Laurence Manning's Hodge carries injured squad on way to Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week

The Laurence Manning girls basketball team is on a legendary run of bad luck.

First, the Lady Swampcats lost a pair of starters to severe flu. Then they faced off with Hilton Head Christian on Tuesday, Jan. 20, and had two more starters go down with injuries. For the rest of the week, there was one starter left standing: Ashley Rae Hodge.

The senior guard led LMA to a victory in that game against HHCA before they hosted John Paul II for a defensive battle on Jan. 23. The Lady 'Cats suffered a heartbreaking 44-41 loss in overtime despite a 20-point performance from Hodge, but the senior kept them afloat with no other regular starters in the lineup. After three consecutive 20-point performances, Hodge was named the Hines Furniture Athlete of the Week for her leadership through a challenging stretch.

"It's awesome," Hodge said of the support she received from the Swampcat community. "Every time a student from Laurence Manning is in a competition, there's so much support behind it, and everyone comes together. We have great support for our LMA family, and they want the best for us."

LMA head coach Lisa Ard already knew she had a remarkable competitor in Hodge, but the senior's ability to lead an inexperienced group through an extremely difficult stretch of games left her with even more appreciation for the Swampcat superstar.

"She carried us," Ard said simply. "She was out with the younger kids and just had great leadership. She was able to take on the pressure and help those girls through. She's very unselfish. She takes the shot when she has it; when she doesn't, she looks to find who's open. And just cheering them on, very encouraging."

Laurence Manning was already short-handed when the week began, as Lily Wellborn and Marlee Black were out with the flu. After a quarter of play against HHCA, Hodge's fellow multi-sport star Lyza Prickelmyer went down with an ankle injury. A few minutes later, Maggie Welch broke her nose. Reserve guard Kendall Tanner added her own ankle injury as well. But Hodge rallied the troops, leading the rest of the squad to a 44-23 performance by pouring in 20 points.

"Lyza is an awesome ballplayer; I've been playing with her since the ninth grade and just know each other and we're such close friends, so when she went down, I knew we'd all have to step up, not just me, but everyone would have to step up," Hodge said. "Then Maggie went out, and it was a big region game that we needed to win, so we adjusted. Our offense didn't quit scoring. Even though we were missing all of those people, the younger girls stepped up when they needed to. They were all just great."

Going into the matchup against John Paul II, LMA at least knew going into the game that they would be down four players. Hodge and company spent time in practice focusing on the finer details with the young crew that would need to step up, which led to a tense battle with a 12-win JPII squad.

"We prepared and said we were going to play the best that we can because it's another region game that we really needed to win. We really wanted to play hard so we could win for our teammates who were out," Hodge said. "The practice before, we were going over the plays and knew we could do it; we just had to play together as a team. Going into that game, I had to really mentally prepare myself and just know that we could do it together."

Hodge had another monster game with 20 points. The game was locked at 39-39 after four quarters, sending the region foes into an overtime period. The LMA offense couldn't get much going in the extra period, but Hodge was beyond proud of the fight her teammates showed all night long.

"Losing doesn't take away from the fact that I thought we all played well in that game and we played hard, even when our teammates are missing," Hodge said. "I tried my best to encourage my teammates and to keep them calm. I know that they can do it, and I believe they can do it.

"It was an exciting game. We were disappointed we didn't win, but we were proud of the way we played together."

Laurence Manning faced off with Trinity Collegiate on Tuesday and had a similar narrow loss, falling 40-39. Prickelmyer returned to the lineup only to get her own nose injury minutes into the game, so Hodge was again asked to do the heavy lifting. While she's carried the weight of the offense with three consecutive games of 20 points, she was quick to credit her teammates who help facilitate the offense alongside her.

"My teammates have all stepped up and feed me the ball. I can't score without them; I'm not successful without them and without God giving me the ability to play this sport," Hodge said. "They all stepped up, and we worked together as a team to score. Going into games, I have to prepare because I know what's coming. I just have to stay calm and not get overwhelmed, but if I do, I know I have teammates I can get the ball to because I know I can rely on them to score."

That calm mentality is exactly the reason Ard knew that Hodge could handle the pressure of leading this team through a tough couple of weeks.

"That's just Rae. Rae is going to go; she's going to show up no matter what, and she's going to play her hardest," Ard said. "I know this has been harder on her because the whole ball has been dropped on her, but she's treated the other ones like she knows they can do the job. Even if they let her down a time or two, she still goes back to them and encourages them. You didn't see any frustration from her; she just went out and played hard.

"That's what she does with everything. She's a dancer, she's in softball, and no matter what adversity she faces in anything, she always steps up to the challenge."

While they haven't won as many games as they hoped to during this injury-plagued stretch, it has been a confidence booster for the Lady Swampcats. There is a sense of pride that comes from playing extremely competitive basketball despite being shorthanded. If they can get healthy down the stretch, LMA thinks they can make a push in the region and the postseason.

"Back-to-back losses aren't great, and we replay the games in our head to see what we could've done differently, but looking ahead, I think we have this mindset that we can win these games. Even though we might be losing a few teammates, we can still do it when we all come together," Hodge said. "I'm hoping we can still win the region. I know we can do it if we play together. It won't be easy, but I know we can do it. With the normal starters out, I think it has been a confidence booster because they stepped up and filled these roles. I had no doubt in them, and they did an awesome job in those roles."