If you read the headline and thought “didn’t I just see this a few weeks ago?” don’t worry you are not having one of those de-ja-vu moments. You did see one similar but not the same.
A few weeks back it was reported that Alana Gray went over 1000 points in career scoring for Saline High School. Alana? Alaya? Yes, it is confusing. Almost as confusing as trying to tell the girls apart when they were young. You see Alana and Alaya are twin sisters.
It is a rare achievement indeed when a basketball player scores over 1000 points in their high school career. The odds to achieve such a remarkable accomplishment are long indeed. Imagine how long the odds are that two players in the same class do so. Even better, how long are the odds that two players in the same class and in the same family achieve such a lofty standard? Unfathomable!
Yet when Alaya made a three point basket in the fourth quarter of Saline’s contest against Jonesboro-Hodge this past Thursday, she joined her sister in the hallowed class of 1000 point scorers.
Can such an accomplishment get any more rare? Only if the twin sisters weren’t the first females in the Gray family to accomplish the feat. The first to do so was their mother Susan Gray, who scored over 1800 points for her career at Saline High.
Yes, basketball is a game the whole family can play. And play well!
If this was all there was to the story, that in itself would be something that very few in the nation, if any, has achieved under the same circumstances, but there is even more that makes this even more incredible.
While the points scored gives credence to Alaya’s talent, the fact that she is even playing says so much more about her. Before the Christmas break, Saline was playing Ouachita Christian. Alaya had received a pass around mid-court and drove the lane, when suddenly all over the gym you could hear a loud POP! This was immediately followed by a horrific scream of pain as Alaya thrashed on the floor clutching her knee.
Unable to put any pressure on her leg, she was helped off the court and onto the Saline bench where she sat in tremendous pain while medical personnel who were on site examined her knee. The prognosis? Most likely a torn ligament in her knee.
Later the diagnosis was confirmed. Alaya had torn the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). This is one of the key ligaments that help stabilize the knee joint and connects the thighbone (femur) to the shinbone (tibia).
In almost every instance it is an immediate season ending injury as surgery is realistically the only option of repairing the damage. Even just to walk brings an incredible amount of pain and is almost impossible without support from crutches.
“We thought we had lost her for the year for sure,” recalls Saline head girls basketball coach Chris Toms. “I mean, come on, she had a torn ACL.”
“Then a few weeks later she shows up at practice,” continued Toms. “I thought she was just trying to be there for her teammates but next thing I know she is out on the court with a ball in her hand.”
No, there was no miracle healing that took place. Somehow, Alaya had the mindset to push past the pain.
“I can’t even imagine how must it must hurt her to be playing,” added Toms. “It hurts me just to think of what she is going through, but she refuses to quit.”
A prime example of her fortitude and determination was shown in the JHHS vs Saline contest. Midway through the third quarter, Gray went after a loose ball, collided with a J-H player and fell to the floor grimacing in pain. Slapping her hand on the court, she immediately signaled to her coach she was coming out, slowly rising and limping to the sideline. Surely that was all that she would play on this night, right? Wrong!
Saline had called timeout early in the fourth quarter and when they came back on the court there was Alaya on the floor. A few possessions later she took a pass from behind the three point line and SWISH! Obviously feeling every step taken on the “bum” leg, judging by facial expressions, Alaya continued to play finishing out the game.
Sounds like a movie script doesn’t it? An incredible story about a special young lady. Yet this is real. As real is the incredible tolerance to the pain, character, determination and courage shown by Alaya simply because she wants to help her team to win.
She may the the third in the family to reach 1000 points in her high school career and a twin sibling, but when it comes to the legacy that Alaya Gray leaves, she stands alone.