LAMAR -- From the clothes worn on the Lady Warriors' bench to the tribute in the program, there are constant reminders that Ashlynn Barnes is greatly missed.
When the school district won the bid to host the Class 3A state basketball tournament last week, the idea was to showcase the three-year-old arena and the community support that brings attendance to capacity crowds. But with the devastating loss of Barnes, a 16-year-old junior guard, in a crash earlier this year, the event became so much more than just basketball games for Lamar.
"It's been special to showcase our school and honor her," Lamar girls basketball coach Brandon Schluterman said. "With our girls' team, our expectation was to get back to the finals. We wanted to give them the best situation to do that. If hosting state and doing all the work was the best situation for the kids, we wanted to make it happen. It's been extra special because of the circumstances."
Barnes wore No. 15, and with the help of teammates and staff, that uniform jersey was still on the bench when the Lady Warriors competed for an opportunity to win the program's first state title since 1991.
There also was a full page of pictures of Barnes in the program as well that featured her smiling face with friends and family. Barnes is still listed on the team's roster, too.
"We love her and miss her a lot obviously," Lamar senior guard Morgan Cochran said after a second-round victory. "She really helped us in the state tournament last year on the bench. This year we really want to play well and finish strong for her. It means more this year."
In addition to playing for Barnes, the Lady Warriors had plenty of additional motivation to make the most of competing on their own home court for the state tournament. Four seniors in Cochran, Bailee Cowell, Shae Taylor and Karley Williams all led the way and were playing their final games at Warrior Arena.
The team was also rallying around sophomore point guard and leading scorer Kori Sanders, who the Lady Warriors were without because of a recent injury. Despite all the hardships, it didn't slow the team down in the opening two rounds of the playoffs. An emotionally charged crowd brought the energy, and the Lady Warriors used it as fuel.
"Other coaches know this, but you know at this time of the year if kids want to keep playing or not," Schluterman said. "Sometimes you can see that on the court and in practice. It's a long season. But this team has four seniors who want to keep playing. They've made that quite clear to everyone. They've had 20 reasons to fold. But this group loves the game and playing for their school."
After an opening-round win against Melbourne, Schluterman couldn't help but stop and think about what his girls had achieved fighting through adversity.
"I told the kids after that game I don't know what's going to happen after this, but we got to experience that," Schluterman said. "I told a group of girls that was a top-five moment in my 17-year career. That was a very special night. Everyone feels sorry for us for what we have been through, but nobody wants you to win when you are competing against them."
January 17, the night of Barnes' passing, is one Schluterman said he will never forget. At home still in his game clothes just hours after Lamar beat Mayflower 60-41 at home, he got the horrific news.
Schluterman's wife, who is an administrator at the school, received a call from the principal. Then there were calls from the police, then calls from Barnes' mom. Before he could get to the hospital, she had already passed away. Schluterman learned of it from a text message when he was in the hospital's parking lot.
He thought back to earlier that evening during the team prayer after the game when Barnes was right beside him.
"Maybe for the first time ever that night, I held Ashlynn's hand just because that's where she was in the locker room during the prayer," Schluterman said. "The emotions were very raw. You go from winning a great game against a rival to then feeling absolutely numb and gathering back here at the gym with all your kids.
"There's not a textbook on what to say either. You just endure it together."
Teammates and coaches described Barnes as a selfless and humble person who brought a lot of brightness to the basketball team with her high character.
"She was a very good athlete," Schluterman said. "She played some minutes for us last year. The one game that stands out in my mind was a big three against Mayflower. She didn't play a ton of minutes, but she was getting better every day and had a role in the future. She loved bowling, and a group of girls with her made it their thing. She was not afraid to go try something new and fail at it."
In addition to being on the basketball and bowling teams, Barnes was on the track team, where she had her most athletic success. Barnes won the high jump at the Waldron meet and later placed third in the same event at the Class 3A state meet with a leap of 4-10.
"She turned the high jump into her own thing," Schluterman said. "She was proud of what she was doing in track. She was really standing out. It's hard to do that in basketball and other sports. But with track, it can be individual. You could tell she gained confidence as a person with that success."
What Schluterman said he remembers most about her was her unique personality. It contrasted quite a bit from others on the team.
"I always felt like she had a sneaky, quiet personality that was easy to joke around with," Schluterman said. "She would give you that side-eye grin. She was very dependable. In the days after thinking back, it was the little side conversations that were special. We have some loud personalities, but she was the quiet one."
The loss of a student and teammate is never expected. It had the team emotionally drained, but with unity they have been able to keep going with their lives and their season.
"We talked about there is no right or wrong answer to dealing with this," Schluterman said. "The only way I know to give them advice is that you have to get up the next morning and keep doing what you are doing. If you need to cry, cry. If you need to laugh, laugh. But do it in a way that is together. Everybody is going through this."
Tributes to Barnes from outside of Lamar have really been appreciated from the Lady Warriors. Schluterman said it's one thing to honor your own but very meaningful when other schools take time to do it as well breaking down the traditional barriers of competition on the court.
"The most important thing from this is I think the kids learned what compassion was like from not only their family and friends but from opponents," Schluterman said. "We've received a lot of cards. The entire Mayflower team came to the funeral. The Perryville girls team wore orange shoelaces for the rest of their season. It was very special seeing other teams showing us support."
Unfortunately for the Lady Warriors, they've had to deal with other tragic events in their lives. The recent passing of teachers Amanda Harrison, Melissa Edwards and gym janitor Leland Nordin all impacted the team because they were such big supporters of them.
"These kids have been through so much tragedy," Schluterman said. "The way they have handled it has been very tough. They just go with it. They've learned how to grieve and tell stories together. That's pretty crazy for 16- and 17-year-old kids. We've had three funeral services right on our court with this group. You know they have memories of that, but they keep going, which has been remarkable.
"This is a very special group."
Ashlynn Barnes loved to try different hobbies and sports including fishing. In addition to being a member of the Lamar girls basketball team, she was also on the bowling team. Barnes was killed in a January car accident.