Lily Dunlap Named Naismith HS Basketball Courage Award Winner

Dunlap understood courage at an early age when she was faced with a hearing loss that she has learned to live with. Last spring, Dunlap was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After 12 weeks of chemo treatments and strength and conditioning workouts, she was back on the court on December 10, 2024. Her opponent was The St. Francis Episcopal School which she attended before coming to SJS in 9th grade. She was also competing against her sister Allison who plays for St. Francis. The Mavericks won the game; and It was a much bigger win for Lily, the Dunlap family, and the team. (See Sports Illustrated story.)

 

“Lily is a testament to strength, resilience, and courage,” said Head Coach Kathy Halligan. “Her story is a reminder that no matter how tough the journey, you have the power within you to overcome and rise above the challenges life throws your way." 

 

The Mavericks were ecstatic to get Dunlap back in the lineup to finish the season. She played minutes at a time and added to the scoring stats. Her biggest impact was her presence: being in her St. John’s uniform, wearing #4, a jersey number she had worn on her sports teams growing up. At the SPC tournament in Fort Worth, St. John’s lost their first-round game to Houston Christian, but had a big win against Hockaday in overtime and eventually finished 6th in the 4A division. Dunlap provided lots of encouragement to her teammates.

 

“She is instrumental on and off the court,” said Halligan. “She does a lot of coaching on the bench when she is not playing.”

 

Dunlap is looking forward to her senior season of basketball with the Mavericks.

 

“What’s next for me is getting back into the weight room to build my strength up and working on my shot,” said Dunlap, who will wear #4 once again. 


Sam Chambers- Athletic News