girls were amazing. They included me in everything. I loved the overall atmosphere. I love all the coaches. They would help me with anything I needed. We took on all of the challenges with injuries and COVID. I was beyond happy with where we ended up.”
How Lindesmith ended up at Badin is another story. Her father took a transfer to Southwest Ohio from the St. Louis area and was looking into AAU teams for his children. That brought him into contact with BHS head girls basketball coach Tom Sunderman, who has an ongoing program that plays at Landmark Christian in Evendale.
Nate Lindesmith was looking for a Christian private high school for his family in Greater Cincinnati, and Sunderman wondered if he’d considered the Catholic school opportunities at Badin. Once the Lindesmith family toured BHS, they had found a home.
“I’m very lucky I ended up at Badin,” Mahya said. “It’s definitely been the right place for me and my family. It’s all worked out really well.”
Not that there weren’t some complications. While dad Nate had moved to Butler County for his job in the summer of 2019, mom Fran stayed behind with the family in suburban St. Louis. Jada would finish her senior year at Lutheran, and Mahya wanted to stay to play one last season with her older sister.
It was quite a year, with the Cougars rolling to a 23-5 record and a district championship as the Lindesmith girls combined for 20 points a game.
“That was very intense, but definitely fun. I loved it,” Mahya said. “It was hard because I was the only sophomore, but the seniors had a lot of confidence in me. My sister was very supportive of me. There was a bond we shared because we were doing something that we knew that we would never get a chance to do again.”
Mahya had said, however, that once the season was over, she would transfer immediately to Badin in the fourth quarter of her sophomore year in order to start to acclimate to the new school.
That date? March 16, 2020 — the day Ohio schools shut down because of the pandemic. Lindesmith registered at Badin in person, then spent the entire quarter going to Badin online back in St. Louis.
“I don’t really get stressed when I play. I don’t get nervous. It’s just fun. There’s nothing better than the power of the crowd behind you. You just get the feeling like everything’s going your way. It’s an unbelievable feeling to have.”
BADIN SENIOR MAHYA LINDESMITH
“That was difficult,” she nodded. “I remember the last day at my old school. I was on my phone before we went into an assembly, and I saw that the governor of Ohio had closed all the schools for at least two weeks. I wondered what was going on.
“Online school was hard because I had no idea what the teachers expected of me. But the teachers were amazing about getting me help. And so many students reached out to me. They were very friendly.”
Now fast-forward a year to late February 2021. Lindesmith is holding the basketball, 25 feet out, standing on the front-court logo at Mason Arena. It’s early in the second quarter, and the Badin girls are leading Roger Bacon in the D-II district championship game.
The Rams are in the midst of a flurry, both in the game and in the season. They have rolled out to a 22-11 edge against an RB team that has beaten them seven straight times, including twice in this regular season. Badin has recovered from a 7-8 record to win nine of their last 10 games, their only loss being to these same Spartans.
Lindesmith, open from deep, lets it fly — swish. Moments later, she is open again from the same spot. Boom … pandemonium … the Rams are on their way to a dominating 62-42 triumph and a trip to the regionals.
“I saw I had room and I decided to shoot it,” Lindesmith recalled. “I knew it was going in as soon as it left my hand. That was a good thing, because if it didn’t go in, I knew Coach Sunderman wouldn’t be very happy with me. I had a lot of confidence after that first one, so I decided to shoot it again. Why not?”
Of her 3-point prowess — she had 61 triples as a junior — Lindesmith remarked, “As a kid I was never the biggest or the tallest, so my dad worked with me on shooting the 3. I just have to shoot from farther back because of my (5-foot-6) size.”
Of that particular game, when Lindesmith scored 27 points and was joined by 20 points from running mate Jada Pohlen as a 1-2 wrecking crew, Lindesmith said, “That game had a lot of hype behind it. We were very determined. Our head space was that we were very confident. Everyone stepped up with everything they did.”
“I’ve been very impressed with Mahya,” Sunderman said. “She’s an excellent player, and she’s willing to work hard. She’s down-to-earth and fit right in with our team. You can tell that she plays the game with a lot of joy. I’m glad she’s wearing Badin green.”
Now Mahya is ready for a new year, her senior year, with what should be another outstanding Badin quintet. There are college opportunities ahead — she plans to major in elementary education and hopes to decide before October regarding the numerous basketball offers she’s received — and even a chance to have a high school year with younger brother Nathan.
“It’s been an interesting summer,” she said. “A lot of showcases. That’s new to me, playing 1-on-1 with 20 coaches watching you. But it was really fun. Between AAU basketball and what we did with Badin basketball, keeping in contact with the girls and making sure we stay close, it’s all been fun.”
She’s been working on her game — deeper 3s, 3s off the dribble, working on some inside moves that make her harder to guard. She’s within shouting distance of 1,000 varsity career points.
Noticeably, Mahya always plays the game with a smile on her face, like maybe she knows something that you don’t.
“I don’t really get stressed when I play,” she said. “I don’t get nervous. It’s just fun. There’s nothing better than the power of the crowd behind you. You just get the feeling like everything’s going your way. It’s an unbelievable feeling to have.”
And here she is, in Badin’s Pfirman Center with brothers Nathan and Ben, shooting, dribbling, working, helping … having fun as a family playing a game they love.
“Growing up, I hated basketball,” said Nathan, who plays basketball and baseball and has big dreams of his own. “I wanted to quit basketball and only play baseball. My parents wouldn’t let me. I’m glad they didn’t.”
“It takes a lot of time to get better,” Mahya said. “There’s so many times you have to decide between going out with friends or getting extra shooting in. My parents have taught me to prioritize what’s important.”
It’s like the old music joke, one that Mahya Lindesmith understands well. How do you get to New York’s Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.
