KFDM COOP Posted January 21, 2008 Report Posted January 21, 2008 Lady Titans Smith courageously battles aftermath of injury By Cody Pastorella The Port Arthur News There is a sign hanging over the double doors inside the girl's gym at Memorial High School. The sign says, "It takes a little more to make a champion." Perhaps the Lady Memorial Titans won't be crowned state champions at season's end. Perhaps they won't even make it to Austin, but there is one thing that is for certain. Senior forward, Kandice Smith has done a little more than the average athlete. She has done a little more than the average girl and she has made herself a champion. Just three days before the end of her sophomore basketball season with AAU, Smith landed awkwardly on her knee after going up for a rebound in practice. She went down crying, she said. "It was awful, Smith said. "Oh, I cried. I let it all out." Smith was a promising young talent, poised to help her team in bundles last year as a junior. But instead of adding her offensive talent to an already solid Memorial squad, Smith had to rehab from ACL surgery. "We missed her a lot last year," said head coach Joe Fonteneaux, whose team went 21-12 last season and lost in the bi-district round of the playoffs. "There were several times when we were in games and certain situations would come up, situations where I knew Kandice could have made a difference. "It was hard for the team because we probably could have gone farther into the playoffs, but I know it was even harder for Kandice." First was the physical pain from the injury. Then there was the mental pain of having to watch her team and having to wonder if she could get back to form, if ever play again. "There were a lot of what ifs," Smith said. "I didn't know what to expect and my mom didn't really want me to play anymore. But I knew I was going to come back. I just didn't know if I would be as good, or if I could be better." Smith had surgery on July 17, 2006 and went through seven months of rehab. She was finally cleared to return in January of last year, but sat out for the remainder of her junior season. She sat from the sidelines, watching her team play without her. "That was just as hard as anything else," she said. "Having to lose a year and having to start over. And it was really hard not being able to help my teammates." And it was her teammates and coaches that gave Smith the motivation for coming back. "I grew up playing basketball, or wanting to play basketball," she said. "I always wanted to play with my cousins when I was little. They were all boys and wouldn't let me play. Finally, they let me. From that point on, I just loved the game."
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