Carly Wakefield (above) stepped up early to help O’Hara out to a hot start. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)
By Josh Verlin
All offseason long, Carly Wakefield watched tape of Carly Coleman.
It wasn’t because the O’Hara sophomore had the same name as the ‘24 Lions graduate, who started for O’Hara’s PIAA state title team a year ago. That’s just a coincidence. Instead, it’s because Wakefield has the ability to do for O’Hara exactly what Coleman did: namely, impact the game in all sorts of ways.
“Ever since she left, I’ve just been watching film of her,” Wakefield said of Coleman. “Because me and (O’Hara coach Chrissie Doogan) had a conversation at the end of the season, and she was like, ‘I want you to be the next Carly Coleman. But make it your name.’”
Wakefield has work to do to match the level of Coleman, who earned Atlantic East Rookie of the Year honors after a standout first season at Immaculata. But the 5-foot-10 O’Hara sophomore is making progress, which showed during an impressive first-half stretch of O’Hara’s 46-32 win over Dallastown in the second round of the 2025 PIAA Class 6A Tournament on Tuesday evening at Coatesville.