‘MENTAL TOUGHNESS’

Lake Hamilton senior upped her jump shot in rehab

After partially tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee last summer, Grace Tedder was looking for a silver lining. The Lake Hamilton senior star found it in rehab. The therapist included shooting in her training regimen, so after the injury at team camp in June, Tedder spent most of the rest of the summer in the gym shooting, trying to strengthen her knee and improve on her 77-percent shooting free-throw percentage and the 35-percent clip she shot from behind the arc as a junior. “Part of that rehab was coming into the gym and just shooting,” Lake Hamilton coach Blake Condley said. “She couldn’t do anything live, but she could just move and shoot. She worked really hard to strengthen her knee, and in the process, she has become a better shooter.” Now, the versatile 5-10 Tedder is healthy and primed for a dominant senior year. The two-time allstate selection is the 2017-18 Tri-Lakes Edition Girls Basketball Player to Watch. “[The knee injury] was kind of a mental-toughness check for me, but thanks to the support of my teammates being there for me and lifting me up, I was able to get through it,” she said. “At the beginning, it was very scary because I didn’t know how long it was going to keep me out. I was worried I wasn’t going to be ready for the season. When I found out it was partially torn, I knew I would have to work hard, but I could be back for the beginning of the season.” With no surgery needed, weeks of rigorous therapy were prescribed. The hours in the gym weren’t as bad as Tedder started nailing jump shot after jump shot after being restricted from doing much else, she said. “The therapist told me when you are doing what you love, that will make it easier,” she said. “That was true. I got healthy and ready for the season with all of the shooting. It was a double bonus.” Unfortunately, injuries have been a regular occurrence for Tedder. Before her junior season, she endured a patella tracking issue in her right knee. The doctor determined that playing on the knee wouldn’t injure it more, but it would be painful. She strapped on a knee brace in the fall and played last season with the injury lingering. “There would be times late in games when she might be favoring it,” Condley said. “She’d be OK most of the game, but I could tell at the end it was bothering her. She would get treatment and therapy and keep on playing.” While she played in pain, she was a pain for opposing coaches who couldn’t figure out how to guard her. If she was matched up with taller player, she set up outside and drained jumpers or took the slower player off the dribble. If a smaller, quicker player guarded her, Tedder used her height and posted up in the paint. She averaged 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block per game last winter. “[Condley] really helped me use that to my advantage last year,” Tedder said. “We played the matchups well, and they had me positioned according to who was guarding me.” When Tedder entered the Lake Hamilton varsity program, she was strictly a post-up player. Towering over teammates starting in youth basketball, she found a home in the paint. However, when she showed up for varsity workouts her sophomore year, she found the paint crowded with veteran players. She knew that to log significant minutes, she was going to have to change her game.

Tedder spent an hour after most practices and some Saturdays shooting 3-pointers. After only hitting two 3s her entire ninthgrade season, she hit five in one game as a sophomore. “After I realized I wasn’t starting, it kind of lit a fire under me,” Tedder said. “I knew I was going to have to change my game, or I wasn’t going to play.” Tedder not only contributed, but also by the end of the year was an integral part of the Wolves’ offense. She was so impressive; she earned all-state honors in her varsity debut. “She started off slow and became a starter during the Christmas tournament we played in that year,” Condley said. “She made that decision she didn’t want to sit behind those girls, and she became a really good shooter.” Lake Hamilton’s season ended in the second round of the Class 6A state tournament last year. With eight seniors, including Tedder, returning, Condley has high expectations, he said. Tedder said she aims to help lead her team to the first state title at the school since the 2008-09 season. “I think it would mean the world to everyone,” she said. “We have put a lot of time into it. If we won it, it would be well-earned.” Tedder’s individual success has already earned her college interest from the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville and Central Baptist College in Conway, among others. Tedder said doesn’t care where she plays, as long as she can continue her career. She appreciated basketball even more last summer when she was draining jumpers getting her knee ready for another season, she said. “The whole time, I was thinking, ‘OK, this rehab is awful and strenuous and taking forever, but the harder I work, the quicker I am going to get back to my teammates,’” she said. “That had an impact on how hard I worked and the time I put in. I am glad to be playing healthy this year.”