WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Abbey Jewart sat on the bench in late December at Mercer High School, her right foot elevated and encased in ice.
She trembled in despair.
Jewart, a 5-foot-3 junior point guard on the Moniteau girls basketball team, feared her season was over.
The trainer at Mercer had just given her some sobering news: she was almost certain Jewart had broken a bone in her foot during a scramble for the basketball.
Jewart was understandably devastated.
“As soon as she said that, I got out my phone and started Googling if it’s broken, how long would I be out? Would I be able to come back this season?” Jewart said.
She didn’t like what the search results were telling her.
“I was like, ‘OK. I need to stop doing this,’” Jewart said.
What happened next was a strange odyssey filled with uncertainty, an unexpected finding in an X-ray, and a recent triumphant return to the court.
When Jewart returned to Moniteau the next day, the Warriors’ trainer examined the her. She told Jewart that she needed to get an X-ray to see if there was a broken bone in the swollen foot.
Jewart still had significant pain and couldn’t put weight on her foot, let alone walk.
When the X-rays came back, Jewart was in for a shock.
“So, it’s actually interesting,” Jewart said, chuckling before pausing. “They were worried about my navicular bone, which is on the inside of your foot. I actually found out that I have an extra navicular bone. That was the one that was injured.”
The X-ray was also inconclusive if there was a break or not because of the swelling.
There was a good chance, however, that there was a fracture in Jewart’s extra navicular growth.
Jewart was in limbo. She wore a walking boot and awaited an MRI.
That test provided some good news. It wasn’t broken, but the tissue around the bone was still inflamed.
The prescription was rest.
Finally, a month after she left the game against Sharon at the Mercer Tournament, Jewart was cleared to play again. She scored two points in limited action against Sewickley Academy on Jan. 28.
On Thursday against Cranberry, she scored 11 points.
Saturday against West Shamokin, Jewart got her first start since returning.
“The game I came back, that was a great day,” Jewart said. “It was just pure smiles whenever I got to tell the trainer was was cleared. It was a great feeling. It was a lot of fun being with my team again and helping them out.”
Moniteau coach Dee Arblaster said she also feared the worst when Jewart initially went down.
“It sounded like we weren’t going to get her back,” Arblaster said. “I was prepared to not have her back.”
In Jewart’s absence, sophomore Sophia Fleeger played well and Moniteau was able to win seven in a row.
That streak has now reached 10 straight with Jewart back in uniform.
Even when she wasn’t able to play, Jewart was still a fixture on the bench, supporting her teammates.
“Having her back was a big boost for us,” Arblaster said. “I started her on Saturday for the first time and I was a little hesitant about that, not because of her, but because we’ve been playing so well.
“She’s a calming presence, in the game or out of the game,” Arblaster said. “She kind of holds us together.”
Jewart is hopeful her foot holds together.
She is still dealing with pain and discomfort and her doctor told her that a wrong step could result in a break that would sideline her for the rest of the season.
Jewart, who always plays 100%, isn’t backing off. She’s not going to let the possibility of further injury stop her.
“I mean, anything can go wrong with anybody at any time,” Jewart said. “One wrong step and someone can blow out a knee. It’s hard to think about, so I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.”
So Jewart will do what she always has done. Handle the ball. Hit clutch 3-pointers. Be a calming, motivational presence for the rest of her surging team that has some big goals the rest of the way.
“Speaking for my team, we’re very, very excited for these last two weeks of the regular season,” Jewart said. “We have some big games and I think we have improved a lot as a team as the season’s gone by.”
One thing this experience has taught Jewart is not to take anything for granted.
It could be over. In a blink of the eye.
“Injuries always help an athlete regain their love for the sport,” Jewart said. “I’ve always had such a deep love for basketball and, you know, not being able to play for a month really just helped me rediscover that love for it and how much I really appreciate getting the opportunity to play.”
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