Rylie Sewell had an almost out of body experience when she stepped on the basketball court last Thursday.

And a night she won’t soon forget.

Sewell, a Yorkville senior, has missed her entire season with a torn ACL in her knee suffered last April playing soccer. She’s stayed connected to the team, though. Sewell does drills every day in practice, and has taken on a managerial role during games.

She was finally cleared by her doctor the last week of January, and got into a game for Yorkville’s Senior Night last Thursday.

“Honestly, it felt unreal,” said Sewell, who plans to attend Illinois State and major in social work. “It was crazy to be back on the floor, especially after tearing my ACL and not being able to play the entire season. Before the game my teammates hyped me up so much. They were so excited to see me back on the floor. I was very nervous during the game. Every time I touched the ball everybody was freaking out.”

Sewell said that she and her mom begged her doctor a week before Senior Night to clear her to get on the floor, even for one play. Finally, one day her mom pulled her out of her class with the news they had been waiting for.

“We both started crying,” Sewell said.

Sewell, whose worst previous injury was a sprained ankle, hurt her knee in the first five minutes of the Yorkville soccer team’s first game against Oswego last spring. Her foot got caught on a hole in the field as she tried to change directions and her knee immediately snapped. She had surgery in June, didn’t do anything in the summer, and finally returned to the basketball team in the fall.

“I’ve never not felt a connection to the team,” Sewell said. “I’ve been playing with these girls, some of them for four years, most of them for 2-3 years. Whether I am on the floor or not nothing has ever changed.”

The season has felt as normal as possible for Sewell by showing up every day for practice. She hasn’t been able to scrimmage five-on-five but typically does a lot of shooting and ballhandling drills, and some light contact.

“She’s been great,” Yorkville coach Kim Wensits said. “In the last week or two she got cleared for contact, practiced with us full go Monday, aside from that she’s taken on a managerial role, doing stats on the bench, doing stats in practice, jumping in and playing dummy defense. It was nice for her to be able to get in a game with Senior Night and a special moment for her and the team.”

Plano freshman coming on strong

It has been a grind this season for Plano (3-25), which has played almost the entire season without a senior. But there is reason to believe the future is bright.

The reason for optimism starts with Josie Larson. The Plano freshman is averaging 10 points and 7 rebounds over the Reapers’ last eight games. On the season Larson leads Plano in total rebounds (120), offensive rebounds (42) and free throw percentage (65.9), while averaging 6.2 points, second on the Reapers to junior Ryssa Woodhouse’s 7.8.

“She’s come on strong lately,” Plano coach Dave Lay said. “She’s leading with energy and effort and attacking the basket. She started off strong, we knew there would be bumps in the road but she’s come on strong. It’s really exciting to see the player she can be.”

It shouldn’t surprise that Larson, one of 4-5 freshmen who dress for Plano’s varsity, needed an acclimation period. Plano’s middle school did not have a basketball season last school year because of COVID, so the last time Larson played organized basketball was in seventh grade.

“High school is a whole new speed,” Lay said. “It’s a big jump normally but especially when you didn’t play an eighth grade season. What she’s done is impressive. She’s a hard worker and loves the game. We envisioned her to be in our top five from day one. Her all-around game, her intelligence, she’s always listening, understands where to be. She has a willingness to work and get better.”

Lay is excited in general about this year’s freshman class. Of the 13 girls who have typically dressed this season, seven are juniors and 4-5 are freshmen.

“As soon as the season ended last year we started having open gyms and it wasn’t uncommon to see 9-10 freshmen,” Lay said. “I think they have bought into our vision of being a really good class by senior year. When you go through tough seasons, the losing is hard, but when you see the potential of what we can be it’s really exciting.”

Newark hoping to extend regional streak

Newark (17-8) will have the opportunity to extend two streaks next week in regionals. The Norsemen, at the Class 1A Dwight Regional, will be shooting for their fifth consecutive regional title. With two wins, and at least one win this week, Newark can also reach 20 wins for the fifth straight full season – not including last school year’s condensed slate.

Newark likely will face Earlville in a regional final, and the two are no strangers. Newark beat Earlville 55-33 on Monday, after winning 58-30 in the Little Ten Conference Tournament. Kellie Snyder had 16 points and 10 rebounds, Taylor Kruser 11 points and Lindsey Hatteberg seven points, four assists and three steals in the win Monday.

“To beat a team three times in four weeks could be a little difficult so I told the girls we had to come out like the last time we beat them is for real. The girls played well,” Newark coach PJ McKinney said. “Taylor hit three threes and we hit seven threes as a team. That a tough scorer and I had Kellie my do everything player that can guard pretty much every position guarded her and everybody helped on the ball screens. We shut her down a little bit. It was a nice win and a confidence booster going into regionals.”

On the season KJ Friestad leads Newark with 10 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, while Snyder is averaging 9.3 points and a game-high 12.1 rebounds. Five Newark girls average at least 5.2 points.

“I need all five. We don’t have an All-State player but we do have five players that can be scoring options that everybody has to guard,” McKinney said. “I feel like we’re peaking at the right time. We’re looking forward to regionals and hopefully getting out of that and having a sectional fairly close at Hinckley-Big Rock.”