The word “unstoppable” is frequently used when it comes to describing Khalia Lewis – and for good reason.
When a goal is within reach, the Our Lady of Mercy Academy basketball player wastes little time grabbing it. A prime example was when Lewis came within a bucket of scoring her 1,000th career point during a game in December. She was injured during play with a bad bone bruise, but she was unwilling to come out of the game.
“It happened right before I scored 1,000 against Absegami [High School],” Lewis said. “It was on video. You can see when I fell, and you can hear me saying my ankle was hurt. I got up and played through it for like two more possessions. I got 1,000, and I came out right after that.”
Lewis was forced to miss four games over a two-and-a-half-week stretch. But she made up for lost time on Feb. 6 by securing her 1,000th career rebound, becoming just the third player in Cape-Atlantic League history to score both 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. She now joins Mainland’s Kylee Watson and Absegami’s Tara Booker in that feat.
“She certainly is a special player,” OLMA coach Brian Coyle said. “She didn’t really get serious about basketball until sixth grade. But you can see her athleticism is off the charts, and she’s continued to develop her game. She’s even knocking down 3’s this year, and that’s something she worked on hard in the offseason. She’s very dedicated, and there’s been a lot of growth.”
Immediately after the milestone, Lewis started thinking about the next goal. OLMA’s all-time scoring record (1,254 points) was set by Lewis’ former teammate Madelynn Bernhardt in 2024.
Needing only six points on Feb. 11, Lewis took over the top spot: She hit 1,255 points while scoring 23 points overall in a 63-26 win over Lower Cape May in the first round of the Cape-Atlantic League Tournament.
Sometimes, Lewis needs to be reminded that she’s only a junior. At her current pace, she will eventually breeze by 1,500 points, and she even has a shot at 2,000 next year. No matter what role she’s asked to play on the court, the points continue to pile up.
“Her freshman year, she played inside because we had two really good guards,” Coyle said. “Last year, we moved her outside a little bit because we had a good post player. Now, she’s developed her perimeter game, and we moved her inside and outside. She needs to continue to develop her ball handling, but you see she can get a rebound and go end to end.”
Lewis is committed to play Division 1 basketball at the U.S. Naval Academy in 2027. She’s thinking about studying cyber security, but has her mind set on basic training and preparing for the next step of her basketball career.
“It’s really cool because you make memories with the other cadets before you even get into the basketball side of things,” Lewis said. “Then, once you see the whole basketball team together, you see they are like a big family. It’s like they are each other’s sisters. That’s the culture there.”
Lewis shouldn’t have much trouble making friends.
“She’s a super leader in the school,” Coyle said. “She’s very involved and is an ambassador for the school and volunteers at a ton of events. She knows every kid’s name. She has a great personality, and she’s friends with everybody.”
Basic training will be one of the toughest things Lewis takes on, but she’s proven she can’t be stopped.
“Yeah, it’s different, but I think I’m tough enough to do it,” she said.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
