'I still plan to be the captain.' Lost to injury, Washington's Amiyah Reynolds keeps leading

SOUTH BEND — On the basketball court Amiyah Reynolds was the leader, the voice, the captain of her South Bend Washington girls basketball team.

The do-it-all senior star plans to continue to be just that despite a devastating season-ending injury.

A Maryland recruit and Miss Basketball candidate, Reynolds is sidelined for the remainder of her high school career. The 6-0 senior guard suffered a grade 3 ligament tear — the worst possible — in her left foot Jan. 28, in the regular-season finale at LaLumiere. She is scheduled for surgery Friday to have plates and screws inserted into her foot.

More:South Bend Washington Miss Basketball candidate Amiyah Reynolds ruled out for rest of year

"Right now, I've been focused on doctor's appointments and the surgery," Amiyah said while seated on a comfortable couch in the Panther lockeroom Tuesday night. "I've had injuries before and I'm used to missing games, so maybe that's why it has not hit me yet.

"I know that it is going to be a super long process for recovery and rehab."

Top-ranked Washington (26-0), which leads the state in scoring at 78 ppg. and average margin of victory at 41 ppg., faces No. 13 Valparaiso (23-2) Saturday in the first game of the Class 4A LaPorte Regional. Tipoff is 2 p.m. EST. The Panthers have won 33 games in a row dating back to last year's dominating seven-game run through the Class 3A state tournament.

Reynolds had missed the previous two games prior to LaLumiere due to a shoulder injury. She said she knew the injury to her left foot was bad after she stepped on a player's foot in the third quarter of Washington's 60-44 win.

"It hurt a lot," said Reynolds, who also suffered a fracture in her left ankle in the regional last year, but continued to play, helping lead her team to a Class 3A state title. "(Me and my mom, Marcy) went and got it X-rayed that night. They mentioned then that it could be a Lisfranc injury."

The final diagnosis of Amiyah's injury came after an MRI last Friday revealing how serious the damage was. The team was told she was out for the season Saturday morning at practice. The Panthers then went out and beat host Plymouth that night, 65-30, to win a third straight sectional championship.

Reynolds, a first-team All-NIC selection, was averaging 15.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.3 steals and a team-high 6.3 assists per game and shooting 51 percent from the field and 76 percent from the free throw line. She finishes eighth in program history with 1,122 points, second in assists with 564 and first in assists per game at 5.8. She is only the second player at Washington to have 1,000 points and 500 assists, joining WNBA star and 2010 graduate Skylar Diggins-Smith.

'My faith is helping me'

Amiyah seemed at peace with herself Tuesday night as she was able to smile frequently while sporting a large boot on her left foot and having to use crutches to get around.

"I know that God has a plan for me," said Reynolds, who did not play hoops all last offseason to rest her injured ankle. "My faith is helping me a lot in dealing with this. I'm also fortunate that I have a really good support system in my family. And so many people have reached out to me with texts and posts. I know there's been a lot of praying for me.

"The support of our fans, Panther Nation, means a lot to me. It shows me they care about me as a person and not just a basketball player. They are always with us. And everyone at school, from teachers to our principal to our athletic director have been great."

The loss of Reynolds now leaves guard Rashunda Jones as the lone senior starter, along with four sophomores. The Purdue recruit is also a frontrunner for Miss Basketball honors and leads the team averaging 20.1 ppg.

"Amiyah is my best friend and I really feel bad for her," said Jones, who now ranks third all time in program history with 1,760 points, trailing only Mila Reynolds and Diggins-Smith. "But her faith is strong and she will get through this. She will be okay. We are all here for her and we love her."

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Now, Jones said, the team is rallying around Amiyah and want to win state for her.

"Amiyah brought so much to our team and was just a great leader," Jones said. "She continues to do that. She was coaching me up before games last week at the sectional.

"I'm so confident in this team. We are still good enough to win state. We've all put so much blood, sweat and tears into this season."

Jones, who also averages 4.6 assists, 4.2 steals and has a team-high 50 treys, scored 51 points in the three sectional wins with Amiyah sidelined.

Drawing strength from Amiyah

Washington coach Steve Reynolds, who also is Amiyah's father, has drawn strength from his wise and mature daughter.

"It's been rough, but I draw so much strength from Amiyah," he said. "She's just been amazing. It's been mind boggling to me how an 18-year-old kid can go about her business the way she has since the injury.

"Amiyah rarely cries and after she was hurt I turned to the bench and she was sobbing. Then two minutes later I turn back to her and she's coaching our players up. That's Amiyah. She wanted me to know she was okay.

"Amiyah is one of the most under-appreciated players I think to ever play. Her selflessness in today's age of numbers is unheard of. From the beginning, she's always been about how to put her teammates in position to succeed."

Coach Reynolds pointed to a couple of key facts on how his daughter has impacted the entire program the past four years. Amiyah took former player Francisca "Franny" Galicia under her wing when the 6-4 Galicia decided to play organized basketball for the first time her sophomore season. Galicia, who quit the band to play hoops, averaged 4.7 points, 4-9 rebounds and a team-high 2.3 blocked shots per game as a senior on the 2020-21 team that went 22-6 and was Class 3A state runner-up. Galicia is now a freshman member of the highly-successful IUSB women's basketball team.

Amiyah makes here teammates better, coach Reynolds added. She has been the point guard for three Miss Basketball candidates, including herself, and yet another one in younger sister Kira who is a sophomore star on the current team. The 6-3 Kira averages 15.5 points and 12.1 rebounds per game and ranks among the state's best in blocked shots at 5.9 per outing.

'Not about me'

Although she will not be able to be at the regional in person on Saturday, Amiyah still has a voice with her teammates.

"This is not about me," said Amiyah, who played in 19 games this season. "This is about our team winning state. That's all I want for me and for all of my teammates. There's no doubt they can do it. I have all the confidence in the World in my team. We have enough talent on this team without me and everyone was stepping up in the sectional.

"I still plan to be the captain and be in everyone's ears. I'm still watching film, going over scouting reports, being at practice when I can and giving my teammates nuggets they can use. Our team is locked in. We know the steps that it takes to get this done."

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Coach Reynolds, now 145-81 in his ninth season, says Amiyah's influence is all over his talented team that boasts five players averaging in double figures and at least a handful of Division 1 college caliber performers.

"The thing that has been amazing to see in the last week is how Amiyah has imprinted herself on the basketball soul of our team," he said. "We've got players using her language and even her moves out there on the court.

"It's been a sight to behold and definitely tangible. It's always been about the team for Amiyah. It's always been about winning to her."

The captain still being the captain.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Girls basketball South Bend Washington loses guard Amiyah Reynolds