Marlia Matters’ alarm clock starts beeping at 4:45 a.m. every day.

Winter, spring, summer and fall. Rain or shine. No exceptions.

“Every morning when I get up,” Lancaster Catholic’s senior basketball standout said, “it’s literally like an elephant sitting on my chest.”

Matters has classic cystic fibrosis, which not only affects her lung capacity, but her intestines as well. She was diagnosed when she was all of seven days old, and Matters has spent the last 18 years fighting it, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 grueling days a year.

Her daily 5 a.m. routine at the family’s home in New Holland — with dad Jason and mom Paula at the ready to help — includes digesting any number of pills, plus breathing treatments via a nebulizer. Matters also sees a CF specialist in New Brunswick, N.J., every other month, for checkups and more treatments.

She calls her dad her best friend, and her CF specialist her second dad.

“I’ve never known anything else,” Matters said. “This has always been my life. Anything medical-wise, I’ve been doing it forever. Shots. Pills. It’s all I’ve ever known.”

CF and, well, basketball.

Matters was the starting point guard as a sophomore when Catholic went 32-0 and won the Class 4A state championship two years ago. And she played that entire season, and previous and subsequent seasons, battling CF, meaning all of those treatments, and making sure she has enough pills packed in her bag when she leaves the house.

“It’s like breathing through a straw,” Matters said. “But it’s the only breathing I’ve ever known. I don’t know what it feels like to breathe normally. But I never let it stop me.”

Instead, she channels it positively, using it as motivation on the court. Matters is cat-quick from end-line to end-line, and you almost never see her ask to come out of a game, even if she’s winded.

“She never uses it as an excuse,” Catholic coach Charlie Detz said. “She uses it as motivation. She’s not going to let this disease define her and she’s not going to let this disease stop her from being who she wants to be. It’s refreshing to see a young person have that understanding about life, and understanding that life isn’t always fair. You’re going to get dealt setbacks, and you’re going to get knocked down.”

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Matters continues to get right back up. She’s tireless on the basketball court, and is pound-for-pound one of the top defensive specialists in the L-L League and around District Three. She’s guarded everyone’s top-scoring backcourt player for the last three seasons for the Crusaders, and she’s made pretty much all of them feel miserable by the end of the game.

Matters is a pest. And that’s a good thing when you’re talking about defensive-minded players.

“I’ve been told as I’ve grown up that I can’t do this,” Matters said. “That’s why I want to be on the floor. I don’t want to be defined as Marlia, the girl with CF. I just want to be Marlia.”

Marlia the all-star point guard. Marlia the defensive wizard. Marlia the consummate teammate and squad leader. Marlia the good student and better friend.

“I want to keep going and do more,” Matters said. “I want to be a success story.”

Matters got some good news a few months back, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new CF medication called Trikafta. Matters said the drug started working almost immediately, and while she still sticks to her daily routine of baseline medications and breathing treatments, she said she’s feeling better than ever with the help of Trikafta.

And some more good news: Matters this week committed to Widener University, where she’ll study international business and law, and play basketball for the Pride.

“She’s remarkable,” Detz said. “It’s amazing what she’s able to do, and that she does it at such a high level. And she’s been doing it for three years, 30 games a year.”

Every game. Every practice. Every day. Again and again and again — after that 4:45 a.m. wakeup call and all of those treatments.

“I’m 18 and I’ve already seen it all and been through it all,” Matters said, “and that’s where I draw my strength from. I don’t even know how I do this sometimes, to be honest. But I always wanted to play basketball, and I refuse to let CF define me.”

TWITTER: @JeffReinhart77

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