Geneva's Santos leaves early with injury
Geneva coach Sarah Meadows had a terrible thought as she walked onto the court in the second quarter of the 22nd annual McDonald's Shootout Saturday to comfort her injured star Ashley Santos.
"I said, 'Oh man, the Santos family, I feel so bad for her," Meadows said.
That's because Ashley's younger sister Sidney, a sophomore, still has yet to play a game at Geneva the past two years with not one by two knee injuries. And with the way Ashley was on the court and holding her knee in obvious pain it looked like another awful break.
That also was the first thought that went through Ashley's mind when she crumbled to the floor with 2:41 left in the second quarter.
"It really scared me, I'm not going to lie," said Santos. "I felt what I thought was a pop. When he (the trainer) checked it out there was no swelling and he didn't say ACL or MCL but there is something wrong."
Santos was retreating on defense with Lincoln-Way East on a 3-on-2 break when her right leg gave out. Santos immediately went down to the ground. Meadows was joined on the court by the trainer and Santos' parents.
Santos eventually was helped off the court by her father. After trainers did a few tests on her right knee and determined her ACL and MCL were OK, Santos remained on the bench for the second half with an ice pack on her knee.
After the game she was walking gingerly with her teammates.
"I'm a little achy at the moment," said Santos, who had 8 points, 5 steals and 2 assists. "I just stopped funny (when the injury occurred). I just stopped and the leg collapsed."
Meadows said she thinks the injury is just below the knee of her Marquette-bound senior. After an impressive 65-55 win over previously unbeaten Lincoln-Way East Saturday, the Vikings have more big games next week including West Chicago on Tuesday and Waubonsie Valley Friday.
"I don't know what her status is," Meadows said. "I don't think it is her knee. I think it is more of a muscle in the calf maybe. Huge week so hopefully she is ready to go but clearly what is the best for her we'll do."
Ahead 34-14 at the time of the injury and playing nearly flawless basketball, Geneva was able to close the game in pretty impressive fashion without Santos.
Sami Pawlak delivered 19 points and 15 rebounds to help lesson the loss while everybody else filled their roles.
"I'm really proud of my team how they finished," Santos said. "We were really ready for the game."
"She obviously has a significant impact on the team but we knew we had to keep up the pace without her," Pawlak said. "We needed to win this game.
"We talked (at halftime) about even though she was down we were still up and we needed to keep the tempo up. Although she is a big part we still have the rest of the team. Everyone on the bench was able to pick up their position."