Like with most childhood disease it didn’t seem fair. Even at four years old McKenna Sims had a sense for what she was up against. What she would be up against.
You know her best as South Sioux City’s brilliant point guard, a four-year starter and three-time all-stater who is the gold standard performer for her playing position. What you might not know, surely wouldn’t suspect once you’ve seen her play, is that McKenna is a leukemia survivor.
At age four McKenna was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). She underwent 27 months of chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha and has been cancer-free for 11 years. She remembers it all like it was yesterday.
“It shook me up once I understood what was going on, which was pretty much right away, and I have moved on from it and learned from the experience. It has made me a better person,”says McKenna. “It is scary knowing that I have a higher chance to get it again, so I always do my best to take care of myself.”
Basketball seems so insignificant in comparison to a medical diagnosis of that magnitude but give McKenna lots of credit, she’s made herself into one of our state’s greatest players. Her head coach, Molly Hornbeck, believes McKenna’s trials have played a central role in making her into such a great basketball player and person.
“That thought is always in the back of my mind when I think about how lucky I am to be able to know and coach her,” says Coach Hornbeck. “It really puts everything in perspective, and I think the struggles she’s had to overcome in her life are part of the reason she’s such a strong person today.”
A strong person and a strong point guard. Today McKenna is the cat’s pajamas in the world of point guard play - averaging 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals per game - but not all that long ago she worried if she’d even find her way at the varsity level.
“I wasn’t even really a point guard before high school, at least in my mind, but when I did get into high school I found out that was going to be my role. Right away I was thinking my first job was to make the best decisions I could with the ball,” says McKenna. “At SCC we have high standards for what we want to achieve as a team and I realized this was legit, it was really happening and I was right in the middle of it all. It was a very exciting experience, even if it was scary.”
What’s scary now is dealing with Miss McKenna on the basketball court. A powerful athlete with a wonderful basketball touch and understanding of the game, she was the starting point guard for SCC’s 2017 Class B state title team and again last March when the Cardinals were state runner-up. South Sioux City is also a gold standard program, having won 12 state titles and been considered among the country’s best a time or two. Being part of it all is a dream come true for McKenna.
“When I was growing up, and when I was a student manager in middle school, I looked up to the big girls on the basketball team and considered them my heroes. Now I am one of the big girls and I love being able to share time with the younger girls and encourage them to play basketball so they can get their turn on the team.”
Coach Hornbeck is especially proud of how McKenna has grown into her role as the team’s go-to player.
“Over the course of her high school career she has made such great strides in her overall leadership and self-confidence. She has always been a natural athlete and an exceptionally hard worker but each year she’s taken on more responsibility for being a leader on the court and in the locker room.
“It’s been fun to watch her mature in this role over the years.”
McKenna is also a brilliant student who carries a 3.8 GPA and is a member of the National Honor Society as well as the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes chapter. She has signed to play basketball at Division I Illinois State where “I’ve been all over the place” deciding on a study major. For now it’s dentistry but stay tuned.
“I have been blessed to be part of this great basketball program and I want to do whatever I can to make sure this year’s girls get to experience the state tournament and what it is all about. It is a tradition we need to keep going.”
After what the kid’s been through that seems more than fair.
