Port Clinton's DC Lanier finds peace in basketball, music

Few people are comfortable being vulnerable.

Vulnerability, however, is a key factor in stardom. Graduate Da'Cariya Lanier loves two things — basketball and singing — and her composition was music to the ears of Port Clinton fans in both realms.

Lanier is among athletes in this year's Michael K. Bosi stories to recognize outstanding career or season achievement in high school. The award is named for the late News-Messenger sports writer who died in 1997 at age 23 from cardiac complications because of Marfan Syndrome.

"The atmosphere in the gym is therapeutic," she said. "The chaos. With choir, the calmness is therapeutic. With either one, I find peace."

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She didn't always embrace being the center of attention, but she always thrived in the spotlight. She actually wanted to be vulnerable, and she recognized the rewards of courage under pressure.

"Acapella, your voice is the music," she said. "Sometimes, I had a solo. Maybe basketball I'm more comfortable. I am now OK with being vulnerable in certain situations because of those things. I used to be shy. I didn't make eye contact.

"I couldn't be on the phone with you right now without basketball and choir. As soon as I found something I loved, I became more vocal and more confident."

She makes her own music on a MacBook she got for the purpose a few years ago, including original lyrics. She sang the national anthem before a basketball game with Port Clinton's Touch of Class.

"Sometimes it's stressful, and you want a little break," she said of basketball. "Everything I go through in life, that's where I go to — music. That gets me alive as well."

She shares the passion with her mother LaToya Pearson and sisters Cin'Ara Hicks and Ke'Ari Lanier.

"My mom has the most beautiful voice," Lanier said. "That's my mom's legacy, music. We're her babies; music means the world to her, so it means a lot to me. She'll leave that for us. We'll (always) have her songs."

On the court, Lanier established 10 program records, including 1,687 points for her career. Adam Thorbahn scored 1,502 points for the boys mark, and Lindsay Mann finished with 1,407 points for the girls in 1994.

"I always wanted to be really good at something," she said. "Odell Beckham or LeBron James. It didn't matter; one of them. I got rid of football, and my angle was to be my best (at basketball). It truly does mean the world. Sometimes, I can't believe I did it myself.

"It's something I dreamed of as a kid, and it actually happened."

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Lanier was also a game-changer on defense, with 311 steals for her career, including 91 as a junior. She canned 193 3-pointers for her career, including 56 as a senior and 51 as a junior.

"Hard work pays off, no matter what," she said. "Every time I put my all in, I get a good result. Studying … a lot of stuff is hard to accomplish, you just have to work hard to make those things happen."

She dropped in 49 3-pointers as a freshman. Up until that point, she wasn't a shooter.

"My stepdad (Demetrius Brown) had me out all the time during COVID," she said. "It frustrated me. Fifty-thousand shots made, mostly 3s. I went to school, and I became a shooter. That took a lot, it paid off, it was pretty cool.

"I've been a decent shooter in high school. I have work to do."

Lanier achieved her primary goal, cutting down a net rather than scorching it, as she helped Port Clinton beat the top seed for a tourney crown as a senior.

"Winning a sectional championship was the high," she said. "That was always something we wanted to do. The best part was the manifestation and practicing hard and it finally happened. We worked and we wished and it happened.

"I'm not worried about the program. They're going to do more good things. They've gotten so much better. Freshman Thea Wybensinger reminds me of myself."

Lanier is a refreshing role model, and she didn't take her status as Port Clinton's Caitlin Clark for granted.

"I added an opportunity to score and be a team player," she said of expanding her shooting range and dishing out 4.1 assists. "I'm more proud of the impact I had on the kids. I hear them on the street, 'DC is so good.' That is so cool.

"I love basketball, and girls should make more of an impact. I'm proud I could do that in this little town."

Lanier started to play basketball when she was 6. She played at Bataan Elementary for hours as though it were her job.

"Every day with the older boys," she said. "They let me play. I missed the street lights (curfew) and always forgot to check in."

She stopped playing AAU before junior year. She was committed to remaining at Port Clinton.

"People said I could get a Division I scholarship if I went there," she said. "Coaches told me to come there. Port Clinton is my home. The community is like no other. They raised money for me to go to Australia. They always supported me and watched me play.

"They started supporting me as a kid in football. I was that person they came to watch. I never thought of leaving. It will always be my home. I love this community so much."

She's always had a purpose.

"I thought I could make a difference being there," she said. "They won one game, two games before I came. We won five games, eight games, 15 games, 17 games. I knew I could make a difference. I did. It was God's timing.

"As a junior, I scored 1,000 points, I'm averaging 20 points per game, and I have no offers. It got in my head a bit. I tried to do my best each year and try to be better than the year before. I did that a little bit."

Lanier, who was outstanding performer in the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division as a senior, continues her career at Siena Heights University.

"I'm blessed with the opportunity to play the sport I love," she said. "I'll give it my all. I look forward to making my way to the top with new teammates and new coaches and I was blessed to be able to give it another shot."

Port Clinton was first drawn to Lanier when she led Port Clinton Braves football in touchdowns for two years, while playing every position except lineman.

At 5-foot, 2-inches tall, she has lateral quickness and the ability to get downhill with the ball in her hands on grass or hardwood.

Basketball and choir have many similarities that transfer.

"The performance part," Lanier said. "Performing in front of a lot of people, you're vulnerable. The practice. What I want people to remember, I never gave up. A concert or sport, I was sick, I always showed up. It's never too late.

"That's the legacy I want to leave; girls putting their all in and never giving up."

mhorn@gannett.com

419-307-4892

X: @MatthewHornNH

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Port Clinton's DC Lanier finds success, peace in basketball, choir