Monroe loses scoring leader to torn ACL

Injuries and illness have hounded the Monroe Bearcats all season but the team’s latest loss is a crushing blow.

Junior point guard Sarah Morton – who leads the Monroe High School girls basketball team in scoring, assists and steals – will miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee injury, Monroe coach Alan Dickson said Wednesday.

Morton, a versatile 5-foot-8 standout who received strong recruiting interest from Washington, Gonzaga, Florida State, Oregon and Stanford, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee Friday in a 67-54 loss against Marysville-Pilchuck. Morton hurt the knee early in the third quarter after she jumped high for a rebound and landed awkwardly. She was averaging 17.3 points, 7.1 assists, 4.8 steals (all team highs) and 5.2 rebounds per game.

Morton is the sixth player to suffer significant injury or illness this season for Monroe, which is fighting for one of the Western Conference North Division’s four Class 4A district tournament berths.

“It’s gonna be tough,” Dickson said of the injury. “It’ll make us stronger (for) next year, but who wants to look to next year?”

Junior Keena Hopkins will take over at point guard for Morton, who will help the team as an assistant coach and hopes to have surgery later this month. Then comes the grueling recovery process.

“I’ve never seen anybody so positive about something so heartbreaking. … She is one of the most positive young people I’ve ever met,” said Morton’s mom, Gwen Morton.

According to Dickson, at least two college coaches have contacted him since Sarah Morton’s injury and reassured him that they are still interested in recruiting her.

“She’s brokenhearted,” Gwen Morton said. “This is a big year for her (to impress recruiters).

“She’s very, very disappointed, but she’s not the type of kid who looks back. (Instead, Sarah) says, ‘This is what happened. How am I going to get better?’”

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