A Last Shot, A Found Path
June 1
Written by John Hill
Senior Kincade Young saw a lot of firsts as a 4-year student at Heritage Academy Maricopa. The first day the school opened its doors 4 years ago, she walked in. The first dance show the school held, she performed. The first girls’ varsity basketball game that was played, she was on the court. During her senior year that culminated last Thursday night at the school’s graduation, all these first eventually became lasts. A last dance. A last game. A last day walking through the doors of the school as a high school student.
Among all these firsts leading to inevitable lasts, however, there is one bookend moment that stands out - her last shot in basketball.
The story behind the last shot is as unlikely as it is memorable. Kincade suffered a serious knee injury as a junior that kept her off the court for her senior season. But despite not being on the court, she remained a valuable part of the team in attending every practice and every game. She helped her younger teammates and served as a role model.
The payoff was on senior night when head coach Kim Miller and the coach for the opposing team agreed to do something special - play Kincade for one play to start her final game and allow her to have one last shot. The only way it would work was if there was no defense. The girls for both teams were told to stand back after the ball was passed to Kincade at the opening tip. At first, Kincade was surprised and hesitated. But when she saw the path open up in front of her, she did what came naturally and drove to the basket for a shot. She laid the ball up against the glass and into the hoop as tears flooded. It was a perfect shot.
“It was an emotional thing because I knew it was my last shot,” remembered Kincade. “My team made me feel wanted and made me feel I could do it.” She added: “Before the injury, I knew basketball, but I did not know myself. Being out injured, I learned there is a greater purpose in basketball than just playing the game. I feel that sitting out was part of God’s plan for me to find that purpose.”
What is that purpose? For Kincade, it is to help other people, to change people's lives, and to have her injury and successful recovery be a testimony to others of the power of faith and finding your own purpose in life.
“I made my last shot, and I was emotional, but in that moment I was okay because I knew there was more to come.” And whether that “more to come” is a positive experience or a hardship, Kincade Young knows it is a path that is part of her purpose.
The last shot on the court might have been a “last,” but it symbolizes the transition to firsts and the promise of “more to come.” It is a reminder that in all lasts we can find firsts; we can find new beginnings.
“I feel like after graduation I have to start over again,” reflected Kincade. But armed now with the perspective that comes with life experience, and her last shot, she now knows that whatever path she starts out on, regardless of where that first step begins, it will have an ending that is meant to be.
With each or our “lasts” in life, we can always find opportunities for the “firsts” that lie ahead. We can find a new path. A path with a purpose.
Kincade Young is a graduate of Heritage Academy Maricopa. Her start on a new path (with a purpose) began this week.
John Hill is a Dual Enrollment English teacher and basketball coach at Heritage Academy Maricopa. He coached Kincade in club basketball. Wherever Kincade’s path leads her, coach Hill will always proudly consider her one of his own.
