On and off the basketball court, Evergreen senior Adrian Wright is seemingly everywhere at once. If Wright, the Plainsmen’s leading scorer, is having an off shooting night, teammates and coaches know they can count on her to do the little things — rebounding, facilitating and playing lockdown defense — that contribute to winning. “That’s my motto … if you’re not hitting shots, I know I can play defense. If I’m not doing this, I know I can get rebounds,” Wright said. “So yeah, it is definitely something I take pride in … because I know that’s what people look at is, how hard you work, how hard you play the entire game.” The parallels extend to other parts of her life. Wright juggles a jam-packed schedule that includes taking college-level classes through Clark College’s Running Start program and working two part-time jobs, all while helping rebuild an Evergreen girls basketball program that’s won back-to-back 3A Greater St. Helens League titles.

The Plainsmen (8-9) are in the hunt for another with three regular-season games left. The standard Wright established prompts Evergreen head coach Charles Neal to offer rare praise for the senior, calling her the hardest worker in the program consistently since she transferred to Evergreen from Union three years ago as a sophomore. “The stuff that she’s doing, the level of responsibility she has, maintains and then manages to excel, I don’t see that very often, male or female, any age,” Neal said. “I know adults that can’t handle the load that she has.” There’s a driving force behind Wright’s busy days. She aspires to be the first person in her family to get a college degree and become a child psychologist. Technically, she’s already a first-generation college student by earning credits through Running Start. “My parents didn’t go to college, my siblings didn’t go to college. One of my brothers did, but not for a very long time. I just really want to go to college, and basketball is something that clears my mind,” Wright said. “I love playing, so to me, it’s not really hard work, it’s just me having fun. … I really just want it, like, I really want to win.”

Wins were few and far between in Evergreen’s program when Wright arrived as a sophomore after the Plainsmen went 1-16 the prior season. Going from an established Union program to Evergreen, Wright admits now, wasn’t her preferred choice at the time. Her move also coincided with Neal, an Evergreen High alumnus, taking over as head coach, and talented incoming freshman Kimora Ross joining the program. “I ended up transferring just due to some family things. It wasn’t really in my power to whether or not I would transfer,” Wright said. “The program, I heard, was not that great of a program in the beginning. I didn’t even know Charles was gonna be here, I didn’t know about Kimora coming in or anything like that. So, honestly, I just came and God just kind of let it all play out.” With Wright as one of the leaders, Evergreen put together an unprecedented one-year turnaround for the program, going from last place in the 3A GSHL to winning the league title for the first time in 43 years.

The Plainsmen replicated the feat in the 2023-24 season and reached the opening round of the Class 3A state playoffs for the first time since 2011. This season, with Wright averaging a team-high 20 points per game, Neal continues to ask more of her. Wright accepts each and every challenge. Evergreen’s roster includes four freshmen — Jayda Rogers, Addison Carter-Young, Courtney Neal and Camryn Holt. For much of the summer season, the Plainsmen’s lineup consisted of those four and Wright. The senior was tasked with being the team’s coach on the floor to help ease the younger players’ transition into high school. Also in the summer, Evergreen players and coaches organized a fireworks stand to raise money for the program. Wright took the lead on creating a promotional video with teammates posted on TikTok and Instagram. They raised more than $20,000 that went toward the purchase of shooting machines for the Evergreen girls and boys programs, as well as new uniforms for the Plainsmen girls.

“I kind of took it as an opportunity to team bond,” Wright said. “We got to have the freshmen there and it was an opportunity to really get to know them and (make) them a part of our program. Really they have a lot (to do) with that too. They were there just as much as me every day.” “She’s been that girl,” Charles Neal added. “She sacrifices a lot of her personal stuff to make sure that she was focused and locked in for the team this year. … That’s just the type of person she is. She has her priorities in a row, and she sticks to the program.” Between basketball, school and part-time work, Wright sometimes feels like she has three jobs. But the fast pace suits her, leaving little time to waste. “I’m not the type of person who likes to just lay around the house and do stuff. So honestly it just keeps me going, keeps me moving all day and I feel like every day is a proactive day,” Wright said.

She’s also made the most of her time at Evergreen, helping elevate a once-struggling program into a model of consistency. Three years later, she has no regrets about moving schools and taking a road less traveled. “I’m just really glad that I ended up coming here,” Wright said, “because I don’t know if I would still be in the same place if I went to Union.”