On Tuesday February 18, roughly seven months since the time of her injury, senior Cami Stevenson returned to the court. It was the final home game of the regular season for Hamlin, in a game where the Chargers saw themselves hosting Britton-Hecla on 'senior night.'
As a junior, Stevenson was a third team all-state basketball player, and her team, the Hamlin Chargers, narrowly missed out on a trip to the state tournament, falling in the SoDak 16. At that point, there was only one thing left to do for Cami – come back better than ever for her senior season to get to the state tournament. Life, unfortunately, had other plans… On July 10th, the summer before her senior year of high school, Cami Stevenson tore the ACL in her left knee.
“It was such a blindside-type thing,” stated Stevenson. “Just the way that things go, typically about two weeks before you could have surgery and then I'm thinking minimum six months, but also in my experience, it can take a lot more than that, that's the bare minimum and not always the safest. I really, right away, thought I was done playing basketball.”
This wasn’t the first time that Stevenson had torn her ACL. She tore the ACL in her right knee during the summer before her 8th grade season, and then tore it again that December when she started practicing with the team again. Stevenson missed a majority of her freshman season, because she was being cautious with her rehab. She returned in mid-February and started to see some minutes with the varsity team.
“The day before we left for the state tournament, we were in practice and I hurt my other knee,” explained Stevenson. “It was just a sprain. It wasn't anything that needed surgery or anything, but I knew that I shouldn't play on it.”
As both an 8th grader and a freshman, Stevenson saw Hamlin make the state basketball tournament – both of which she wasn’t able to play in because she was hurt.
Fast forward to her sophomore and junior season and Stevenson was finally healthy and growing into one of the better players in the state.
“Sophomore year, we had a really good team again, and that didn’t end the way we wanted it to, we didn't make it to the state tournament,” said Stevenson. “And then my junior year we got upset in SoDak 16 by Mount Vernon/Plankinton.”
As a junior, Cami Stevenson was third team all-state for basketball and she placed 9th in the 400m dash at the state track and field meet. Even though her career started with several hiccups, it was finally starting to take shape. The only thing Cami was personally missing was the opportunity to play in a state basketball tournament – something she had her sights set on once again during the summer months before her senior year.
From there, she tore her ACL again, this time in her left knee, and the recovery process had to start all over again.
“The plan was to start playing after Christmas break, which would have been about five months, a little more than five months out of surgery, but it's such a crazy recovery,” Stevenson said. “One day, you can say, "Holy cow! I have a new knee!" and then the next day you're like, "I can't even walk." You can't get too excited or too down on yourself. Things, for whatever reason, they didn't progress as quickly as what we were hoping, and so Christmas break came and I just wasn't ready to play.”
Stevenson remembered her 8th grade season when she came back around Christmas break. She re-injured herself, something she was trying her best to avoid this time around.
“The rest of that season was spent just trying to get as comfortable as I could to get back on the basketball court. But even as I got closer, I was really nervous about it, because I didn't want to mess things up again. The last thing I wanted to do was go through that whole thing again. It took a lot of practice and getting used to things again, for me to really feel comfortable about getting back on the court,” explained Stevenson. “It got to the point, it was senior night and I was just like, "I need to play. I'm ready.””
Stevenson was able to return with two regular season games remaining for her senior campaign. The first was senior night for Hamlin against Britton-Hecla, and then a road game in Sisseton. Hamlin would win both of those games.
The Chargers received a bye in the regional quarterfinal round to advance to the region semifinals. There, they beat Clark/Willow Lake to punch their ticket to the SoDak 16. This was familiar territory for Stevenson, just one win away from the state tournament. After years of hard work and waiting, Stevenson was healthy, and Hamlin was bound for the state tourney at the same time. Hamlin defeated Mt. Vernon/Plankinton 46-36 in the SoDak 16, and Stevenson was finally going to get the experience of a state tournament – or so everyone thought.
To get beat fair and square by another team, that’s life, but to have an invisible opponent rip away a dream so suddenly, that’s something nobody prepares for. COVID-19 forced the postponement and eventual cancelation of all six state high school basketball tournaments in South Dakota. This ended the high school athletic career for Cami Stevenson, along with every other senior student-athlete who still had events scheduled for the school year.
Despite the end of season disappointment, Stevenson remains humble. She recognizes that overall Hamlin had a solid team in girls’ hoops this year, despite if she was on the court or not.
“It's important for people to know that my team played this whole season. It wasn't just that I came on at the end that got us to state tournament. It was their work all season that really got us there. They are my best friends and I will always be their number one fan,” said Stevenson.
Hamlin will receive a plaque from the South Dakota High School Activities Association to put in their school trophy case that reads ‘State Quarterfinalist’ on it. Even though Stevenson never got the chance to play in a state tournament game, her legacy will live on. She currently has the 4th fastest 400m dash time in Hamlin school history, and next year she’ll be attending Evangel University in Missouri where she’ll run track and major in nursing.
“I don't know if I would let myself get really negative about it and feel bad for myself every single day, I didn't know if I would have been able to play again at all after my third ACL injury,” explained Stevenson. “I think that's a testament to how God provides for you.”
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