By Malcolm Butler
Mallory Smith said she heard a pop.
Never a good sign when an athlete goes down with a knee injury.
It came during the first half of the Lady Cougars heart-breaking 43-42 loss to Carroll in the Neill Kilgore Memorial Tournament back on December 8 at The Brickhouse.
Smith said she was scrambling after a loose ball with a Carroll defender and just found herself in an awkward position. And then the dreaded sound.
“I heard it pop, and it really scared me,” remembered the Lady Cougars junior guard. “Everything started going through my mind, like was I going to be out for the entire season?”
Smith had gotten off to a solid start, scoring in double figures in seven of the first nine games of the year, including 19 against Sam Houston and 16 against Saline.
And then in that one moment on a hustle play, the rest of her season was in jeopardy. Smith wasn’t the only one that was afraid of the worst.
“When it happened, I saw her face immediately and I thought it was worse than what it was,” said head coach Katie Hall. “I thought it was an ACL the way she fell and by her reaction.”
The days following the fall were pure agony for Smith as she waited for the results from imaging done on the knee. She saw an orthopedic specialist the following day but Smith said the doctor didn’t exactly ease her concern.
“He didn’t rule out ACL at first,” said Smith. “There was still a chance of it, and that was the scariest thing.”
It took a few days for the images to be read and the diagnosis to be given to the Lady Cougars guard and her parents.
Meanwhile, Hall was also figuring out what life without Smith may mean for the Lady Cougars.
“I thought we have to figure out a way to win without her,” said Hall. “We struggled to get our offense going without her. We missed her tremendously in that aspect. She is the engine that got us going and sparked everyone around her, when she is hitting shots and getting steals and layups. We feed off of that and I felt like we missed that piece when she was out.”
However, the final prognosis was promising. It wasn’t a season-ending injury.
And less than two weeks after the injury, Smith returned to the court wearing a knee brace after missing just four games. And although she scored just four points in a December 21 loss to Summerfield, she was back.
“I was proud of her for being tough and wanting to come back so soon,” said Hall. “She came back quicker than I thought she was going to. Even though I could tell she was favoring that knee, she wanted to be out there. She was like, ‘I got this.'”
And got this she has. Smith has shown signs of returning to the offensive spark she was before the injury, including a career-high 23 points in the Lady Cougars 55-49 upset victory over Castor on January 9.
But she saved her biggest moment for the biggest game of the season. After watching district rival OCS rally from an 18-point fourth quarter deficit last night to take a 2-point lead with under 20 seconds to play, Smith calmly drained a three-pointer with 13 ticks left on the clock to give the Lady Cougars the 58-57 win.
It completed a 19-point effort by Smith.
“That’s kind of what Mallory does,” said Hall. “Big moments don’t phase her. She loves to compete and she knows how to put the ball in the basket. I was impressed with her mentality in that moment. That was a big-time shot by her.”
For the season Smith is averaging 11 points with 10 double digit scoring games. She is also one of the defensive sparks, especially with the Lady Cougars utilize a full-court press.
“Mallory is instant offense,” said Hall. “She comes in and can make things happen. She can score through contact. She can knock down outside shots. We ask a lot of her defensively, but that is an area of her game she continues to work on and can improve.”
In the last five games, Smith has recorded 13 steals, including three steals in four of those five games. For the season, she is one of the team leaders in steals and deflections despite missing the four games.
“She is learning the different defensive concepts, but she is so instinctive,” said Hall. “She has good instincts on defense and gets deflections and some steals, but as a coach, you always want more out of all of your players.”
Smith, who started playing basketball in Upward in the second grade, said she loves the freedom the game provides.
“I really like the freedom of getting to fix your own mistakes,” said Smith. “If you make a mistake, you have a lot of opportunity to do some good things to make up for it.”
After playing sparingly last year as a sophomore, Smith has seen her role grow this season.
“I think her confidence and her role in coming out and scoring,” said Hall. “I think she likes that role. I think she thrives in that. She wants to play. She never wants to come out of the game.”
Despite losing three of its top players, including its top two scorers from last year’s team, the Lady Cougars have surprised many with their solid 12-8 start to the season. And if the team is to reach its ceiling this year, Hall said Smith will be a big reason why.
“Mallory is a big piece of our puzzle,” said Hall. “When she is on and gets rolling, then our team is rolling. I feel strongly about that. When we press, she can really cause some problems for the other team. It kind of starts with her. She is so athletic and she has so much potential. She is such a big part of us reaching our potential.”
