A broken right thumb forced Niles West senior Julia Easter to miss six girls basketball games last month.
It marked the first time in her high school career that an injury kept the three-year varsity starter away from competition.
“I guess I had been waiting to get injured,” Easter joked.
The 5-10 starting forward and a team captain returned to action Friday for the first time since Jan. 13, but her presence wasn’t enough as the Wolves lost to Central Suburban South-leading New Trier 61-35. Easter, who was cleared to practice two days before the game, didn’t start and played less than half of the game while wearing tape around her wrist and thumb.
“I felt comfortable out there,” said Easter, who injured herself during a drill at practice on Jan. 14. “I really didn’t think about my thumb. I don’t think it affected me too much.
“I was a little winded, but I felt like I could have played longer than I did.”
Easter said she’s just happy to be back playing basketball. The Wolves, who close out the regular season at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Maine South, went 3-3 without her in the lineup.
“It was hard missing all of those games, and I was afraid I might not be ready in time for the playoffs,” said Easter, who plans to play college ball at St. Norbert, a Division III program in De Pere, Wisconsin.
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Last week, Niles West earned the No. 8 seed for the Class 4A Glenbrook South Sectional. The Wolves open the playoffs at home at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Taft.
Niles West coach Tony Konsewicz said the Wolves missed Easter’s offense.
“Julia is always a threat to score,” he said. “She’s capable of shooting outside and capable of taking the ball to the basket. The team also missed her leadership.”
Easter said the most challenging part has been regaining her shooting form. The broken thumb was on her shooting hand. She said the first day she took shots after the injury “was pretty scary, pretty rough.”
“I probably air-balled like five shots,” she said of the Feb. 4 session. “It felt better the next day and then again Friday.”
After attempting one field goal and missing Friday, Easter was much improved Saturday, making seven three-pointers in a row at one point during practice.
“[Saturday] was the first day it didn’t hurt to shoot,” she said. “I’m getting better and better.”
Twitter: @harnesspreps