Keeping her chin up
Chivers came close to missing Marist’s opener last season. It taught her a valuable lesson on how to deal with COVID-19
Chivers came close to missing Marist’s opener last season. It taught her a valuable lesson on how to deal with COVID-19..
It was such a painful memory. But also funny — in a “did that really happen?” kind of way. Marist junior Kira Chivers and I had a good time talking about her crazy opening night last season.
The story actually goes back to the day before. During practice, Chivers drove for a ball and had a teammate crash onto her.
“I remember we were doing a defensive drill,” Chivers said. “The next thing I knew I was on the ground bleeding. I had to go to urgent care to get stitches.” And that’s not all.
Aside from six stitches she needed to close the gash on her chin, she needed to go to the dentist. The following morning, she had a cracked molar repaired.
Tick … tick … tick. Somehow, someway, Chivers was able to finish at the dentist and show up for part of the school day. That made her eligible to play.
“I wasn’t missing opening night,” Chivers said, laughing.
And she didn’t. The 5-foot-3 guard ran onto the floor with her teammates wearing a big old bandage on her chin.
Chivers looked like a real warrior out there, scoring 10 points as Marist won easily.
I’m really looking forward to seeing her now.
After some serious strength and conditioning training, Chivers has bulked up. She’s a lot stronger.
OK, she’s not any taller. But that never bothered her before. It certainly isn’t going to bother her now. You think that gives you the edge? She says, bring it on.
“Ha-ha, I like it,” Chivers said.
“It’s one of those things where, in terms of competition, the thing about being on the smaller size is everybody is going to underestimate me.
“They see my size and think, ‘OK, she’s not that tall.’ I try to be better at everything to make up for what I lack in height.
‘I like when teams underestimate me. I like to prove people wrong.”
She also likes to keep a positive attitude.
While some social media “experts” were insisting back in January the girls basketball season was done for, Chivers held out hope.
If the Illinois High School Association wasn’t saying it was over, she wasn’t buying doomand-gloom projections.
“Deep down, I felt like there was going to be something that would happen,” Chivers said. “I said like I always say, God has a plan. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. One thing I held on to was this little hope that we were
going to play.”
COVID-19 concerns resulted in Marist’s first couple of games being postponed. The season opener is now scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 16, at home against St. Ignatius.
She’s ready. Then again, she’s always been ready.
Chivers has been a contributor on the varsity since her freshman season. Marist coach Mary Pat Connolly talked glowingly to me about her right from the start.
She always had the faith. And Chivers felt it.
“I remember I was 13 years old and just graduated from eighth grade,” Chivers said. “Two days later, I got a call from coach Connolly and she asked me to come in to practice.
“Looking back now at 16, I have just learned so much, and have grown so much as a person because of my Marist family and coach Connolly.”
As a sophomore, Chivers was the team’s third-best scorer. Her 33 3-pointers were just one behind leader Sydney Affolter.
“She’s just getting better and better,” Connolly said. “Her freshman year was more about acclimation. Now she blows by people all the time. She can shoot the three. She has a pullup jumper. She makes some great passes.
“But the best part of Kira’s game is her defense. She is just relentless. The last two years, she would guard some really awesome point guards and they would be so frustrated because they couldn’t get the ball past half court.” Colleges are noticing. “Oh, she is getting a lot of looks now,” Connolly said. “Gosh, she just worked her head off in the offseason. What she did during COVID was insane.
“For her size, oh my God, she could play anywhere. Just one of those great kids who deserves everything she gets.”