Rangers senior undeterred by injury

Some of the deepest scars an athlete bears are ones that can’t be seen.

For North Ridgeville senior Lauren Milner, her scar can’t be seen by anyone who watches her, but she is reminded of her scar every time she takes a shot or goes up for a rebound.

Milner’s game gets most of its attention on the soccer field, as over the summer she accepted a Division I soccer scholarship to play at Bowling Green during the spring.

Always an athlete, Milner has been playing basketball in the Rangers’ program for years and has put in just as much time on the court.

Juggling the upcoming soccer season with her love for basketball, Milner was with her team at a Ball State basketball camp when she reached out for the ball and something went terribly wrong.

“We actually saw it happen and that was probably one of the worst injuries I’ve ever seen and as soon as she did it, I thought, ‘Oh my God. She could be done,’ “North Ridgeville coach Amy Esser said.

Already putting her body on the line for two sports she loved, Milner had torn something in her shoulder, but the extent of the damage was not known yet. Committing to the Falcons for her soccer career, she knew she had to make a tough decision to play through the pain or focus on what was to come ahead in her collegiate career.

“It was a really hard decision because before the soccer season started, I didn’t know if I would be able to play either because I didn’t find out my MRI results until

Aug. 1 and luckily I only partially tore my labrum,” Milner said. “I thought at that point I would still need surgery, but luckily I just had to do (physical therapy) and rehab and get back, so I worked my way into soccer season and tried to get back as quick as I could to be there for my team.”

Getting the green light from her doctors, Milner took a little bit of time to get back, but eventually returned to the court where she belonged as a player the Rangers can turn to in tough moments.

“Playing basketball my whole life, I knew I couldn’t give it up,” Milner said. “As hard as it would be with putting stress on my shoulder, I knew I didn’t want to let my team down and just wanted to finish out my high school career.”

Watching the determination in the practice gym and getting ready for game day, Esser said once she made

the decision to come back, there was no holding her back.

“From Day 1, she had the attitude of I’m not quitting, I’ll be back,” Esser said. “We understood it was a possibility, but it never even crossed her mind that basketball wasn’t going to be in her senior year. No matter what she had to go through to get back over the next five months or so, she was going to do it.

“She was going to do what she could to be there for her teammates and finish her career here at North Ridgeville playing basketball, so I give her a ton of credit for doing that and coming back.”

Being there for her team as the season got underway, Esser noticed Milner’s impact on the team from the moment she stepped out on the court. Being a player that leads by her actions and attitude on the court, Esser said her leadership

paved the way for a young North Ridgeville squad.

“It just shows the heart that she has. She’s always been one of those kids where she doesn’t talk back, she’s coachable, she’s a leader just through her actions,” Esser said. “She’s not a very big talker. She’s just a very quiet kid who’s very humble and does what you ask her to do and she’s always been a great leader and the girls know it and they look up to her and they see how hard she works. It’s not just through basketball season – she’s going to basketball practice, going to games and then she’s got soccer stuff as well.

“The kid puts in so much time at other things other than basketball, but still finds time to give it everything she has every time she steps on the court, whether it’s for practice or a game.”

Focusing on the team’s postseason preparation, Esser said players such as

Milner who have made the Rangers’ program into one teams cannot take lightly, no matter the stage.

“The last four or five years, we’ve been a very competitive team. We don’t get blown out a lot and we have one or two bad quarters where we get ourselves in a hole. We had a couple games like that this year where we hit a wall,” Esser said.

“It’s just the inexperience hit us or a team came out really quick against us and we didn’t know how to handle it and that’s all just growing pains.

“But the one thing I think we pride ourselves in is just the effort and giving it everything we have and competing and I think teams know coming against us that we may be .500, but we’re going to give you a game and you better play your best basketball, because we’re going to try to knock you off.”

“From Day 1, she had the attitude of I’m not quitting, I’ll be back. We understood it was a possibility, but it never even crossed her mind that basketball wasn’t going to be in her senior year. No matter what she had to go through to get back over the next five months or so, she was going to do it. She was going to do what she could to be there for her teammates and finish her career here at North Ridgeville playing basketball, so I give her a ton of credit for doing that and coming back.”

North Ridgeville girls basketball coach Amy Esser, on Lauren Milner