Lane Young, West Lincoln

Lane Young looks comfortable in his second stint as a head basketball coach at West Lincoln. 

That comfort meant that Young didn’t panic when his team started the 2024-2025 season with an 0-3 record.

Young and the Bears stayed the course, started piling up the wins, and eventually took first in Region 7-2A before finishing with a 23-6 overall record.

For his leadership in righting the ship and winning the region, Young has been named the 2025 Daily Leader All-Area Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year.

The “don’t panic” vibes that Young exudes on the sideline is evident in his team. The 2024-2025 West Lincoln starting lineup consisted of senior point guard Maggy James, junior wing Chloe Sterling, senior wing Emma Quin, sophomore forward Kylie Jarancik, and junior forward Elizabeth Burton.

The Bears played a physical style of basketball with a patience on offense that surely frustrated their opposition. The ball would move back and forth around the half court as Young stood watching his team on the hunt for its perfect shot.

You could see that West Lincoln was always prepared for whatever their opposition was going to throw at them, a hallmark of the coaching style handed down to Young by his father, Copiah-Lincoln Community College Hall of Famer Gwyn Young.

One thing that Lane Young credits for helping his team get better is the intensity of practice this season, as he brought the junior high in for a joint practice schedule with the varsity.

The proof of that idea lies in the pudding of the wins for both teams. The West Lincoln junior high group went undefeated in its season and the varsity won its seventh region title in the last eight years.

After his sabbatical coaching at Co-Lin beside his father, don’t look for Young to ever leave Flea Hop for another high school job between now and retirement, he’s too comfortable being a Bear to be anywhere else.