Returning from a basketball-filled winter break, head coach Kathy Halligan began the chore of cleaning her email inbox. As she robotically deleted a multitude of messages, one stuck out among the rest.

The message came from the Jersey Mike’s Naismith High School Basketball Courage Award, giving her the opportunity to nominate one of her athletes for the award.

Halligan immediately thought of Lily Dunlap.

On Jan. 17, Halligan officially announced Dunlap’s nomination. The following Tuesday, Dunlap, a junior guard, received confirmation that she was a finalist.

A week later, Halligan called Dunlap into her office in the lower level of the gym. After getting Dunlap’s parents on the phone, Halligan announced that Dunlap had won. The office erupted in cheers and tears of triumph.

“Winning was a way for other people to see how I went through cancer, and how I go through life as well,” Dunlap said.

The Naismith Award is a national honor given to a high school athlete who demonstrates a tremendous amount of courage on and off the basketball court. Hundreds are nominated, but only 10 were named finalists

On May 15, Dunlap was diagnosed with Stage III Hodgkin Lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system. Dunlap worked closely with her team of doctors to balance chemotherapy with her daily life. For students receiving twice-monthly treatments, they usually take significant time off school to focus on recovery, but Dunlap preferred to keep up with her studies.

She accepted the award in a ceremony on Feb.11. In her speech, she recounted the time when her oncologist told her that undergoing treatment would mean taking time off from school. She replied, “I can’t do that. I go to St. John’s.”

While undergoing treatment, playing basketball was no longer a possibility, but after six months of successful treatment the question wasn’t if she would play basketball again, but when.

“I wanted to be normal. For me, being normal is basketball,” Dunlap said. “I didn’t want to wait any longer.”

Dunlap continued to support her team from the sidelines as she planned her return. Even when she was not playing, she spent so much time in the gym giving advice to her teammates that they began to affectionately call her Coach Dunlap.

“Lily’s just helpful. She gave us tips all the time,” freshman Carly Burgoyne said.

On a dreary, foggy Tuesday in mid-December, a few weeks after her final scans, Dunlap played her first game since her diagnosis in May. When she made her first three-pointer against St. Francis, the home crowd erupted. Her smile did not leave her face until the final buzzer.

Before her diagnosis, playing basketball had been second nature, so it was no surprise to her teammates that Dunlap returned to Liu Court playing lock-down defense and draining three like she had never missed a day of practice.

“Everybody in the stands was rooting for Lily that night,” Halligan said. “It was a big comeback for her.”

In her speech at the award ceremony in the New Gym on Feb. 11, Dunlap showcased her trademark humility. She was adamant that cancer would not define her.

For Dunlap, the Naismith Award was the embodiment of everything she had overcome in the last year. For an independent person like Dunlap, relying on others wasn’t always easy, but it was what helped her get through her treatments.

The confidence that Dunlap displays on the court is what allowed her to beat cancer.

“Courage in basketball is resilience, but it’s also drive. It’s never giving up and putting in more work than everyone else around you,” Dunlap said. “In my journey, I knew my goal was getting back as soon as possible, and I met that goal. That, I think, shows courage.”

This story was originally published on The Review on February 25, 2025.