CAMDEN, Maine — A Camden Hills Regional High School athlete who had to miss out on her entire senior varsity basketball season due to an ACL injury got one last chance to take the court with her team, thanks to her coach.
Molly Shook, 16, is a senior this year, graduating a year ahead of schedule after taking extra classes and college courses while she was remote learning during the pandemic.
Shook played field hockey, basketball, and track and field in high school. In spring 2021, she injured herself during the long jump field event. She hoped it was only a sprain at first but later found out she had torn her ACL and meniscus.
The injury didn't just throw her life as an athlete off track.
"For college, how I was gonna pay for it is I was gonna join ROTC, which is a Reserve Officers' Training Corps," Shook said.
Because of her injury, she couldn't take the required fitness test in summer 2021, so she was ineligible to apply for the ROTC her first year.
Despite not playing basketball in her final year at Camden Hills, Shook went to nearly every practice and game this year to support her team.
"She easily could've said, 'I can't play. I don't want to be there. And that's not what happened," Samantha Bragg, head coach of the Camden Hills Girls' Varsity Basketball team, said.
Bragg said Molly did whatever she could to support her team. Ahead of senior night, Molly asked her coach if she could put on a uniform. Then, Coach Bragg had an idea.
"I asked my AD, 'Is this something that's okay, that I ask of another coach?' And he said, 'Absolutely.' So I talked to the Mt. Blue coach, and he was all in," Bragg said.
During the first play against the Mt. Blue Cougars, Molly was back on the court wearing her number 50 alongside the same teammates she's played with since middle school. The Cougars let Molly score the first basket of the game.
"I immediately broke down into tears and went toward my teammates," Shook said.
The teams agreed to trade baskets, officially starting the game after those plays tied 2-2.
"It meant a lot to me to be able to give her that final kind of farewell," Bragg said.
"There's always going to be obstacles in life, but if you have the right people, they'll always help you through it," Shook said.