WEST SALEM — The big picture of Friday night weighed heavy on the heart of Megan Johnson.
Instead of following the playing of the National Anthem by taking a seat on the bench and waiting to be introduced as a starter for the West Salem High School girls basketball team, she walked to the scorers table and was handed a microphone.
She was nervous because it was time to address the gathered crowd, explain something she’d been working on and why it was so important to her.
Johnson began talking about her grandma and the project that was built around her struggles with Alzheimer’s Disease. When the senior discussed her personal experience with Bonnie Venner’s mental deterioration, it became too much.
As the tears flowed, she tried to gather herself and continue but couldn’t. She was less than one week removed from her grandma’s passing, and it was still too fresh.
Johnson, who was staging a fundraiser for the Alzheimer’s Association as a school project, has spent her career standing up to challenges and won most of them. But her own words got the best of her this time.
She seemed a little disappointed in herself that someone else had to finish her written speech before the Panthers played Onalaska Luther in a battle between unbeaten teams, but no one else felt that way.
“Over the last few years, Alzheimer’s disease has impacted my life by slowly taking my grandma’s mind away from her,” Johnson wrote and said. “Each time I visited, there was a noticeable decline in her ability to do simple things.
“It was hard to see her struggle because I grew up knowing her as a very independent woman.”
This was also an important night in terms of basketball, and West Salem celebrated that by taking sole possession of first place in the Coulee Conference with a big defensive performance in a 46-31 victory over Luther.
But it was a bigger night in terms of life — and death — for Johnson’s family.
She earned the big hug she received from West Salem coach Mike Malott after the game and all of the ones that followed from family after that.
The table outside the gymnasium was filled with baked goods for sale and people offering tickets for a 50-50 raffle. There was also a miracle minute at halftime of the boys game between West Salem and Luther that followed the girls. This fundraiser is something that Johnson began working on last summer, and the goal when all of this started was to raise money for what many consider an underfunded issue facing millions of families.
Johnson announced afterward that $3,700 was generated and included donations from the Knights.
She had help, but reaching the finish line the same night her first-place team was playing an opponent without a conference loss was a lot to handle at once.
“She put a lot of pressure on herself and has had that on her shoulders for a month,” Malott said. “She’s been working on this since June, and now with grandma passing, there’s no doubt that’s been a lot for her.”
The Winona State University commit didn’t play her typical game against the Knights, but she was as effective as ever. Johnson cut to the basket and looked for a pass for what she probably hoped would be two points to ease the pressure on the first possession, but the pass was low and bounced off her leg.
But she soon knocked down a 3-pointer and took advantage of being fouled on a drive to the hoop to make two free throws, and that got things rolling.
Johnson also hit a couple of big baskets in the second half to hold the Knights — a team that had nine wins in its previous 10 games — at arm’s length. The Panthers had a nine-point halftime lead, and that never ballooned the rest of the way. Luther was within seven at one point and nine several times, but West Salem always had the answer.
Johnson provided a few of those — one on a nice spin move that she finished with her right hand in the lane — herself. The shot with her right hand provided an answer to a Jaeyda Livingston 3-pointer that had the Knights within 31-24.
The other basket came on a drive through the lane and put the Panthers up 38-26 with 5:57 left. She also assisted on a Sam Niemeier hoop that answered another Luther 3.
They were all big plays for a big night that couldn’t have turned out better on any level for a dedicated player and granddaughter.
Johnson, by the way, got a second chance to read her speech before the boys tipped off. She knocked that one out of the park.
