For Devon Bush, this year was about confidence and trust.

“I always had a problem with confidence,” recalled Bush. “I always had an issue of thinking I would miss the goal when I was driving toward it. Over the past few years, my confidence level and overall trust in what I need to do grew.

“I knew I had to step up my game this year without my sister (Alexandra) and Brielle (McInaw), who were our team leaders last year.”

The Pleasant Valley sophomore surely succeeded.

Bush tallied 112 goals and 29 assists, along with 120 draw controls to help her team to a 21-1 season that ended in an 12-10 loss to Easton in the District 11 Class 3A final.

That combination of individual and team success helped Bush earn the Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Lacrosse Player of the Year award.

It marks the third straight season a Bush sister has won the award, with Alexandra capturing it in both 2021 and 2022.

Pleasant Valley head coach Toni Bush - who is also the mother of Devon and Alexandra - said she definitely saw Devon’s confidence level rise this past season.

“At the start of the season, she began to take charge,” said Toni Bush. “She really came into her own this season. Alexandra was always the quarterback, and Devon used to be the little sister in the shadows.

“But she really worked on her game, and this year she became the quarterback of the team.”

As the season unraveled and the wins started to pile up for the Bears, Devon’s game grew.

After scoring 53 goals last season in a supporting role for the Pleasant Valley offense, her goal was to surpass that number this season. It took her less than half a season to accomplish that.

“It did catch me by surprise,” she said. “My goal was to pass last year’s total, and I believe I had that by the middle of the season. When I hit my 100th, I had no idea I was that close to it. I was gaining more and more confidence in my scoring ability as the season went on.

“I was learning to trust myself. In a tight game, It’s about being confident. It’s also about being able to rely on your intuition, and trust yourself and your teammates to make plays.”

Like her older sister, Devon started playing the game at the age of four. However, there was a different twist to the beginning of her career.

“She picked up her stick with her left hand,” recalled her mom. “It was different being a left-handed player, and she used it to her advantage. By seventh grade, I knew she was going to be a very, very good player.

“Devon is a perfectionist, and she’ll work on things until she believes it’s right. She took on a different role this year. She became a leader with her sister gone, and she did a great job handling that role.”

Devon said she has a different style than her sister.

“Alexandra would take over on the field and could dominate the game,” said the younger sister. “I never was the type of player who did that. Part of that might have been the fact that growing up, I was always playing at a level above my current age. So, I was more a player who would let the game come to me, instead of just grabbing control of it like Alexandra.

“But I think always playing with older players really benefited me. I might never have had to be the star like me sister was, but I know I got better from it.”

Playing with her sister and other older players also helped prepare Devon for the day when she was thrust into that role.

That happened this season.

“I knew I had to be more of a leader this year, and I remember watching what Alexandra had done,” said Devon. “She was not only a great player, but a great team leader, and I tried to follow in those footsteps.”

While Devon admitted to having a confidence problem and not always trusting her own abilities when she was younger, her older sister said she always knew Devon would be a special player.

“I could tell at a young age that Devon was going to be very good,” Alexandra said. “You could see that she was able to do things in third-and fourth-grade that other players couldn’t.

“Devon is faster than me, and has a quirky style that allows her to rely less on technique. She has power behind her shot, and I’m more finesse. Devon sees what she wants and she goes and gets it.”

Until this year, Devon hadn’t thought about adding another Player of the Year award to the pair that her sister had won previously.

The fact that there is now a third one in the Bush home is a reminder of her work ethic and dedication.

“I never expected it,” Devon said. “This is a big highlight for me. This past season was much more than I could have ever anticipated.

“My parents and coaches pushed me to do my best, and it turned out to be a pretty special season.”

It all came down to more confidence and trust.