HS GIRLS BASKETBALL: Lindsay Howard named head coach at Holy Cross
Lindsay Howard is ready for the next challenge in her basketball journey.
A standout center at Fallston High School in Maryland who went on to Shippensburg University and has an extensive coaching resume at the collegiate level is the new girls head coach at Holy Cross High School.
Holy Cross principal Ben Tolerico made the announcement Wednesday night that Howard, a former assistant women’s coach at Marywood University and Wilkes University, would take over the program. Barry Fitzgerald, the longtime coach at Bishop Hannan and then Holy Cross, retired following the season with 647 career wins.
“I am extremely excited,” said Howard, who served as captain at Shippensburg University and scored 749 points in her high school career. “It is obviously a different opportunity, especially coming from college coaching and to moving from an assistant to head coach. I started coaching AAU basketball for seventh- and eighth-graders and found a new passion for coaching the game because there is so much to teach and I want to help the young players learn.”
After her four years at Shippensburg University, Howard coached for 11 seasons at the collegiate level. She spent six seasons as the assistant women’s basketball coach at Marywood from 2013 to 2018 and five seasons at Wilkes from 2019 to 2023.
While most of Howard’s experience is with college programs, she also evaluated high school players at Hoop Group Camps in Neptune, New Jersey, and started coaching the NEPA Elite/NXT girls seventh- and eighth-grade AAU program.
Howard is the exercise science department chair, assistant professor and exercise science lab manager at Marywood University.
“We are very excited to begin this new era of girls basketball at Holy Cross,” Tolerico said. “We were very impressed with Lindsay’s basketball knowledge and coaching experience. She is clearly dedicated to her craft. But what stood out even more and was very clear throughout our meetings was her strong character and values, which fit perfectly with the standards at Holy Cross.
“I am confident that our student athletes are in good hands and will have a bright future on the basketball court.”
Howard is excited to meet the team and start preparation for offseason workouts.
Holy Cross is one of the top programs in the Lackawanna League. Before he became the head coach for the Lady Crusaders, Fitzgerald won Lackawanna Division II South titles in 2003 and 2004 as a Class 1A program at Bishop Hannan. After Bishop Hannan and Bishop O’Hara closed and Holy Cross formed, the girls basketball team won District 2 Class 2A titles in 2019, 2021 and 2022 and had an outstanding run to the championship this past season.
“I am not from this area, and I have always been in awe of the support that high school sports and girls basketball get here in Northeast Pennsylvania,” Howard said. “There are a lot of really successful programs in the league, which include powerhouses like Scranton Prep and Dunmore. It is going to be a challenge, but I am really looking forward to working at an amazing school with great academics and a basketball team that I hope will get into the mix with the schools and compete just as Holy Cross has in the past.
“I want to get the girls involved in the summer program and to start playing together as a team. It will give me the opportunity to get to know them better.”
With Holy Cross filling its vacancy, the Mountain View girls program and the Abington Heights boys program remain without head coaches.
Bill Simons resigned from his position at Mountain View after five years and a trip to the PIAA Class 1A final this past season. Ken Bianchi, the area’s all-time leader with 894 wins, retired from his position at Abington Heights.
