Pelham hurts knee, likely out for year
While in the process of picking up their first district win of the season Tuesday night, the Lady Pioneers lost one of their most potent offensive weapons.
Junior guard Leanne Pelham suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament late in the fourth quarter, and will miss the remainder of the 2002-03 season.
“It’s tough,” Lady Pioneer coach Ann Eades said Thursday. “You’re losing your leading scorer, your leading rebounder and the floor leader of this ball team.
“She’s certainly crushed about this. She’s worked very hard, and turned her game up these last six or seven games. But she’s a very hard worker, and I have no doubt she’ll take this, work through it, and come back stronger than ever.”
With 2:27 to play in Tuesday’s game and the Lady Pioneers clinging to a two-point lead, Pelham put up a jump shot from the free-throw line at Lebanon’s Campbell Brandon Gymnasium.
Hitting the floor, the junior collapsed and grabbed her left knee, and play was immediately halted as athletic trainers rushed to her aid. After leaving the gym momentarily, Pelham returned to the bench during the final moments of the Lady Pioneers’ 48-47 victory, and had her knee wrapped in ice after leaving the locker room.
An MRI was scheduled for Thursday, but Eades said doctors are so certain of the ACL tear that they’re preparing to schedule Pelham for surgery.
The Lady Pioneers have been no strangers to knee injuries recently, as players Sallie Slatton and Heather Frazier are both sidelined, and post Tia Williams has seen limited action throughout the year after tearing her ACL last season.
“This is the fourth one, and we’ll have to regroup again and keep playing harder,” Eades said. “But I’m confident we can do it.”