#SDSportsAwards, Comeback player: Duana Lee’s strengths help define her

Unless you were looking, it would probably take you a while to notice.

Duana Lee is a Viborg-Hurley grad who played varsity volleyball and basketball for the Cougars. She was a dangerous three-point specialist who formed a potent combination with guard Abby Hora, who would suck the defense in and kick to Lee for an open shot.

Lee will be remembered for her place on the Cougars and their 17-4 record in 2015-16. The obstacles she’s had to overcome – being taken in as a foster child at four years old, being born without a right hand – are part of her, but they don’t define her. Because of that, she has been named the South Dakota Sports Awards Comeback Player of the Year, sponsored by Sen. John Thune.

Viborg-Hurley girls basketball head coach Bill Hansen first noticed Lee’s talent when she was in junior high, and by her sophomore year, she was ready for varsity basketball.

Hansen said he didn’t have to coach her differently or accommodate her: She went along with every drill and exercise just like every other player on the team.

MORE: See other winners of the S.D. Sports Awards

“She never wanted special treatments, like (in) dribbling drills (or) doing stuff like that,” Hansen said. “If they were doing something, she would just go right along with them, so you didn‘t notice anything different about her. And that was her personality. She didn’t want people to give her special treatments in that situation.”

It was Lee’s strengths, rather than her handicaps, that defined her role with the Cougars. She shot 39 percent on 3-pointers as a senior, giving Hora a consistent target as a distributor. When Hora scored the basket that put her over 2,000 points for her career, it was Lee providing the assist.

Lee and Hora are best friends off the court as well, and with Hora going to Augustana and Lee planning to attend USF, they won’t be far apart in college.