TACOMA — If anyone knows about injuries and pain threshold, it’s Prairie senior Lanae Adams.
So when she says she will play in the Class 3A girls basketball state championship game today in the Tacoma Dome, it’s probably going to happen. Never mind that she sat out the second half of Prairie’s semifinal victory over Kamiakin, with ice on her right knee.
Adams came to play this year. She’s had enough with her body betraying her.
A senior who has been part of Prairie’s basketball program for years should know the experience of playing in the state tournament by now. But that’s not the case with Adams, who has endured four surgeries overall — three related to basketball — and who missed all of her sophomore and junior seasons.
So when she played in the quarterfinal victory Thursday, it was her first time playing at the Tacoma Dome.
“It’s amazing to finally play. It’s exciting to be with my team and to see what it is to be on the court, with the lights, and to hear the crowd yelling for you.”
The last two years have been difficult, but her love for the game is just more intense because of the wait.
“I appreciate basketball, my teammates, and my coaches more just because I missed so much,” Adams said. “I’m finally out here, and I’m finally able to do what I’ve wanted to do for the last few years.”
It’s more than just Lanae Adams who is thrilled she is playing again. Lanae’s family, which includes three younger sisters, has been with her through the rough moments and now the good times.
“It’s definitely been a test of patience,” Steve Adams said of his daughter. “Just being in this atmosphere at state. She talked about it. She dreamed about it. Now, with the reality of her being here, it’s overwhelming. She definitely wants to seize this opportunity and help her team in any way she can.”
Lanae Adams had seven points and four rebounds in Prairie’s quarterfinal victory. She scored two points in the semifinals before sitting the second half.
“Hopefully I can brace it up and I’ll be good for (today),” she said.
Throughout her career at Prairie, Adams has become a subject-matter expert when it comes to missing season’s worth of games.
A torn ACL in her right knee wiped away her sophomore season. She missed her junior season with a torn ACL in her left knee. She also had surgery on a foot, and then, at the beginning of her senior season, she missed three games after meniscus surgery on her right knee.
“You just have to keep your head up and look at the positives,” Adams said. “Stay focused and make sure you do everything your doctor and physical therapist say. If you do what you’re supposed to do, you’ll come back three times stronger that you were before. Just stay focused.”
Friday night, she was focused on getting ready for the title game, hoping her knee will be OK for one last opportunity.
“My lifetime dream was to play in the championship game in the Tacoma Dome,” Adams said.
