Lewis Has Triple Whammy in COVID-19 Related Seasons

Alyna Lewis, center, of Western High School listens to her coach during a timeout in a contest on Saturday against Columbia Central.   Photo by Jeff Steers, JTV Sports.

By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports

(March 13, 2021 5:43 PM) It was nearly a year to the day that Western High School varsity basketball player Alyna Lewis was in her sixth-hour class dreaming of playing in the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 regional basketball final.

Members of her team, fellow students, and coaches were fired up about playing conference foes Marshall High School in the regional final.

A win would mean the school’s first girls’ basketball regional title and a trip to the quarterfinals.

But the Panthers never had a chance to tip off against the Redhawks – a team they had already beaten twice in Interstate-8 Conference play.

COVID-19 brought the whole world to nearly a stand still in mid-March and has been a constant in the United State since.

But Lewis understands the ramifications of the virus that has killed more than 500,000 Americans in the last year.

It has hit her personally, testing positive for COVID-19 just before the regional cross country race last fall.

“The day after the pre-regional race I felt sick,” Lewis said of her early symptoms. “I don’t know if I get it from another runner at the race or from someone at school.

“I felt badly for my teammates.”

Lewis had won 5k event – what the MHSAA dubbed the pre-regional race – and the Panthers had finished second to Marshall. They were expected to be one of the top teams at the regional meet with a great chance of advancing to the state finals in early November.

But that wasn’t the only loss for the junior student-athlete at WHS.

She missed an entire track and field season as the MHSAA canceled spring sports in 2020. Lewis had earned three all-state medals in 2019 as a freshman, finishing seventh in the 800-meter run; teaming with three runners for fourth place in the 3,200-meter relay; and fifth in the 1,600-meter relay.

Western finished 21st as a team in 2019 in the Division 2 state track and field finals.

“We had a lot of great athletes who were seniors coming back,” Lewis said. “That will always be my ‘what if’ season.”

But rather than cry over a missed season, Lewis and her father Willie trained nearly every day at Albion College in hopes of the season returning later in the spring.

It never came, but Lewis was ready.

“I love track … I have been competing in it since first grade,” Lewis said. “There is such a high energy in the sport.”

Lewis and her teammates are nearly done with the team’s “unfinished business” season. The Panthers are hoping to win another district title and return to regionals. Western leads the I-8 in girls’ basketball with its only three losses to non-conference opponents – East Lansing, Grass Lake, and Columbia Central.

The ball-hawking point guard has endured the mandated face mask being used during games. She must run more than nearly any other player on the court as she attempts to earn steals with the Panthers’ trap on the defensive end and run the point and/or wing on the offensive end.

Lewis says she drops the mask every chance she gets to catch her breath. The junior says the Panthers are poised for another run in the state basketball tournament.

“We are working the ball very well offensively,” Lewis said. “We are starting to click and everyone is getting a chance to touch the ball and make contributions.”

Defensively, the Panthers pressure opponents trying to use the team’s speed. Lewis seems to be in the center of that effort on each play.

Lewis finished with 11 points, five rebounds, and two assists in a 49-48 loss to Columbia Central on Saturday.

She dreams of running track in college, but also has a longing for the sport of basketball.

The junior knows first-hand the destructive nature of the virus and how it can affect a person – on and off the court.