5.4 Seconds

There were tears and long faces immediately after the Lady Pioneers suffered defeat in the first game of their first state tournament experience. There was disappointment and sadness pasted on the faces of the Pioneers with the exception of one player. Lyndsay Figgins was sporting a grin every bit as big as the players from the winning team. She wasn’t glad her team lost, she was simply glad that she got to get on the floor at Diddle Arena for the last 5 seconds of the game.

For Lyndsay, her first five seconds on the basketball floor this season marked the last five seconds of the Pioneer season. Most people know that Lyndsay suffered her second ACL tear in less than a year in the during the Pioneers first appearance in the state soccer tournament in October.

Lyndsay’s end goal for her rehab was a simple one. She wanted to get to warm up with her basketball team before the end of the season. She accomplished this goal over a month ago and set a new goal to get back on the floor in game action before the season was over.

During the regional tournament, she pleaded to go into a game at some point. The chance to get her into the games really didn’t arise so the coach kept her out of the action.

Before the game this week in Bowling Green, Lyndsay practically begged Coach Stowers to get some playing time on the floor. He said, “we’ll see Lyndsay.” She finally got down to the point of asking him for as little as 3 seconds. She was persistent but once again, he said, “we’ll see Lyndsay.” Finally, when it was apparent that Franklin Simpson was going to win, Nick Repka walked up to the front of the bench and asked the coach about getting Number 25 in the game. The coached shook his head with an emphatic NO.

But then something happened, the Wildcats threw the ball out of bounds under the SK basket with 5.4 seconds left. Immediately, Coach Stowers started screaming sub, sub, sub! Lyndsay was going to get her chance to get in a live game. Some of the students started chanting her name. At first, Coach Stowers was going to have her take the ball out of bounds but he realized that wasn’t going to get her onto the floor. He then told her to stand out away from the action. Lyndsay then ran off a screen from Lindsey Bridges and the ball landed in her hands after the inbounds pass. Coach Brenden yelled shoot it! Lyndsay let her shot fly and the ball was right on line. Unfortunately, the ball hit the rim just short. The game was over but Lyndsay looked at the bench, smiled and snapped her fingers to signify her disappointment with the miss.

She would have loved for the shot to have connected but really, she didn’t care. This special young lady and athlete had exceeded her goal. She is driven and got a big enough taste of the state tournament experience that I know she will put everything she has into getting back next year. Her rehab was long but she got a strong dose of memory from those 5.4 seconds.


Lyndsay's reaction after missing her one and only shot of the season.