She Faces Her Biggest Challenge : Girls’ basketball: North Hollywood’s Hamilton hopes to recover from severe knee injury and play in college.

When North Hollywood High Coach Rich Allen first saw Nikki Hamilton as a sophomore trying out for the girls’ basketball program, he pegged her for the junior varsity.

“I’m not a JV player,” Hamilton told Allen. “I’m playing on the varsity. Just let me practice with the varsity, and I’ll show you.”

Hamilton proved her point, playing a key role during North Hollywood’s drive to the 1991 City Division 4-A semifinals.

But that challenge doesn’t come close to those she has faced during the last four months.

The senior forward lost two-thirds of her right ring finger in a playground accident last Oct. 3. Six weeks later, she scored the winning basket in North Hollywood’s season-opening 55-54 victory over Washington.

Without missing a beat, Hamilton was leading the Huskies in scoring (14 points per game) and shooting (51%) and was second in rebounding (7.4) when her season ended early in December because of torn knee ligaments.

After undergoing reconstructive knee surgery Wednesday, Hamilton can only dream about her goal of playing college basketball.

“I don’t know why this has happened to me,” she said. “I’ve been working so hard since I was in junior high to become a good basketball player.”

Those moments of frustration, however, are quickly masked by Hamilton’s optimism. Even before her surgery, she was anticipating the rehabilitation program she hopes will allow her to walk on at UCLA in the fall.

“My doctor (James Fox) said: ‘I’ll have you back by next season, wherever you play,’ ” Hamilton said. “I know rehabilitation takes a long time. But I probably will be going to therapy every day, really pushing myself.”

Hamilton, 5 feet 8, had reason to be more optimistic one afternoon last fall when she and a friend arrived at a North Hollywood schoolyard to play basketball.

“I always hopped the fence,” Hamilton said. “I had my class ring on, I went to jump the fence and I felt a tug. I didn’t really feel any pain, but my friend saw the ring fly off and went to get it. I looked down and all the skin on my finger was gone. The finger was all bone.”

Hamilton’s friend rushed her to a hospital, where doctors amputated the first two joints of the finger during two hours of surgery.

“I never thought anything like this could happen to me,” Hamilton said.

The first time Hamilton saw the finger unbandaged, she was stunned.

“It was scary,” she explained. “It was all sutured. My doctor took the bandage off and left the room. I thought, ‘This is the grossest thing I’ve ever seen.’ ”

Initially, doctors told Hamilton she would be unable to play her senior season, but “they didn’t know how tough I am,” Hamilton said.

Doctors quickly changed their prognosis, saying Hamilton might play by the third game of the season. But the North Hollywood senior had her sights set on Washington, the team that beat Huskies in the 1991 City semifinals.

Hamilton had a difficult start. She was bumped going for a rebound and fell on her back.

“I didn’t intend to play her again that night,” Allen said.

But after running some wind sprints to display her condition, Hamilton asked to return, and her coach consented. She went on to score the winning basket.

Hamilton followed that effort with a career-high 24 points in a victory over Sylmar. But her promising start ended after a painful pop against Glendale during the Alemany tournament consolation semifinals.

She had scored 16 points and pulled down 10 rebounds late in the game before her knee buckled on a defensive play.

“My knee twisted and popped out of place,” Hamilton said. “I fell to the ground screaming in pain. I thought, ‘There goes basketball.’ ”

While Hamilton responded to the first accident with determination, family and friends noticed a different reaction to the knee injury. Hamilton acknowledges the positive outlook is more difficult to maintain.

“It’s more frustrating because it’s my leg,” she said. “If I had wanted to, I could have developed a shot with my left hand. But with my leg, I couldn’t even walk for a while, and I still have pain. I still can’t even run.”

Sitting in the stands watching the Huskies (14-6) compete for the Mid-Valley League title is nearly as painful as the injury. But Hamilton clings to her dreams.

“When I stop feeling sorry for myself, I realize there is still college,” she said. “I can play in college if I work really hard and have determination.”