BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
ALAMO — Under head coach Marissa Gutierrez, the PSJA Memorial Wolverines went from 11 wins in 2015-16 to 22 wins and a playoff appearance in her second season on the job. Two months into this season, injuries have kept the veteran-heavy Wolverines (13-13, 1-2) from a more impressive showing.
Senior point guard Violet Torres missed a significant amount of time after fracturing her right wrist in early November.
“It happened out of frustration,” Torres said. “I was fighting for a loose ball, the other girl got a little aggressive, and that frustrated me. I walked off and took out my frustration on a door.”
The right-handed Torres was forced to work her way around the injury, using her non-dominant hand.
“They didn’t want me doing much. So, I had on a temporary cast for awhile,” Torres said. “Because I wore the cast, I couldn’t do a lot with my right hand. But, I had to find a way to do things with my left hand.”
Torres’ injury sidelined her from game action for six weeks.
“It was tough,” Torres said. “There were so many times where I wanted to play, but this time away from the court actually helped me — probably not skill-wise, but playing smarter. I now have better court vision, to find my teammates quicker. I got to see some of the mistakes we made on the court, and I hope I can learn to be better and not make the same mistakes.”
During the second quarter of PSJA Memorial’s loss to PSJA North on Dec. 15, senior forward Victoria Hernandez banged her head on the hardwood, causing her to leave the game and not return.
“When Victoria got hurt, I was thinking, ‘No, this can’t happen,’” Torres said. “I was already out but Victoria’s another part of our starting five. We thought there would be a lot more adjusting to what we were already doing.”
Hernandez feared she suffered a concussion, but a visit to the doctor the following morning concluded that she had not.
“They had me run on a bike, to see if I felt dizzy or nauseated afterwards,” Hernandez said. “They checked my eyes, to see if bright lights bothered me, and loud sounds if that made me feel differently.”
Hernandez went through the 5-day concussion protocol, which caused her to miss last Tuesday’s game against Edinburg Economedes.
“Given that the doctor did clear Victoria from not having a concussion, it shortened things up a bit,” PSJA Memorial coach Marissa Gutierrez said. “We still have to comply with the protocol here, like every other high school in the state of Texas. We wanted to ease her back into playing, instead of playing her first game back.”
Torres and Hernandez returned to the starting lineup on Friday against Edinburg High. They combined for four points in PSJA Memorial’s 40-23 loss.
“They looked a little winded out there,” Gutierrez said after the game. “Victoria’s still trying to get back into a rhythm. As far as Violet is concerned, she did what she could considering she’s coming back so late into the season.”
Torres and Hernandez both returning to the rotation in December means they could still break new ground with their Wolverine teammates.
“Now that we have Violet and myself back, our team is finally complete,” Hernandez said. “We’re going to come back strong, especially since this is both our senior years.”