Trent Halvorson, a senior at The Overlake School, is living proof that life sometimes doesn’t deal you the most favorable hand, but it’s how you play your cards that counts the most.

Halvorson, an Issaquah resident, was raised by his mother after his estranged father left home when he was 11.

Last season, after transferring to Overlake and earning a spot on the basketball team, the hard-luck teenager broke his tailbone, and then his thumb. During his first game back from the thumb injury, Halvorson tweaked his knee and an MRI later revealed a torn ACL, causing him to miss the rest of the basketball season and enter an intense rehabilitation program.

All the while, his mother, Deanna, was diagnosed in mid-2008 with terminal stomach cancer and was given four months to live. She passed away in May of 2009 at the age of 36 and was the only member of Halvorson’s immediate family he had left.

“It was just a series of unfortunate events,” explained Halvorson. “I was really focused on basketball and I wanted to excel … but my injuries became the least of my worries when my mom was really ill.”

A CHANGE OF PACE

Halvorson got hooked on the sport of basketball as a young boy, playing in the backyard with his dad, and continued through middle school and high school at Issaquah, a large 4A school with nearly 1,400 students.

After his mom grew ill in 2008, Halvorson transferred to Overlake, a small 1A institution with 520 total students in grades 5-12, with just 287 in the high school.

What could have been a difficult adaptation for a 16-year-old — moving to a new tight-knit school where friendships are formed early and last through graduation — turned out to be a blessing for him.

“Coming to Overlake was a big step in the right direction,” said Halvorson, adding that he looked into attending the school because of two close friends who went there and graduated last year.

“It was a good environment, and everyone was really supportive. I thought I was going to have a hard time blending in, since it’s a small school and all your friendships are already made, but everyone was really accepting and took me in.

“I feel like this is home.”

A natural leader, Halvorson found a second home on the basketball court under head coach and athletic director John Wiley, who was instantly impressed by the young, vocal, athletic kid.

“He’s just a great team person,” Wiley said of Halvorson. “Though he’s an only child, he certainly blends right into a team environment and really works hard. He really appreciates all the guys around him, and he is certainly the loudest player on the court. When he’s yelling, we’re playing great.”

AN EMOTIONAL JOURNEY

As much physical pain as Halvorson endured with his multiple injuries last year, nothing could compare to the emotional pain of losing his own mother.

“She was a big part of my life,” Halvorson reflected. “She was a single mother and worked a lot of hours. She did a very good job of taking care of me, I appreciate everything she did for me. When she got ill, it was hard.”

Fortunately, Halvorson was surrounded by his new-found support group at Overlake, and it helped him get through what was the most difficult period of his young life.

“Trent’s journey is an emotional one, and he brings a lot of emotion to our team,” Wiley said. “Kids know how much he’s gone through and they know how special they want to make his senior year. When you go through the war he’s had to get back on the court, it makes working hard a lot easier.”

While overcoming the loss of his mother took time, the recovery from his torn ACL still continues today, and Halvorson hopes to be back to 100 percent as the season progresses.

Halvorson has gotten nothing but support and encouraging words from his Overlake teammates and coaches. Wiley knows he is lucky to have Halvorson as a role model for the program, to prove that hard work goes a long way.

“I think guys have a lot of respect for how much he has had to work to get to this point,” Wiley said. “It makes it easy for them to put in the extra work for us to be better.”

Halvorson, who said his only personal goal for this season is “to stay healthy,” freely admits that he has learned from his hardships, and will use his experiences to better the team.

“With the situation with my mom, it really taught me maturity, responsibility, and that you can’t take anything for granted,” Halvorson said.

A SENIOR LEADER

Back on the court with an improved jump shot and renewed intensity, Halvorson is ready to end his prep career with a bang, and make up for lost time.

“I felt one thing we were missing (last year) was the vocality,” he said of last year’s 10-10 team. “I did my best to take that role last year, but with my injuries, it was really hard (because) I wasn’t able to work with the team as much. This year, I just want to bring that vocal leadership back. We have three great captains and I think we’ll be very successful.”

According to Wiley, who has been at the helm of the Owls’ team for 15 years, what makes Halvorson great is his versatility, and willingness to get the job done.

A true all-around player, he may not light up the scoreboard or get noticed as much as an offensive superstar, but Halvorson’s coach isn’t afraid to say that his 6-foot wingman is one of the league’s best.

“He’s a very good, confident jump shooter, and when he’s healthy he’s a good defender and can really get on the glass,” Wiley said. “He just does a lot of things really well. He’ll have some points here and there, but he’ll just fill up the stats sheet. He does what is needed.”

As the Owls, 0-1 in Emerald City League play and 4-2 overall, head into 2010 in search of a postseason berth, Halvorson took time to reflect on how much the support from his friends and teammates has meant to him in the past year.

“I thank every one of my teammates, they’re all there to be supportive of every one of us,” he acknowledged. “We’ve really understood that we’re a team and that we have to work together. Without any one of the guys, we’re not that team.”

And Wiley, a well-respected, fiery coach who has been around basketball longer than his current players have been alive, lauded Halvorson for helping put high school sports in perspective, a valuable lesson for the kids in his program.

“Trent is a great kid, who just through his journey alone, reminds us to put basketball in its proper perspective–it’s just supposed to be a fun thing, a nice release from the troubles and stresses of the everyday world,” Wiley said. “Trent enjoys basketball because it’s fun, and sometimes as coaches and even as players in high school, we make the game too much of a job. He’s out there trying to have fun, and it rubs off on everyone.”