McHenry defeats Dundee-Crown

The odds were against McHenry senior Nicholas Bellich ever playing competitive basketball again when he woke up in the hospital last November.

His doctor told him before surgery on the damaged meniscus he injured on the fifth day of practice that he if he awoke with an ace bandage on his knee, the damage was minimal and he might return to his third season of varsity basketball in four to six weeks.

If he awoke to a full brace on the knee, however, it meant the meniscus was more badly damaged and rehabilitation would take four to six months, likely ending his high school playing career.

Bellich woke up with the full brace.

Headed to Central Michigan next fall as a student only, he was determined to return to action before season's end, though the doctor put his chances of doing so at about 10 percent.

On Tuesday against Dundee-Crown in Carpentersville, not only did McHenry's veteran point guard buck the odds by returning to the starting lineup earlier than anticipated, he led the Warriors with 11 points in a 55-39 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division win over the Chargers.

Bellich's doctor told him the fastest he'd seen anyone return to play after such surgery was three months. The 5-foot-8, 140-pound gym rat made it back in two months and a week.

"I never thought I was going to play basketball again. It was awesome," said Bellich, who sank 6 of 6 fourth-quarter free throws. "This is something I'm definitely never going to forget. I only have 8 games left in my life. (The doctor) said four to six months and the fastest (recuperation) he said he's seen is three (months). I (had surgery) two months and one week from Monday. So that was pretty fast."

Asked how it felt to see his longtime floor leader back on the court, McHenry coach Tim Paddock's eyes welled with tears as he said "That's what high school sports is all about right there."

Bellich sank a 3-pointer in the second quarter, part of McHenry's 13-0 run to end the first half. The game had been tied 17-17 until that point, but young Dundee-Crown (1-18, 0-7) experienced a field-goal drought that lasted 13:28 and bridged halftime.

McHenry (9-14, 4-3) led 30-17 at the half and 40-21 after three quarters. The Chargers turned the ball over 11 times in the first half.

"We have a tendency to throw the ball to the other team, which I think happened in the second quarter and they got some easy buckets," D-C coach Lance Huber said. "Then we do sometimes have some trouble scoring. I thought a lot of credit goes to McHenry. They played really, really well."