Holy Spirit Prep center Nneka Adibe charged into her senior basketball season ready to go to work.

Coach Jada Jordan noticed, and since Adibe went from a little-used backup to a starter, she’s made a world of difference for the Lady Cougars, who, at 14-4 through 18 games, are having the best season of their short history.

“She’s definitely been one of the key pieces to our success this year,” Jordan said. “We are relying heavily on her and Demi [Douglas], our inside people, to get rebounds and putbacks.”

In a 50-22 defeat of Weber Jan. 24, Adibe racked up nine points, eight rebounds and five blocks. In Holy Spirit’s 44-32 win over Mount Vernon Presbyterian Jan 9, the school’s first ever over its local rival, Adibe’s career-high 15 rebounds and two steals led Holy Spirit’s inside defensive effort. She had another five steals in the team’s second victory over Mount Vernon Friday night, 38-28.

For the year, she’s averaging 5.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 steals a game.

“She’s showing her aggressiveness this past year and come out of the shad-ows,” Jordan said. “In preseason, she was at practice every day. She was one of the first ones there, working hard and came in with a different attitude this year.”