In volleyball and basketball, athletes are prone to injuring the knee because of overuse. A tendon in the front of the knee, used to straighten the knee is mainly affected by overuse, resulting in patellar tendonitis, or jumper’s knee.
Lyford senior guard/forward Marley Perez picked up the injury in the transition from volleyball to basketball.
“During and after the game, I am in a lot of pain,” Perez said. “It is a sharp pain, and you cannot really put pressure on your foot, even stepping hurts.”
A long run into the third round of playoffs in volleyball and her capabilities on the court as a lengthy scorer that can penetrate to find buckets has slowed down the start of the season for the senior.
Perez is catching fire lately, scoring 18 points in a 50-43 District 32-3A win over IDEA Riverview and reaching 1,000 career points in the process.
“Coming in this year with the injury, I did not think I would get it,” Perez said. “I have been limited on playing time and have missed games. This whole thing was a surprise, so I feel really accomplished and grateful.”
Perez was a key player for the Bulldogs as a junior, scoring 437 points for a Lyford team that won 33 games.
“She has been paying through pain this season,” Lyford head coach Teresa Gutierrez said. “She has that jumper’s knee that flares up on her. There are some games where she is perfectly fine and others it flares up and she is limited. In those games, along with that senior leadership we tend to struggle.”
Perez said she felt good in the win over IDEA Riverview. No flare ups.
“Having Marley on the court is big for us,” Gutierrez said. “Like I said before, we need that senior leadership and having another scoring threat for us is important, especially for a deep run in the playoffs. We definitely need Marley on the court.”
Lyford returns to action after the five-day mandatory break to face Rio Hondo and one of the best scorers in the Rio Grande Valley Eliza Rodriguez in a District 32-3A meeting.
Tip-off is slated for 11:30 a.m. Friday at Lyford High School.