One of the youngest players on the Morgan Academy varsity team is playing one of the largest roles.

Faith Lane, 13, is only an eighth grader, but she’s already cracked the starting lineup as the Senators’ point guard this year. Lane loves basketball and she’s played it as long as she can remember, but coming into this season she’d never played in a single varsity basketball game for Morgan.

“It’s exciting but you also have to work a lot harder because there are bigger girls that have more experience than you and they know what they’re doing,” Lane said. “You have to work a lot harder, but it’s a great privilege to get that experience.”

The entire Morgan Academy team is young, with only one senior in Emily Sherrer. Regan Hewitt is the team’s only junior and Lane’s sister, Abigail, is part of a group of juniors.

So, how does an eighth grader prove herself, even to a team made up of younger players? To Faith, it means working hard.

“I think I’m going to have to win their approval and make sure they know I can handle it,” Lane said.

Lane sounds like a veteran when she talks about the work she’s going to have to put in to make up for her size disadvantage. She knows it’s not going to be easy going up against juniors and seniors, but she’s looking forward to the challenge.

“I trust that she can do it. She’s going to struggle the first three or four games but it will make her a better JV player when she plays against teams that are not as good as varsities,” said Morgan coach Kayla Mason. “I basically told her we’re going to have to buckle up our belts and do it.”

Lane knows there are going to be some ups and downs, especially early on in the year, but she’s confident her teammates will support her.

“My team is really encouraging and if I have a bad game or something they are always there to give me tips and just stuff I can work on,” she said.

Off the basketball court, she likes to ride horses on her family’s farm. She’s also learning how to play guitar.

Most importantly, her favorite subject is math, where numbers are everything, but on the court she’s proving that wrong.

Normally, 13-year-old players aren’t supposed to start varsity games, but Lane is showing she’s not the normal 13-year-old.

“We are going to have to work really hard, try our best and just go for it,” Lane said.