Lamar's Ambreah Waters kisses the MAIS Overall championship trophy as her teammates wait their turn Saturday. The Lady Raiders defeated Leake Academy at Mississippi College for the victory.

CLINTON — Two clunky braces cradle Ambreah Waters’ left and right knees. After spraining her right ACL playing soccer, Waters tore her left ACL in last year’s MAIS Overall Tournament quarterfinal against Jackson Academy at Mississippi College’s A.E. Wood Coliseum.

Lamar School dropped a nine-point contest to Jackson Academy that afternoon, and Waters began a rigorous rehabilitation journey — that included surgery — with the hopes of returning to the hardwood for her senior season. Her Lady Raiders teammates, meanwhile, shifted their focus to making it back to Mississippi College for another chance at the title.

Saturday, Waters and the Lady Raiders returned to A.E. Wood Coliseum, and together they etched their mark in school history.

Waters scored a team-high 12 points and added 10 rebounds to help lead Lamar School to a 45-41 win against Leake Academy in the MAIS Overall Tournament Saturday afternoon to give the Lady Raiders their first Overall Tournament championship in program history. Lamar School ended the year 2-1 in contests against Leake Academy, splitting two regular-season contests.

The fairytale ending couldn’t have been scripted any better for Waters, who played all 32 minutes.

“This year meant so much to me because last year after tearing my ACL, when I heard the news, I cried and immediately I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’” said Waters, who also tallied three assists and two steals. “After I had surgery, my teammates and my coach were the first ones to reassure me that they were going to be with me throughout the whole journey.”

In just two years, Lamar School head coach Josh Sherer has guided the Lady Raiders to the pinnacle of the MAIS, as they’ve gone 60-13 during that span. One week after losing the Class AAAA, Division II championship to Simpson Academy, Lamar School rattled off four-consecutive wins in six days en route to claiming the golden basketball.

“The first thing I think of is God’s grace,” Sherer said. “The ability to return, the ability for kids to stay healthy. We knew we had to stay healthy. Ambreah coming off of an ACL (injury), and God’s grace in our lives while we’re faithful, and when we’re not. That’s the first thing I think of. The other thing is just the work that they’ve put in every day. This summer they worked — and every kid works… Every kid is battling, but I’m especially, obviously proud of our group. Hard work, responding to losing in the state tournament, this was really the only thing that was going to cover those wounds, and they knew it.”

The Lady Raiders and Lady Rebels traded baskets throughout the first quarter to end it tied at six. Waters opened the second quarter with a basket at the 7:34 mark, and Skylar Norman added two free throws to up the lead to 10-6. Katie Shaffer rifled off back-to-back 3-pointers, and Powe scored a basket to send Lamar School on an 8-0 run with an 18-8 lead at the 3:43 mark. Shaffer and Waters closed out Lamar School’s first-half scoring with field goals, and the Lady Raiders led 22-12 at the break.

Leake Academy surged early in the third quarter behind baskets by the senior trio of Sydni Tangle, Clancy Scott and Hannah Smith to cut Lamar School’s lead to 22-19 with 5:34 remaining in the frame, but the Lady Raiders responded with a 10-0 run of their own.

Waters and Powe kick-started the scoring burst with field goals before Isabella Sherer drained two 3-pointers to quiet the Leake Academy contingent of fans as Lamar School went ahead 32-19 with 3:55 left in the period.

“They kept chanting, ‘Coach’s daughter!’ so I showed them who the coach’s daughter was,” said Isabella Sherer, who scored six points and tallied two blocks. “This whole team is my family, and I just love them all to death. We just had that fight and that hunger in us after losing state.”

The Lady Raiders led by as many as 16 points in the fourth quarter before Leake Academy cut its deficit to four points with 41 seconds left in the game. Norman went to the free throw line with 22 seconds remaining and made both attempts to give Lamar School a 45-39 lead and preserve the victory. 

“I thought there were two huge offensive moments: obviously those two 3s by Isabella, and then the two free throws by Skylar Norman at the end,” Josh Sherer said.

Powe finished with 10 points, three steals and two blocks, while Shaffer ended with eight points. Leake Academy’s Tangle led all scorers with 15 points. 

Lamar School’s four seniors — Shaffer, Waters, Paula Gast and Sarah Pasha — helped create a decorated legacy that history won’t soon forget, and because of their dedication to the program, Powe said she and the Lady Raiders’ younger players made sure they did their parts Saturday to send the senior quartet off as champions.

“We love them, and we know that when (Ambreah) tore her knee it hurt her, and we wanted to win this one for her,” Powe said. “As a team, we wanted to win it for them because we love each other. It’s amazing — we made history.”