The junior guard has found that at St. Mary’s of Lancaster.

Herington and the Lancers made a pit stop of sorts Tuesday afternoon, taking on Jamestown in a nonleague game inside McElrath Gymnasium.

“When it was brought to me, to do it for Skylar was awesome because she’s a Cassadaga kid who went to Randolph,” Jamestown head coach Ken Ricker said. “To be able to do that for her and her family, I thought, would be a great thing.”

It was a homecoming of sorts for Herington, who starred for the Cardinals playing her home games just 16 miles away from Jamestown High School the past four seasons, scoring 1,547 points.

Herington is greeted by her teammates on the bench during Tuesday’s game against Jamestown. P-J photo by Matt Spielman

“It was definitely a tough process. It took a while for me to actually decide to go to St. Mary’s,” Herington said after scoring 17 points in the Lancers’ 86-48 win over the Red & Green. “But after a lot of convincing from Coach Kelli (McCauley) and meeting the whole team, I knew I was going to go there, not even just for basketball but for a better education also.”

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Herington was named the 2025 Post-Journal Girls Basketball Player of the Year and was at the top of her class academically at Randolph, but still wanted greater challenges for her final two years of high school.

That led Herington and her family to reach out to St. Mary’s basketball coach Kelli McCauley after Randolph played the Lancers in a pair of nonleague games last season.

“We really didn’t think it was ever going to be feasible, but she went out and visited. Skylar is very academic and that was actually what she came back and said was, ‘I want to go to school there. I want to take AP classes,'” said Kay McElwain, Skylar’s mom. “We prayed about a lot of stuff and things had to fall into place, and they ended up doing so.”

“We’ve always just kind of thrown her into situations where you just have to be able to handle it,” added Steve McElwain, Skylar’s father.

A decision was made last offseason, after Herington competed in summer leagues with her Cardinals teammates, that she would begin attending St. Mary’s this fall and play for the Lancers this winter.

“We played her in summer league in June when she was still at Randolph and she scored like 40 straight points against us,” Ricker said. “I had a little flashback when they called, ‘Do I really want to do that again?'”

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Herington is often home in Randolph on weekends and stays with teammates during the week.

“During the season, she either stays with Mila Bissett, Annie Lindstrom or Celsy Colombo,” Kay McElwain said. “They all kind of have a room for her, they’ve welcomed her and they all take really good care of her.”

Academically, Herington is keeping a 4.3 GPA, and on the basketball court she has fit right in with her new teammates, even being named a captain alongside Colombo, a junior, and Bissett, a sophomore.

“Skylar wears many hats and she wears them well for us. She never complains, she just goes and does it,” McCauley said Tuesday. ” … She’s a tremendous leader for us, she’s one of our captains, and I’m just extremely blessed to have her as a part of the program for the next two years.”

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Her teammates are proof that playing for the Lancers — currently the New York State Sportswriters Association’s 10th-ranked Class AAA team in the state and No. 1 Large School in Western New York — gives student-athletes the exposure they’re looking for to continue playing into college.

“She saw the way I coached and she liked what I was trying to do. She understood that I liked competitive schedules. She wanted to be able to go out and play against some of the best and we’ve done that,” McCauley said. “We’ve played against some of the best teams in the country. … She’s received major interest from a ton of Division I schools, including some in the Ivy League.”

Bissett, who scored 40 points including eight 3-pointers Tuesday, went over 2,000 career points earlier this season, and has already received NCAA Division I offers from St. John’s, Syracuse and Arizona, among others.

“The work that Mila Bissett and Skylar have put in, I have so much respect for,” Ricker said. “Mila was causing us problems three years ago … we couldn’t do anything because she was that good defensively.”

Colombo, who sat out Tuesday’s game but is expected back for the upcoming playoffs, is a 6-foot-4 junior forward ranked No. 37 in her class by 247 Sports with offers from Michigan, Michigan State and Mississippi State, among others.

“We are so competitive with each other. We make each other better every single day,” Herington said of her teammates. “They are so reliable. Having them with me on the court is a dream come true.”

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Herington has fit right into the lineup in her first season. Entering the home stretch of the season, she was averaging 14.5 points, 3.2 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game for the Lancers.

“We really wanted her to be in a position where she had to figure out her role on the team,” Kay McElwain said. “She sometimes has games where she doesn’t have to score.”

Herington is looking for a strong finish to her season. The Lancers head to Albany today before taking on nonleague Colonie — the state’s seventh-ranked Class AAA team — to close their regular season Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

“Playing nationally ranked teams; getting to go to Florida, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., three trips to New York City,” Steve McElwain added, ” … it’s been a great experience on the court and off the court.”

Herington, who had an offer from St. Bonaventure as early as eighth grade, has since added Division I offers from Siena, Canisius, the University at Buffalo and New Hampshire. She is also garnering interest from Ivy League schools.

“She takes six honors classes. We spent most of December on the road. … We were in Washington, D.C., we were in Tampa, we were in Elmira. In January we were in the Bronx,” McCauley said. “She’s been able to manage keeping up with her classload and still having much success on the court.”

Much like her decision to transfer to St. Mary’s last summer, Herington is sure her future and college decisions will take care of themselves when the time is right.

“It’s different being held to a standard here. … Our competition has been great. It’s gotten me a lot better, a better teammate and a better overall player, which is going to help me in college,” Herington said. “That’s why I came to St. Mary’s, to get ready for the college level of competition.”

NOTES: Aiyanna Stam scored 18 points Tuesday to lead Jamestown, which trailed just 14-10 after the first quarter before Bissett scored 13 points during a 24-10 second quarter for the Lancers. Bissett then hit six of her eight 3-pointers during a 48-28 second half. … Red & Green freshman Tamia Leeper scored her first varsity point on a free throw late in the game. … Jamestown (10-8) will host nonleague Maple Grove today.

ST. MARY’S (86)

Bissett 16 0 40, Lindstrom 1 1 4, Marcezin 0 0 0, Ground 3 1 9, Herington 7 2 17, McKendry 0 0 0, Gallivan 1 0 2, Young 0 0 0, Scott-Bush 4 1 9, Wanat 0 0 0, Calkins 1 0 3. Totals 34 5 86.

JAMESTOWN (48)

Brandow 1 0 3, Reid 1 4 6, Pryce 1 2 4, Stam 8 2 18, Tonkin 0 0 0, Daniels 0 0 0, Thomas 0 0 0, Gibbs 3 4 10, Olmstead 0 2 2, Engquist 0 4 4, Battle 0 0 0, Atkinson 0 0 0, Leeper 0 1 1. Totals 14 19 48.

3-point goals–Bissett 8, Lindstrom, Ground 2, Herington, Calkins, Brandow.

St. Mary’s 14 24 25 23 — 86

Jamestown 10 10 16 12 — 48