The Saint Leo women's basketball team lost Elaine Evans last week, and the Lions honored her in their first time back on the court.
By GREG AUMAN
Published February 8, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - With 3.7 seconds left and her team trailing by two, Saint Leo coach Kerri Reaves thought of Elaine Evans.
She had thought all week about her freshman forward, who died Monday morning at age 19 from a pulmonary embolism. Her team, winless in 19 games this season, was playing for the first time since the tragedy, and now the Lions were one shot from beating Eckerd College.
Reaves didn't think of Evans because she could have made the perfect inbounds pass, or hit the winning shot. She just knew none of her players would have enjoyed the victory more.
"I just thought how great would it be to win it for her," Reaves said. "I immediately thought of her, how much she hated to lose, and how amazing it would be if we could pull one out, in the midst of everything."
The Lions never got off that last shot, with the buzzer sounding with the ball still in Jonelle Nieb's hands, the 62-60 loss a bitter ending to what has been a cruel week.
On Monday, they lost Evans, who graduated last spring as the all-time girls leading scorer at Gaither High in Tampa. Honored as the top girls basketball player in Hillsborough County last year, Evans shined as a freshman, starting 13 of 19 games. There were tributes to her Saturday all over her teammates.
Each player wore a round white patch reading "E.E. #11" on their black and green jerseys. White armbands read "E11," and many players wrote her initials and jersey number on their shoes.
Sadly, she wasn't the only friend they were missing. Gene Lewis, a booster and supporter of women's athletics at Saint Leo, had comforted players at Reaves' home Monday night and was among about 400 who gathered at the campus sanctuary for a memorial service Tuesday. As he slept that night, he suffered a heart attack and died at age 52. An hour before the Lions played Saturday, one of their biggest fans was laid to rest.
The team's first steps back began Wednesday night, just a light shootaround, perhaps a half-hour, their first practice in five days. Two regular practices followed, but Saturday was a major step, taking the floor for the first time with a crowd of 212 speckled throughout the red bleachers of the McArthur Center. They played not so much as a team as simply eight friends finding a little solace together.
"I think they showed a tremendous amount of courage," said Reaves, 30, in her second season as coach. "Their character is amazing, that they could go through such a thing as they did this week and come out and play like absolute champions for 40 minutes of basketball."
Returning to basketball meant returning to regular life, or as close as they could manage. A moment of silence before the game was followed by the national anthem, which was followed loudly by Van Halen's Jump.
Whistles blew, fouls were called, others not called, and the Lions made a small step toward things they could understand, even if losing was one of them.
"That's when it hit us the most," guard Shannon Cummings said. "It was so unreal. To have the team together, that was the only comfort, having each other. Things will never be back to normal, but you have to try to get there."
The team will gather today for Evans' funeral, at 3:30 at In the Name of Jesus World Outreach Center at 10925 Tarpon Springs Road in Odessa. Teammates had hoped to bring the joy of a victory Evans always told them they were capable of achieving.
"No matter how much we were down, no matter what our record was, she was always up, saying "We're going to do this, we're going to win,"' said senior September Harrison, who led the Lions with 17 points and 13 rebounds Saturday. "It really hurt losing this particular game, because of the week we had. We dedicated this to her and her memory, and everybody had that extra fight in them. It really would have meant a lot if we could have gone to that funeral with a win for her."
The sudden loss of a friend and teammate could make a game like basketball seem trivial, could make it more clear that wins and losses are simply that.
Instead, Harrison said, thinking of Evans has made them savor the sport they share, to make the most of each game, win or lose.
"It's so hard to be without her," Harrison said. "It's never going to be the same. Just the fact that we can play, we have to thank God that we have the opportunity to still be here together."
