With dad on her mind
RATHDRUM — Kari Darnell will head off to college in the fall with her father near her heart.
That’s largely because the soon-to-graduate Lakeland High basketball standout’s father is in dire need of a new heart that he will never be able to receive.
LeRoy Darnell, 66, has had a mechanical heart for three years. He was on a heart transplant list the last five years until this winter, the last time he tried to watch his daughter play in person.
Darnell knew something was wrong when she didn’t see her father in the bleachers at Lewiston High’s Booth Hall in an early-season tournament. She soon discovered her father had suffered a stroke at the motel prior to leaving to watch the game. He was taken to a hospital.
Inspired by her father to play the next day despite him being in the hospital, Darnell went out and scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as she led 3A Lakeland to a 74-60 victory over 5A Lewiston.
Kari Darnell smiles when she talks about her parents, especially her father. She chokes back tears when she talks about her father’s condition, which isn’t likely to improve.
“He’s bed-ridden now after the stroke,” Darnell said. “Now he’s attached to a (heart machine) in his room. And he’s permanently off the heart transplant list.”
Kari doesn’t know her father’s longterm prognosis.
“We just take it a day at a time,” she said, pausing to wipe away tears. “I try to spend as much time every day with him as I can.”
LeRoy Darnell still watches his daughter play, but it’s via videotapes. Lakeland coach Steve Seymour made sure he received a video after each game this year.
And Kari’s future coach at Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake also has agreed to send him videos.
Wednesday, she will play in her third all-star game this spring when she suits up with the Region team in the 11th annual Jack Blair Memorial Basketball Classic featuring the Metro All-Stars, the Greater Spokane League’s best, against the Region All-Stars, the top players outside of Spokane. Tipoff at University High School will be at 7:30 p.m.
Darnell played in the District I game for North Idaho seniors a week after Lakeland captured third place in the state tournament. In mid April, she played in the first All-State game in Idaho.
Now she gets a chance to see how she stacks up against the best in the Inland Northwest.
While the season was difficult in terms of the concerns she had about her father, Darnell was at the top of her game and was measurably improved over her junior season. She averaged 14.5 points and nine rebounds and was named the Intermountain League’s most valuable player.
Lakeland came up an overtime loss short of returning to the state championship game in Darnell’s fourth trip to state. The Hawks fell to eventual state champ Marsh Valley in overtime in the semifinals. She sat on the bench as a freshman and sophomore when the Hawks won back-to-back state titles.
As Lakeland’s most proven returning scorer, the 6-foot Darnell could have demanded the ball every time Lakeland set up its offense. But that was far from the case.
“She could have been selfish,” Seymour said. “She had dominant games. She could have shot 30 times and averaged 20 points per game, but we wouldn’t have improved as a team. She was patient in knowing her teammates needed to be more involved and it couldn’t just circle around her.”
Team and individual accomplishments aside, what impressed Seymour most about Darnell this season was how she balanced basketball, school and life.
“She had such a difficult year trying to balance the issues of family and continue to keep her basketball in perspective,” Seymour said. “I certainly admired how she was able to continue to do it all — keep her grades up, work hard in practice and frequently stay up late into the night hours talking to her dad because that was the only time he was awake.”
Darnell is the complete package – academically, athletically and how she keeps life in perspective. She graduates with a 4.0 grade-point average and is one of four valedictorians.
She will give a 3- to 5-minute speech at the school’s graduation ceremony Saturday. Her theme is relationships.
It’s something she’s become an expert at – beginning at home and carrying over to the basketball court.