By DARIN ALLRED Register Editor
Register staff writer Stephen Monahan had an outstanding and uplifting story on the Forestburg High School girls basketball team Sunday. If you didn’t see it, I hope you pick up a copy of Sunday's Register and read it.
The Lady Horns are proving what is really important in life, and it’s not wins and losses.
Forestburg’s best player, Anita Esparaza, was killed in a car accident right before the season started. Another player, Abby Loyd and team manager Naomi Hudspeth were injured and taken by CareFlite to a Metroplex hospital.
The team was left with only four players and it looked as if they were going to have to forfeit their season, but three girls who were not even in athletics stepped in and joined the team.
The Lady Horns haven’t won a game this season. Even if they go the whole season without a victory, the team will still be winners.
I got a chance to see them at the North Central Texas College Holiday Classic this past week. No they weren’t the most talented team there, but no other team at the Classic left me with a better feeling.
Despite being overmatched, they never gave up. They were down 42-0 at halftime of their first game with Lindsay. It would have been easy for them to hang their heads and come out in the second half and just lay down and quit, but that’s not what this team is all about. Forestburg’s Monica Huddleston hit three 3-pointers and Bailey Cody swished two of her own as the Lady Horns scored 16 points in the third quarter.
It wasn’t enough to get them close to a win, but it showed that they never give up.
Then on Tuesday, Loyd (who suffered a broken ankle, broken femur and broken wrist in the car crash) played in her first game of the season. She had a noticeable limp and couldn’t run down the court very fast, as one would expect from someone who less than three months earlier was laid up in a hospital, but she got out on the court and tried for her team.
Loyd didn’t score any points in the tournament and admitted her leg still hurt when she runs, but she told Monahan after the game “I would have liked to have played longer.” How about that for courage?
First-year coach Sarah Williams had a great quote in Sunday’s story.
“I have eight young ladies here that stepped up to play through some adversity,” she said. “We haven’t won any games, but every game we get better. They come to practice every day and they work so hard. I couldn’t be prouder of a group of girls.”
I know some other fans who saw them play at NCTC this past week are proud of them too.
Darin Allred is the managing editor of the Gainesville Daily Register. He can be reached by email at dallredgdr@ntin.net.
