MURRAY — Like most teenage girls, Vanessa Hutson worries about hairstyles.
But unlike other 16-year-olds bothered by a bad hair day, such a frustration is a small footnote in the story of her life.
She's intimately familiar with devastating losses and terrorizing worries — scenarios many adults have yet to consider.
And yet it was another of Hutson's inner emotions and not just athletic talent that helped one of the state's most talented basketball players lead her young Brighton team to its first state title last year and this year's 5A top ranking.
That intangible? It was love.
There was a time when the most remarkable trait about Hutson was her athletic ability. Her parents started her in gymnastics, which quickly consumed her free time. Her coach believed she'd be an Olympian some day, and her parents planned for it. Then she came to them, telling them she felt her talent was not on a balance beam but on the basketball court.
Though her coach objected, her parents bowed to their daughter's wishes, and she quickly showed them that the Olympics might still be a possibility — just in another sport.
Life back then was simple for the developing star. She played, she dominated and she loved her family and friends. She worried about the typical teenage stuff, and even about losing her parents. Her mother had been sick most of her life, falling ill with diabetes when she was pregnant with Vanessa's younger brother, Ryley. That was the time when Hutson felt the worst thing that could happen to her would be to lose her mom.
"Anytime she left, she'd say, 'Don't get hurt or die' " Lisa Hutson recalls. "She'd been saying that since she was a little girl."
But then May of her freshman year brought the kind of pain that changes everything, including how she viewed her mother's possible death.
At home the same day after being told she'd need emergency eye surgery because of diabetes-caused high blood pressure, Lisa Hutson received a phone call from Brighton coach Jim Gress, saying that Jara Ludlow — Vanessa's best friend and teammate and the reason she opted to attend Brighton over Murray — had been killed in a car accident.
"I had to go to the school and tell her all of this in one day," Lisa Hutson said. "She went with Jara's friends, and I had surgery."
In the aftermath of the accident, Vanessa Hutson struggled to deal with Ludlow's death while Lisa Hutson's health deteriorated rapidly. A year later, the mother sees the daughter's journey as a valuable one.
"In some ways it was good for her," said Lisa Hutton. "She'd never had to deal with death or anything like that. I knew that if something did happen to me, she could deal with it. She'd learned that life goes on."
The 4.0 student remembers the moment she realized that losing her mother would not be the worst thing she might have to endure.
"I remember going into my room after looking at my mom in that hospital and telling myself that it's better to not have her in pain than to have to sit there and watch her suffer every single day," the junior point guard said.
As Hutson and her teammates decided to dedicate their season to Ludlow, Lisa Hutson's health spiraled into very terrifying lows. She became blind in one eye, and quickly it became clear that if she didn't get a kidney transplant, she would die. Then right before the state tournament, her other eye hemorrhaged, and doctors scheduled her for surgery right after the tournament.
"I just remember telling Ness, 'You have to win because it's probably the last game I'll ever see,' " said Lisa Hutson, choking back emotion and squeezing her daughter's hand. "And that's been true. I had just enough vision left that I could see what was happening."
While Brighton players wore Ludlow's number, Vanessa Hutson had double the motivation. The eventual 5A MVP led her team to a comeback win against Skyline and the school's first girls basketball title. In the four games it took to win the title, Hutson showed why she is one of the most highly recruited girls basketball players in the state.
"You just knew she was going to do something great," her mother said. "She was born with little muscles, and she's always been athletic. I had the feeling she was destined to do something really good because she can influence so many people. She has friends from every walk of life."
Her coach called Hutson the best athlete he's coached in his 23 years of teaching sports.
"Her dedication and her attitude about things make her so good," Gresh said. "The things she can do on the court are amazing. I never worry about her mentally. I worry about her family, and I try to support her. But she's very tough."
Her father, Don, said he believes basketball has been more than a game to the very driven teen.
"It's been a form of therapy for her," he said.
Vanessa smiles at her dad, adding, "It's my medicine."
Whatever basketball means to Hutson, the two-time All-State player will make her mark on the game. She already has boxes full of letters from colleges like Duke University. She said she has no idea where she'll end up and that she's not worried about the pressure-filled decision.
"I read the letters and respond to every school," she said. I want to keep every option open. I think I'm very lucky, and I'm very blessed because of the people around me."
Lisa Hutson's health has improved since several summer surgeries, including one where Vanessa stayed by her side continuously, giving up a California tournament with a summer team.
"My favorite place is home," she said. "I don't feel anger (about the difficulties). I actually find it as a gift given to me. I know others don't see it that way, but it's made me stronger. Sometimes I have to do different things that other teenagers don't have to do, but it's a positive thing. I feel very, very blessed."
E-MAIL: adonaldson@desnews.com