Ambreah Waters’ last two years as a high school athlete have seen some adversity. 

One year after a soccer injury left her with a sprained ACL, Waters suffered a basketball injury in last season’s MAIS Overall Tournament quarterfinal that left her requiring surgery to repair the damage. 

Waters underwent a procedure last March and endured a six-month rehabilitation effort that forced her to miss her final soccer season as a precautionary measure.

She returned to the hardwood in November with two goals: to regain full confidence in her left knee, and help the Lady Raiders build off their most successful season to date.

Last Saturday, she did just that.

Water scored 12 points and collected 10 rebounds against Leake Academy in the MAIS Overall Tournament championship. The win not only sent her out a winner in her final prep basketball game, it also gave Lamar School its first Overall Tournament championship.

For her efforts, Water is The Meridian Star’s Athlete of the Week.

“I’m usually the one who makes people laugh; I don’t really pay attention to taking credit,” Waters said. “I’m thankful that all my hard work has paid off, because there are other people who are deserving.”

Josh Sherer first met Waters two years ago when he was introduced as Lamar’s new head coach. He bonded with the then-junior during their first season together, and he painfully watched as the tenacious athlete sat on the bench following her injury in last year’s quarterfinal loss.  

 Sherer said Waters’ resurgence after her injury is a testament to an inherent resiliency she possesses. 

“It’s one of those things where you’re not surprised — if you know ‘Breah, you’re not surprised,” Sherer said.

During Waters’ rehabilitation sessions, returning to the court was at the forefront of her focus, and Sherer said she routinely pushed herself beyond the required regimen. 

“I was really thinking about getting back to the court,” Waters said. “Even though I wanted to rush it, I didn’t want to go overboard to the point where I was not ready. I was very eager.”

Although Waters was cleared by doctors last August, the timing coincided with Lamar’s soccer season. Lady Raiders coach Leon Powell and Waters’ doctor decided it best for her to abstain from playing so that she could be fully ready for her senior basketball season.

Last November, Waters played in her first competitive basketball game in eight months. 

“At first, I was nervous because I was very protective of my leg,” Waters said. “I would do stuff, but my instinct would be to stop because I didn’t want to hurt it again. Some stuff I wouldn’t even notice I was doing because I had handicapped myself for so long, so I had to break that habit.”

Waters said she finally felt fully comfortable and confident in her left leg during the late-December Lamar Christmas Bash basketball tournament. Watching Waters shake her understandably pensive feelings to emerge last Saturday was one of the defining moments of his coaching career, Sherer said.

 “She went from averaging 12 points a game to averaging about eight, and a lot of that was due to the fact that of her having two big robotic knees right now, and she was unable to move the way she normally does,” Sherer said. “Really, the cool thing is, and probably the greatest moment of her career — and my career — is it didn’t faze her in the Overall game. In fact, she was kind of the go-to kid at the end, making some big buckets late and handling the basketball.”

Waters, who aspires to have a career in nursing, will graduate from Lamar this spring and hopes to continue to play basketball in college. She’s already been offered admission from the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, the University of Alabama and a number of other universities.

Although the last two years haven’t been without adversity, returning to Mississippi College last week and winning her school’s first Overall championship validated all of the hard work she put in to achieve her goals. 

“Mississippi College is a special place because we went the first year, and we set something, we set history,” Waters said. “I got hurt, and the next year we went back and we redeemed ourselves. It’s a pat on the back to Coach Sherer because it’s like all of your hard work and your patience, and your constant reminders and speeches that we can do this. It all comes down to heart, and will, and want to. We did it for him. We all pitched in, and we all did it.”