Submitted by Nick Kellar, Lincoln High School
Despite being a small town, Shinnston is home to many extremely talented people. Those who excel in this community are more than just talented. They are legends. They are the people that parents tell their kids about and grandparents tell their grandkids about. There are a number of people who fit this category, and one of these people is none other than local legend, Christie Lambert.
Lambert is arguably the most decorated athlete to go through Lincoln High School. Firstly, she is the all-time leading scorer in Lincoln basketball with 1,802 points. She made First Team All-State her sophomore, junior, and senior years. Throughout those three years, she also led her team to three straight Big Ten championships. Notably, she never lost a game to a Harrison County opponent. During Lambert’s senior year, she won Harrison County Player of the Year.
She was notorious for her shooting, hitting over 175 three-pointers in her career. Standing at 5 feet 10 inches tall, Lambert also grabbed over 500 rebounds. She led her team to the state tournament on two separate occasions, the first being her sophomore year. That year, she led the team to the state semi-finals, where the Lady Cougars lost by three points. The second time Lambert went to the state tournament was her senior year, losing in the semi-finals once again, this time on a buzzer-beater.
After high school, Lambert took her basketball career to West Virginia University. She saw much playing time her freshman year, where she put up a career-high 474 points in 28 games. She won various honors that year, including Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Week (two times) and the All-Freshmen Atlantic 10 team. Additionally, she made two All-Tournament teams in 1995: the Georgia Southern/Hampton Inn Classic All-Tournament Team, and the Lady Raider Classic All-Tournament Team.
“Not only was she a great high school player, but she had a fantastic career at WVU,” said her former high school coach, Dennis Hutson. “That’s something you don’t get to see from a lot of players from this area.”
During her exceptional career at WVU, she went on to accumulate 1,282 points in her collegiate career. Not only did she put up over 1000 points, but she broke records that are still held to this day, cementing her name in WVU history. In a historic 1998 game against Providence, Lambert broke two records. One record she broke was the most 3-pointers made in a game, with 9. The second record she broke was the most points scored in a game, with 38 points. Both of these records are still standing at West Virginia University.
Hutson gave Lambert a lot of praise. “She was an overall joy to coach,” he said. “She was unique because she was almost six feet tall as a guard, so she could rebound and shoot. It made her a dangerous player.”
“[Lambert] was the best stationary 3-point shooter I ever coached, boys and girls,” said Hutson.
Lambert’s jersey is retired at Lincoln High School, being the only girls’ basketball player at Lincoln with a retired jersey and one of just four players in all of Lincoln athletics. Few people have had such an incredible career as Christie Lambert.
