Of happy endings, thrilling experiences and exciting futures…
Let’s start with the happy ending of Kaitlyn Ray’s basketball career.
The New Lenox native played in her final game for the University of St. Francis on Feb. 27, scoring nine points in the Saints’ 71-47 loss to St. Xavier in the CCAC Tournament semifinals.
Ray finished her senior season averaging 9.8 points over 31 games. She ended the year No. 3 in conference in 3-point shooting percentage (45.3) and was one of three St. Francis players to earn a spot on the All-CCAC team.
Over the past eight years I’ve done a series of columns and stories about Ray, documenting the trials and tribulations of one of the most determined, courageous players I’ve ever known.
Kait has had three surgeries on her left knee and one on her right. Two on her left were for an ACL injury, and the other one a meniscus tear. The one on the right also was an ACL.
She has spent from 24 to 30 months of her life rehabbing. Through it all she never slowed down, never complained, never quit.
“I never had that thought,” Ray said. “After the fourth one I had to sit down with my parents and talk with the trainers and the doctor to make sure it was OK for me to continue.
“I didn’t want to risk having something go wrong with my knees later in life, but once I got the OK from all of them, all I could think was how cool it would be to make my Senior Night and finish my career healthy.”
And finish she did. After Ray’s final game, the first person to greet her was her father, Steve.
“I remember after my second surgery we were watching this Rocky movie,” Ray said. “It’s the one where he’s talking to his son about how life is going to hit you hard, but it’s not now hard you get hit, it’s how hard you can get hit and keep fighting, keep moving forward.
“My dad paused it after that scene and said, ‘Kait, this is me talking to you,’ and got all emotional. After my last game he ran down the bleachers and gave me a huge hug and said, ‘You made it kid, you made it.’ He and my mom (Kim) have always been there for me.”
Next up is using her criminal justice degree, interning this fall with the New Lenox Police Department. She’ll graduate from St. Francis is December.
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“It will definitely be different,” Ray said. “I’ve had this identity of being an athlete since I was 6 or 7 years old. Hopefully one day I’ll coach.
“I’ve had some good memories and some bad ones, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything. It definitely shaped me into a better person.”
The thrilling experience happened this past weekend for former Oak Lawn star Julie Tracy, who was on the bench as an assistant coach as IC Prep finished fourth at the Class 2A state finals.
“Oh, it was awesome,” Tracy said. “When I was in high school I always dreamed of making it down there. Haubs (then-Oak Lawn coach Janet Haubenreiser) and I would always go and watch the games after our season ended. It was definitely cool.”
Tracy, a 2007 Oak Lawn graduate, made her head coaching debut at Bremen last season. She left Bremen when a full-time teaching position opened up at IC.
“I don’t plan on going anywhere soon,” Tracy said. “I work under a very experienced and passionate coach (Aubree Schuett) and I’m learning a lot from her and the other staff. I’m content where I am and what I’m doing right now.”
The exciting future belongs to Lincoln-Way East junior Claire McMahon, who committed last Friday to DePaul.
McMahon averaged 12.6 points and 5.5 rebounds for East, which made great strides in the second half of the season and returns a ton of talent for 2015-16.
“It’s as exciting as it gets,” McMahon said. “I’ve been dreaming of going Division I since I was little, and that DePaul ended up being the school for me is pretty awesome. It’s crazy that (the commitment) happened so soon, but once I knew I didn’t want to wait.
“It’s weird to think that I have an entire year of high school still left. It’s going to be pretty much the same kids coming back, so I feel we’re going to have a really strong season in my senior year.”
Twitter@tbaranek