In a span of just over two minutes, the Tigers hit five straight field goals to cut the margin to eight. After the fourth basket – a three-pointer by Jace Barga – Christian Brothers’ coach Justin Tatum had seen enough and quickly signaled for a time out.
As the referees were blowing their whistles, Kyle Ahrens – his crutches lying forgotten near the team bench – came hopping madly out onto the court like some over-amped guy on a pogo stick.
He high-fived his teammates and yelled encouragement and, at 6-foot-5, he may have been the biggest – and probably the best known – cheerleader Versailles High has ever had.
This is not the way he had hoped to experience the Flyin’ to the Hoop tournament at Trent Arena Monday. He was expected to be one of the marquee players in the four-day hoops cavalcade and he was the only reason – admitted Versailles coach Scott McEldowney – that the Tigers had been invited to the showcase event.
The junior point guard is one of the area’s best high school talents. After just first five games this season, he was only a few baskets shy of 1,000 career points at VHS. In the offseason, he teams with guys like Franklin’s Luke Kennard, Dunbar’s A.J. Harris and Akron St.Vincent-St. Mary’s VJ King and Jibri Blount on the AAU powerhouse King James Shooting Stars.
He already has scholarship offers from Michigan State, Iowa, Xavier, UC, Dayton, Vanderbilt, Butler, Wright State, Toledo, Miami and a few other schools.
Monday, Flyin’ to the Hoop organizers had hoped for a tit-for-tat matchup between Ahrens and Barnett. But a crash landing Dec. 28 changed all that.
It was the second night of Versailles Holiday Tournament. The evening before Ahrens had scored 32 as the unbeaten Tigers – the Division III state runners-up last season – derailed West Liberty-Salem.
Then came the game against Anna and a not-quite-on-target ally-oop pass early in the second quarter that Ahrens leaped to get.
“I caught it, but I came down on one foot and my knee went in and then a I felt my leg snap,” he explained. “Instantly, I knew it was broken.”
Kevin Ahrens, Kyle’s dad and a Tigers’ assistant coach, was on the bench: “I didn’t see it happen. I was watching the other guys scrambling for the ball and then I noticed him lying there grabbing his leg in pain.”
Kyle remembers the ambulance ride to the Upper Valley Medical Center: “My parents were following in the car and I had all kinds of thoughts going through my head. I didn’t have my cell phone, so I couldn’t text my mom and I was a little shook up.”
He said X-rays determined he had broken his left leg in two places. There was a clean break of the fibula and a partial fracture of the tibia.
“As I talked to my parents and thought about it, I realized it could have been a lot worse,” he said. “I could have blown out my knee or ruptured my Achilles tendon. With this, I won’t need surgery. I’ll be back. I figure this is all part of God’s plan for me.”
‘Not missing this’
The Flyin’ to the Hoop invitation was a big deal for Versailles. The only time the Tigers played in the tournament was 2006, when it was still held at Vandalia High.
“It’s a real honor for our guys to join some of the best teams in the nation here,” said McEldowney. “They have really been looking forward to it.”
So much so, in fact, that the team came to games Saturday night and Sunday as spectators.
“It was quite a scene here Saturday night,” Kevin Ahrens said of the much anticipated Franklin – HCYA matchup, followed by Dunbar’s game with Marian Catholic. “We sat way up top and Kyle was crammed in a seat with his broken leg and crutches. He didn’t care. He said, ‘I’m not missing this for anything.’”
While Kyle has handled his injury admirably, said McEldowney, missing the Flyin’ to the Hoop tournament “was really tough for him. He was hoping to showcase his talents alongside some of the guys he plays against in AAU, not to mention the guys who are his (AAU) teammates.”
Monday, the Tigers showed their grit in his absence. They jumped to an early 11-5 lead on Christian Brothers, then fell behind, only to surge back before finally falling, 62-53.
The team was 6-0 when Ahrens got hurt and now they are 8-4. They have lost four in a row to some stiff competition.
McEldowney, though, said he still has a good team and thinks they should fare well in the rugged Midwest Athletic Conference.
“Actually, we’re hoping for a miracle,” he said with a smile. “Maybe we can make a deep run in the tournament and Kyle will be able to join us again.”
Road to recovery
Since the injury there has been an outpouring of support for Ahrens.
“The cards keep coming in and there have been phone calls and visits from people in the community,” Kevin said. “The young kids have sent him a lot of letters and get-well wishes.”
The biggest boost comes from his mom, Kyle said: “She keeps giving me inspirational messages, all kinds of things to let me know I’ll be Okay.”
Several of the colleges which are recruiting him have done the same.
“They’ve all been great,” Kevin said. “They told him not to rush himself back. They know what he can do. He doesn’t have to prove anything to them.”
Like the much sought after Kennard, Ahrens hopes to pick his school before his senior season.
And so now he just has to heal and cheer and he seems to be handling both as best he can.
Well, except for one slip.
“It was his first day back to school,” Kevin said with smile. “He had broken his leg on Saturday and this was Monday. He was going into school on his crutches and he fell on the ice.
“I’ve got twin boys in the eighth grade and they were right behind him. Well, Kyle went down and he (was) upset and just went ballistic. The other two just kept walking. They knew better than to stop.”
There was no need to take in another of their brother’s crash landings.
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