Trotter Injured in Brea’s Victory

You could have heard a pin drop when Chelsea Trotter hit the floor.

Brea Olinda’s 59-48 victory over La Puente Bishop Amat on Thursday in the semifinals of the Southern California Division II girls’ basketball playoffs took a decided turn for the worse for the Ladycats, who might be looking at defending their state title with their best player out of the lineup.

Trotter, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee as a freshman, had her right knee give way as she turned to shoot with 41 seconds left in the third quarter against the Lancers (27-4).

The bulk of Brea’s 42-21 lead at the time was about to disappear, and the coaches were resigned to think of Plan B as the team heads into Saturday’s game against Fresno Edison to determine who will play for the state title. The game is at 6 p.m. at the Pyramid.

There might be good news.

“It’s just hyperextended, I think,” said Trotter, who was on crutches after the game. “It felt like it went back way too far and it gave out. There was a lot of contact [with Stacey Williams, who was called for a foul] and doctors say that if contact’s involved, it’s generally not the ACL. It’s more a strain or a meniscal tear.”

Trotter, who will have the knee examined today, said it initially reminded her of her previous injury, which kept her out for the entire season, but she didn’t hear anything snap as she did then.

Trotter, a junior, had a game-high 12 points and nine rebounds when she left. Brea had built a 27-point lead early in the third quarter after bolting to a 36-11 halftime lead. Kate Ides made two free throws for Trotter for a 42-21 lead, but Bishop Amat eventually cut that to nine points with 1:20 remaining, and eight points, 56-48, with 24 second left.

“I never felt we were going to lose the game, but I felt we were rattled, and understandably so,” Brea Coach Jeff Sink said. Brea committed seven turnovers in the fourth quarter and made two of only five field-goal attempts.

“I think the girls rely on Chelsea so much, but when you use one player too much, the team feels they can’t do anything without her,” senior Lindsey Davidson said. “The faces on a couple of girls was, ‘What are we going to do? The game is over.’ Until the last minute, we were playing out of control.”

Ides (16 points) was eight-for-eight from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, and Davidson (15 points, six assists, four steals) converted three of four to hold off the Lancers.