Anna Drakeford was surrounded by Southwestern defenders, from left, Makayla Noritis, Payton Acey and Kaylee Young during Saturday's game. (Chris Zollner Photo)
It would have been a storybook finish if Mercer County could have won the 12th Region championship with guard Anna Drakeford playing a major role in the win. Instead, Southwestern ruined the script with a 58-42 win over the Titans Saturday night at Lincoln County to advance to the state tournament at Rupp Arena.
Drakeford was a starting guard for Mercer about a year ago when the Titans also lost to Southwestern in the regional title game. However, she barely played because she tore her ACL early in the game. She tried to come back but could only sit and watch her team fall.
“Honestly this year was a lot harder on me than last year,” said Drakeford. “I felt like last year there was nothing I could do but watch after I got hurt. This year I could do something about it and we still lost.”
Still, it was remarkable that Drakeford got back so quick this year after a rigorous rehab. Her surgeon told her it would be at least eight or nine months before she could get back and likely would not be released to start basketball workouts until January. Instead, she got released in December and was back playing in January.
“I went to physical therapy two times per week after the surgery and almost every day that I was not doing therapy I was working out with my mom lifting weights and jumping,” Drakeford said. “After about a month I started working on my ball-handling and form shooting.”
Mercer had lost just once — in the Class AA state title game — since Drakeford’s return. She had averaged 13.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47 percent from the field during the 2020-21 season before her injury. This season she averaged 7.3 points and 3.4 rebounds per game and shot 42 percent from the field.
“I don’t think I am 100 percent yet. I still feel like I am more limited than before I got hurt,” Drakeford said. “Driving to the basket and being able to finish strong has been a lot harder this year. I don’t know if it is mental or physical, or both, but I just had a hard time being as explosive as I was used to being.”
That’s why she opted to take the extra COVID season and repeat her sophomore year. She’ll have two more years of high school eligibility.
“I just felt like I need to reclassify after the injury if I wanted to play college basketball. I need another year of AAU,” she said.
She’ll start AAU play with East Tennessee Air Thunder in two weeks. She plans to continue her workouts because she understands she needs to get “stronger and better” to play multiple games each day during AAU play.
“It’s hard now for me to play two games back to back,” she said.
It’s also hard to think about how close Mercer got to making the state tournament the last two years only to fall short.
“I am still really upset today still,” Drakeford said Sunday. “It just hurts that we didn’t win.”
Southwestern will play Region One champion McCracken County Wednesday night in Rupp Arena. Drakeford plans to be at the game.
“I am going there and think seeing the atmosphere will motivate us to get there next year and motivate me to get better, too,” she said.
