Flashback to Eisenhower's first team camp last June.
In the second game, their point guard Delicia Brown suffered a brutal knee injury, tearing her ACL and possibly ending her upcoming season.
Meanwhile, star Ginger Reece had just transferred in from Lawton High across town and was putting on a new uniform for the second time. It remained unclear how her addition would fit the team's overall picture.
The Eisenhower girls basketball team was at a crossroads.
It's not that the upcoming season was in jeopardy. Rather, there were plenty of moving pieces.
Now fast forward back to the present -- this very week as the Eagles gear up for their first state tournament in more than a decade. On Thursday, the Ike girls will take on No. 2 East Central at 2 p.m. Thursday at Skiatook.
If you looked back to last summer, most would tell you a deep postseason run seemed unlikely for a team battling a fair amount of uncertainty. Yet, the puzzle pieces all came together to fit a state tournament appearance, and possibly more.
There are hundreds of reasons why the Ike girls are defying odds and silencing naysayers across Oklahoma, but no reasons bigger than the adversity overcome by the two aforementioned players.
When Brown tore her ACL, the Eagles suffered a devastating blow, and no one felt it more than Ike coach Daniel Wall.
"I was holding her in my arms having a pretty good idea that she just tore her ACL as she balled and balled," Wall said. "As a coach, that was one of the most difficult things I've done."
As difficult of a pill it was to swallow for coach, it was even harder on the player.
"I felt like I was going to be out for a year and miss the entire season," Brown said. "Sometimes, it felt like I wouldn't recover."
On July 20, Brown had surgery. In the following months, Brown remained dedicated with her rehab. She couldn't control what the coming season would bring, but she knew persistence would be instrumental in her comeback.
"Making sure I do physical therapy and work out on my own every day was critical," Brown said. "My physical therapist really helped make sure I kept fighting. He helped me stay strong."
When the season began, the junior guard would be working out while the girls were practicing. Through it all, her determination never faded, much to the delight of her coach.
"She has rehabbed, rehabbed, rehabbed," Wall said. "She's been a trooper the whole way and has supported the basketball team through everything. I love that girl to death. She's like my daughter. She's an absolutely amazing kid -- great grades, a lot of heart and a real joy to coach."
Just as rehab took time, so did trusting her knee again. Her first games back were a rude awakening, but slowly the junior guard began to rebuild her confidence.
"At the beginning, I really wasn't satisfied until late in the season when I started to do what I used to do," Brown said. "My teammates kept my head up."
Brown has come on strong in recent weeks. She hit a late go-ahead shot in the waning seconds in a one-point loss to Putnam City in the regular season finale.
Then in three successive playoff games she's been a scoring machine, particularly last Saturday with her 20 point outing in the upset of No. 8 Woodward.
"I thought she struggled a little bit when she first came back. She was kind of sluggish and didn't completely trust her knee," Wall said. "But the last four games she has come on strong and is confident and is playing like the Delicia Brown I knew she could be. I think her confidence is really high right now."
Delicia's teammates knew she had it in her all along.
"I'm extremely proud of Delicia," Ginger Reece said. "At first, she didn't come back with as much confidence, but she's built so much confidence in herself lately. She's been showing her true game, getting those and-one's, making those last second shots, helping us build big leads. She's been incredible coming off of her injury mid-season."
Reece's big life decision to transfer reaps rewards
While Brown was preparing for her comeback, the transfer, Reece, was busy filling the point guard void. As versatile of a player as Reece was to begin with, the forward was about to become all the more potent of an offensive weapon.
"When Delicia was out, I had to be the main point guard which isn't my normal position," Reece said. "That's helped me a lot knowing how a true point guard operates and my ball handling has also improved."
As much as the sophomore learned from being the floor general, she learned even more about herself through a difficult life decision.
"It was a hard decision because I was tired of transferring, but it was a good choice for my life because it wasn't a great environment for me," she explained. "When I came over here, I wasn't expecting to make it to the State tournament, but I was expecting to bond with these girls and have a true high school experience."
Reece was no stranger to Eisenhower. After all, she went to middle school there before her freshman year at Lawton High. She knew her teammates well and it helped her fit right in. Little did she know, the entire Eisenhower student body would also embrace her with open arms.
"I came in the first day and they were all happy. Not just the team, the whole school invited me in and enjoyed me being here. That was a different experience because I wasn't used to being appreciated at my old school."
There was plenty of criticism for Reece transferring to a rival school, but that only made Reece better. Her game evolved and it was shown on the court with multiple 20-plus point performances this season, including 20 in last weekend's area consolation victory for a state berth.
"I just worked harder," Reece said. "It was more motivation for me."
Just like Brown, Reece is a focal point of the Ike offense. Together, along with Jaeda Reed in the post, it's a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses.
"Ginger is a really tough player to guard because she can take you inside and shoot it well outside all while handling the ball pretty well," Wall said. "For teams having to matchup against her and game plan defensively, it's tough. But she has adjusted well with the way we run things as a program, and she gels well with our girls."
For two pieces that had to overcome their fair share of adversity this season, this playoff push was likely the last thing on their minds during the summer chaos. Yet, deep down, the Eagles had a vision of what the final product would be come season's end.
"I felt like it was within us, but I didn't think we could really do it though," Brown said. "But we just kept our heads up and kept pushing."
Funny how puzzles take plenty of time to put together, but when all the pieces finally fit, it is quite the sight to behold.