Back from back injury, Brooke Long ready to lead Hendersonville
HENDERSONVILLE – It had been a while since Brooke Long faced that kind of pressure situation. She dealt with plenty of recent adversity, just not on the basketball court.
After watching from the sidelines for four weeks, Hendersonville's leading scorer stepped to the free-throw line in crunch time of a two-point game.
In her absence, her girls' basketball team struggled through inconsistent play, piling losses and a mid-season coaching change. Now her ailing back was finally healthy enough to play.
And her shooting stroke proved just as fit. She sunk both free throws to help clinch a win over her team's biggest rival.
"The pressure kind of got to me throughout the game, but at that point I was just calm," Long said after Hendersonville's 41-38 upset victory over District 9-AAA regular-season champion Beech on Friday.
Long's knack for rising to meet the challenge kicked into gear – and just in time too. The Commandos host the district tournament starting Wednesday and will need their senior leader in top form.
She looked pretty darn close to that against Beech despite the long hiatus, Hendersonville head coach John Filson said.
"I thought the Gallatin game (on Tuesday, Long's first competition since Jan. 9) – any time you've been out that long there's a little bit of knocking the rust off," said Filson, who took over for suspended Hendersonville head coach Drew Johnson late last month. "I felt like she was back to her old form tonight."
It's been a whirlwind month and a half for Long, who's enjoyed some memorable highs and endured forgettable lows. The stretch started when she topped the 1,000-point plateau on Dec. 28. It wasn't long after that a nagging pain in her back started to grow worse.
Doctors at first thought she'd fractured a vertebrae, she said. After further testing they settled on a bulging disc.
The prescription for relief was time. Stepping out on the court this past week felt after so much forced rest felt like the beginning of a new season, apt considering the Commandos now enter the postseason.
"That's basically what it is," said Long, who plans to run track next year at Lee University after graduation. "I kind of feel like I haven't been here for a while. When I got my 1,000 points, that seems like so long ago. But now we're starting over from scratch and everyone is welcoming me back in."
Naturally, Hendersonville is happy to have to have her, even if it's in a slightly different role moving forward.
As Long regains her strength, she fits into a lineup that's had to evolve and adapt during her absence. Maybe that's been a hidden blessing though, Filson said.
"She played a role she's not used to playing, which is not being the focus all the time," Filson said of Long's 12-point performance against Beech, which was still a team-high total, "but she made things happen in her way. She's just a rare athlete."