AURORA — Meghan Winters is one of the lucky ones, hardly ever getting sick. Reaching for the tissues and Neosporin is for others.
The Regis junior “was never hurt in her life,” girls basketball coach Carl Mattei said.
That is, not until March 15, when Winters competed in the Class 5A title game in Boulder. For the first time, she was saddled with injury and it was industrial-sized — she tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in her right knee, and partially tore her meniscus.
It just happened. Winters fell along a baseline in the first half and figured she had suffered a sprain. Time was called, she left the court, tried it out on the bench and sideline, then re-entered the game.
But on a possession at midcourt, she went down again — and stayed down.
“I had no clue it was coming,” Winters said. “I felt good and could run and jump and play defense (after collapsing the first time). I don’t know, it just felt weird (the second time she went down). . . . I couldn’t move it.”
Mattei carried her off the court, although Winters wasn’t writhing in pain. No, the real hurt, worse than not being able to help her team in one of the most hotly contested big- school finales of the era, came after an MRI a couple of days later.
Bam! Just like that Winters may as well have been hit over the head with a backboard — she’s looking at seven to nine months of no hoops.
“I kind of tried to prepare myself for something like that,” Winters said, “but it didn’t hit me until afterward that I wouldn’t be playing for a long time.”
Instead of blowing past defenders, Winters blew out a knee. Over a couple of moments and steps, she went from possibly leading her team to a state title — and underlining her status as one of Colorado’s premier players as well as top recruits for the 2008-09 season — to being on the sidelines indefinitely.
As opposed to working on her game this spring and summer, Winters will be working to return to the game this winter.
“I’m nervous,” she allowed.
Chances at recovery are enhanced by her youth, toughness and today’s medical miracles, but this isn’t what Winters had in mind.
That’s the thing, isn’t it? It can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. This could be about Winters playing in a title game or a freshman B competitor in preseason practice. Fact or fate, it’s a turn no athlete from professional football player to impressionable schoolgirl basketballer wants to take.
“It’s my first-ever surgery,” she said.
For high schoolers, physically unable to perform is less fun than taking the CSAP and there’s no good time to be hurt. Their careers last only a maximum of four years, the seasons are short and, in Winters’ case, her offseason preparation for the all-important senior year will be replaced by rebuilding her hoops motor.
Think about it. In the average high school year, the number of breaks, sprains, tears, cuts, pulls, dislocations, contusions and concussions (and worse) would be enough to keep a fair-sized hospital as busy as any of those on prime-time television.
It’s easy to dismiss: No one plays to get hurt, but one can get hurt when playing.
Winters’ father, Brian Winters, a former NBA coach and all-star who was included in the trade that sent Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Los Angeles Lakers, is among those in a large support system of family, teammates, coaches and friends.
Patience, Meghan Winters acknowledged, is required, and she’ll soon find out if she has it. She’ll start putting weight on the knee on Saturday, the first step to coming back.
“It just depends on every person,” she said. “I don’t want to go back too soon. I’m going to take my time.”
Neil H. Devlin: 303-954-1714 or ndevlin@denverpost.com
