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By Pat Dailey (For OzarkSportsZone.com)
Just as MacKenzie Brunson’s injured right knee proved to be the top storyline in West Plains’ Class 5 Final Four trip this week, injured knees have been a hot topic in her household for quite some time.
“My older sister (Addie) tore her ACL when she was playing and my Dad tore his patella tendon,” McKenzie said. “So, we know knee surgeries.”
Brunson left the Lady Zizzers’ 50-34 loss to Whitfield in the Class 5 final Friday with a feeling she has surgery for a torn ACL in her future.
After injuring her knee in a semifinal Thursday, the senior guard played for nine minutes Friday, before aggravating the injury on an attempted drive to the basket at the 6:39 mark of the second quarter.
She never returned to close out her West Plains career.
“I prayed all night and had so many people praying for me,” said Brunson, a two-time all-stater. “It filled me with confidence having all those prayers coming my way. I may not understand why this happened to me right now. But I’m sure in a few weeks something is going to happen and I’m going to understand and see the bigger picture God has for me.
“This morning, a lot of my adrenaline had went away, so there was more pain and I was sore,” she added. “I went to our shoot-around and felt good. I had it braced up and felt confident in it. I knew I still had to take it easy. I put a lot of trust in my body. It may have failed me. But I’m not upset that I tried. I’m proud of myself for giving an effort.”
“She said she had to try today and I thought she looked good,” coach Scott Womack said. “Her rule was no drives. I think she started to feel comfortable after the first quarter. She came over and said, “Coach, it feels good.’ She was comfortable enough, she wanted to take a drive.”
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Teammate Ashton Judd feared when Brunson left the floor, she wouldn’t get to play again,
“I was right beside her when it happened,” Judd said as she began to tear up. “I heard her scream. So, I kind of knew she wasn’t coming back.”
West Plains (28-4) was in constant comeback mode. Whitfield (24-4) was up by eight, 30-22, at halftime.
The Lady Zizzers rallied to make it 36-33 in the third quarter.
“I was proud of the way the girls were fighting,” Brunson said. “Our town has been saying, “Do it for ‘Kenzie.’ But I wanted them to do it for themselves, too.”
Alas, West Plains managed just one point over the final nine minutes
“I felt good when we got it down to 36-33,” Womack said. “I knew I had played all five of them most of the third quarter. I said, ‘You have eight minutes to give it all you’ve got.’ But I think we got a little gassed. We went dry on the offensive end.”
The Lady Zizzers shot 29 percent in the second half and finished with 17 turnovers.
“Without Kenzie, we didn’t have that other dynamic scorer (to go with Judd),” Womack said.
Meanwhile, Whitfield’s Treazure Jackson scored eight of her 10 points in the second half. Whitfield shot 50 percent in both halves.
“Their penetration hurt us. We were getting beat off the dribble too much,” Judd said. “Turnovers really hurt us, too. They were things we couldn’t overcome. We had all the talent to be there. I still think we should have won the game.”
Judd finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.
Judd is looking forward to the Lady Zizzers making another run at a state championship during her senior year next season.
“That’s the new goal. We want to come back and finish business,” she said.
