There are many adjectives I could use to describe Meade County Ladywave Peyton Bradley. Humble, kind, dedicated, persistent, and fearless are just a few; but perhaps my favorite quality that I noticed in Ms. Bradley as I had the pleasure of sitting down for an extended interview with her as well as her parents and Head Coach Dina Hackert, was her faith and devotion to Christ.
Immediately upon sitting down for the interview on Monday's Edgewise program on WMMG, Bradley was unashamed to profess her Christian faith and establish where she stands with the Lord. And as we continued the interview, I was able to learn even more about how those Christian values have shaped her not only as a person but as a basketball player as well, and how the trust and hope she has in God and His sovereign plan have guided and helped her throughout her very impressive basketball career thus far.
Bradley, who just signed on to play college ball for the University of Louisville, has been playing at the Varsity level since her 7th grade year and for the last three years, she has been the 3rd Region Player of the Year, averaging nearly 30 points per game this season alone, as well as an average of 5.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. Bradley recently broke the program record for career points for the Meade County Ladywaves, reaching a total of 3,265 career points. This also places her among the top 20 scorers in Kentucky High School basketball history.
The most impressive aspect of this story, however, is the fact that Bradley was able to achieve all of this even after a major setback in her Junior year. During the 2023-2024 basketball season, Bradley missed a total of 14 games due to a torn ACL, an injury that has devastated the basketball careers of many players over the years. But it was Bradley's faith as well as the support she received from her teammates and coaching staff that helped her to bounce back so quickly.
"It's an honor to get that record after the injury especially because I didn't know if it was possible after that," Bradley told WMMG. Bradley said after leaving the hospital and discovering she had torn her ACL last year, she called head coach Dina Hackert to break the news. Bradley said Coach Hackert encouraged her to write down her goals for her Senior year and assured her that they were still possible to achieve, despite the injury.
Bradley's mother Shannon explained how faith played a huge role in Bradley's recovery. Following the injury, Shannon says one of her daughter's goals was to bring glory to God through the challenges she was facing. According to Shannon, Peyton even found some inspiring Bible verses to post in her bathroom as a reminder to remain steadfast throughout the journey.
"Faith has just been a part of our life," Shannon said. "We just love Jesus in our family. Because we love him we talk about him." Shannon also said that they have a wonderful support system at their church and many were praying not only for Peyton's health and recovery but the way that she would handle her challenges.
Clearly, those prayers were answered as Peyton not only finished out her High School basketball career with a bang but will now go on to play college ball at the University of Louisville. On why she decided to become a Cardinal, Peyton said it was in large part because of the coaching staff.
"Coach Walz," Bradley said. "The whole time he's just made an emphasis of sitting with us, talking with us, and getting very personable. He's going to push me to be the best I can be and that's super important to me: player development, be the best, and I'll be pushed every day in practice by him, by the players, and it's not too far from home. That's always a plus."
In addition to continuing her basketball career, Bradley will also be studying Elementary Education at the University of Louisville. She also has ambitions to coach one day. (Perhaps even a future Ladywave Basketball coach? Only time will tell...)
You can watch the full interview with Peyton, her mom and dad, and Ladywave Head Coach Dina Hackert from Monday's Edgewise program below:
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