Kaleigh Charette
Graduating class: 2008
Inducted into Hall of Fame: 2018
Hall of Fame Category: Athlete
Kaleigh was bitten by the basketball bug at the age of five when she learned how to dribble and shoot at the YMCA. After developing her talents as a member of the St. Joseph’s (Fairhaven) team in the CYO League, the 5’7” standout was already battle-tested by the time she entered Fairhaven High School.
After devoting her freshman and sophomore seasons to polishing her basketball skills, Kaleigh was ready to shine in her final two seasons, and teaming with Erin Baldwin and Maggie Rossi, the “Big 3” led the Blue Devils to back-to-back South Coast Conference championships, as well as the South Sectional Division III Finals in her junior year (2006-2007).
Despite her size, Kaleigh was asked to play inside, and she responded by leading the ‘06-‘07 team in rebounding, averaging 9.8 per game. While Baldwin and Rossi each averaged double figure points per game to lead the team’s scoring, Kaleigh averaged a shade under 10 points with most of those points coming as a result of offensive rebounds and foul shots. No player was more aggressive or effective as she was on the offensive boards.
Kaleigh also ran the floor as well as any player on the team, and defensively she played a key role in the Lady Devils’ effective full court pressure, averaging just under three steals per game. Following the season she was selected for the elite Standard-Times Super Team.
That basketball season followed a triumphant volleyball season for Kaleigh who earned the first of back-to-back Super Team honors as he leader of a very strong Blue Devils team. In her senior year Kaleigh was a consistent force in Fairhaven’s powerful front line, finishing with 199 kills for a team that went undefeated in the South Coast Conference and reached the MIAA Division 2 South Sectional Finals. Over her three year Varsity Volleyball career Kaleigh finished with an unofficial school record 563 kills.
Kaleigh demonstrated her athletic versatility by participating in two other sports while at FHS. During her freshman year she finished first in the 400 meter race and was fourth in the long jump at the 2005 South Coast Conference Freshman/Sophomore Track & Field Meet at GNB Voc-Tech, and in the spring she was a key performer on the Girls’ Lacrosse team.
But basketball was where Kaleigh continued to shine on the collegiate level. Playing her natural guard position for the Worcester State College team, Kaleigh was able to focus more on her scoring and passing and in January 2012 she became the 17th Lancer to score 1,000 career points. Kaleigh led her Worcester State teams in scoring in each of her last three seasons and she is on that school’s all-time top 10 scoring list.