Despite Injuries, Loll Puts Hurt on Opponents

Judging by his current condition, Chris Loll would seem more suited for an easy chair than for playing basketball.

The senior forward from Thousand Oaks High has a severely sprained right ankle, a broken thumb on his left (shooting) hand and a broken jaw--and he’s starting for Air Force.

Not just starting, but averaging 16 points, 18 in seven Western Athletic Conference games.

Last season, his first as a starter, Loll was 100% healthy and averaged 12 points.

“I don’t know what to attribute it to, but it’s certainly not the injuries,” said Loll of his jump in scoring production. “It’s been a little rough.”

Classify the injuries this way:

Most severe--the sprained ankle. Loll suffered two torn ligaments and a torn tendon in a Nov. 14 exhibition and still wears a heavy brace.

Most troublesome--the broken thumb he suffered Dec. 21. Whenever he fires a shot, Loll endures a sharp pain in his thumb.

Most absurd--the broken jaw he suffered Jan. 7. Utah guard Brandon Jessie, a junior transfer from Ventura College, punched him, Loll said, after Loll accidentally hit Jessie with an elbow.

No harm, no foul, said the officials.

“I thought it was flagrant,” said Loll, who kept playing. “I thought it was a sucker punch. I was a little shocked at first. Then the pain came a minute later.”

The small crack in the bone on the left side of his face didn’t require a wire brace, but he was reduced to eating soft foods and soup for more than a week.

His game, however, has been rock solid.

Not even food poisoning could stop him. Three nights before the broken-jaw incident, Loll scored a career-high 26 points at New Mexico on nine-of-13 shooting after he spent the day in his hotel room retching.

Two nights after suffering the broken jaw, Loll scored the first 10 points for Air Force and finished with 34 against Brigham Young.

But to add insult to injury, BYU won, 89-68. That loss was the ninth in a row for Air Force, which is now 5-11.

The only real positives for the Falcons are the play of Loll--who ranks fifth in the WAC in scoring (18 points), fourth in free-throw percentage (86.1%) and fourth in steals (12)--and the shooting of senior guard Otis Jones. Jones averages 25 points.

And when defenses double-team Jones, Loll usually has an open shot.

With 707 career points, Loll is four away from ranking 30th on the academy’s all-time scoring list.

“To tell the truth, I didn’t set any individual goals,” he said. “Otis and I are seniors, so we both wanted to have one of the best seasons that the school’s had in a while. But, unfortunately, we had a lot of injuries. It hasn’t worked out.”

Loll said he would like to contribute more in rebounding. He averages 4.5 for a team that ranks last in the WAC in rebounding margin. But Loll is often at a disadvantage playing the low post at 6 feet 5, 200 pounds.

“I’ve always been a tweener (big for a guard, small for a forward),” Loll said. “But maybe it’s a little hesitation on my part to go in and bang--with all the injuries I have.”

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Wilson’s world: Former Hart High and Oregon basketball player Sara Wilson, who now plays professionally in Sweden, was recognized by an opposing player recently. The opponent, former Colorado center Jamilla Lang, vividly remembers Wilson’s exit from college basketball.

“She asked me if I was the player from Oregon whose brother did the striptease,” Wilson said.

Well, it wasn’t exactly a striptease, but Wilson knew what Lang was talking about.

In her final game with the Ducks last year, Wilson fouled out of a second-round NCAA tournament game, which Oregon lost to Colorado. Her brother, Bret Wilson, a Colorado student, took off his shirt and hurled it onto the court to protest the call.

Wilson, a 6-3 center who led Hart to section championships in 1989 and ‘90, averages 16 points and 14 rebounds for Bro Basket of Orebro, Sweden. Bro Basket is competing in the playoffs after finishing fourth in the Swedish League.

“They play differently here,” Wilson said, “and it took me a little while to get adjusted. At Oregon, the offenses were structured. Bro Basket plays more run and gun. The only time we set up plays is when we can’t fast break or we’re behind.

“I probably play better in a structured offense where I can set up with my back to the basket.”

Most of Wilson’s field goals come off rebounds. And her goal is to reach double figures in rebounds each game.

Wilson, who graduated from Oregon with a degree in psychology, hopes to stay on the pro circuit for a while.

“I’m not ready for a real job yet,” she said. “This is a great way to make money and I only have to work seven months a year.”

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Around the country: Cal Poly Pomona senior forward Bobby McRae (Cleveland) is shooting 44% from three-point range in California Collegiate Athletic Assn. games. . . . Pepperdine freshman forward Monte Marcaccini is averaging 12.5 points, ranking him 14th in the West Coast Conference.

Utah guard Brandon Jessie (Ventura College) ranks fourth in the WAC in scoring (19 ppg.) and sixth in field-goal percentage (51.1%). . . . In women’s basketball, Pomona junior guard Lori Talley (Bell-Jeff) ranks fourth in the CCAA in steals with 38. Teammate Michelle Kerzie (Paraclete) is first in the conference in free-throw percentage (88.2%).

Staff writer Bill Walker contributed to this column.