By Ted Waddell
HANCOCK — January 10, 2006 – The old adage “Break a leg” might be just fine before a stage performance, but before a basketball game, it’s no laughing matter.
About 15 minutes before the start of Friday night’s Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division VI girls’ basketball game between the Eldred Lady Yellowjackets and the home team Lady Falcons of The Family Foundation School, both teams were out on the court warming up as usual.
As several Lady Yellowjackets contested a rebound off the glass, Megan Kean, the team’s starting shooting guard and daughter of Coach Frank Kean, crashed to the floor. In the mixup, Kayla Bozan accidently tripped Marla Parisio, who then accidently fell on Megan Kean’s left leg, fracturing it.
“I heard it crack right away, and it really hurt,” Megan, a 15-year-old ECS sophomore, said in a telephone interview a couple of days later.
In the wake of the accident, Megan Kean was taken off the court in a wheelchair from the nurse’s office, and transported to Wilson Regional Medical Center in Johnson City for x-rays and a cast.
“I got home about 11:30 [p.m.], and they said the cast will be on for about two months,” she said.
Frank Kean, veteran coach of dozens of Eldred girls’ varsity basketball squads over the years, watched it all happen from the sidelines.
“It was difficult for me at first, seeing that she is my daughter,” he said. “I was very concerned, and once she told me she heard it crack, I knew by looking at it that it broke. I could tell by her agony and screaming… but it never broke through the skin.
“Then all my concentration went on her instead of the ball game,” he added.
After things settled down a bit and Coach Kean went to the hospital with his daughter, Eldred Assistant Boys’ Basketball Coach Charlie Donnelly stepped up to guide the Lady Yellowjackets. During halftime, he ran the players through some practice drills on the floor, driving home a few pointers that almost won the contest for the Lady Yellowjackets.
However, The Family School defeated Eldred 25-18 in a game that was marred by the freak accident.
At the close of the opening quarter, the score was tied 4-4. But in the second period, the Lady Falcons went on a 14-4 scoring run to take an 18-8 lead at halftime.
In the third period, it looked like Eldred (3-2, 0-1 Div. VI) was going to turn the game around. The Lady Yellowjackets outpaced The Family School by a 10-2 margin to cut the Lady Falcons’ advantage to 20-14 heading into the final frame.
But the Lady Yellowjackets’ comeback attempt fell a bit short as The Family School (3-7, 1-0 Div. VI) edged them 5-4 in the fourth quarter.
Kristin Schroeder led The Family School offense with a game-high 21 points.
The high scorers for Eldred were Lori Henry and Parisio, each of whom finished with five points.
According to Frank Kean, seniors Ayla Kelty and Brittany Borstelmann will be filling in at the shooting guard position for Megan for the rest of the season.
“It seems like our average went from 48 points a game to 21 points a game the last two games,” said Frank Kean, talking about the loss to The Family School and a 40-23 defeat at the hands of Tuxedo on Saturday. “I think the injury has been in the minds of the girls, and it has upset them.”