WOODBURY — Concussion, torn meniscus, sprained ankle.

These three have been tougher than any opponent, while they’ve benched several players from the Nonnewaug girls basketball team.  

These are all injuries that the Nonnewaug girls basketball team has been facing over the first two months of their season.

Junior small forward McKenna Hardisty, recently out with a concussion is now back but experiencing some difficulties.

“[New coach Bill Maisto] put in new plays, and the plays we already had sometimes we didn’t run them well, so watching from the sidelines wasn’t really helpful,” Hardisty said. “It kind of all just slipped my mind.”

Hardisty suffered a concussion during a pre-season scrimmage that ended in tragedy.

“I was going for the ball at the same time as this girl and she kinda decided she wanted to walk away with it even though she was like all wrapped up around me, and then I fell and then I pulled her down on top of my head then slammed my forehead into the floor and got a concussion,” Hardisty said.

Hardisty, who returned after about two weeks, wasn’t the only one that was out. Junior point guard Olivia Gwiazdoski also got injured during the same preseason scrimmage. 

“I was playing in a scrimmage and I was running down the court with the ball. I’m pretty sure I was dribbling it and I fell, and when I fell, my feet flipped over my head,” Gwiazdowski continued. “After getting hurt I had to get surgery and it’s gotten better but I have to go to physical therapy to strengthen my knee to be able to walk on it again and just be able to do all the activities that I want to do.”

Gwiazdoski was also injured last season and was out for several weeks, but that doesn’t compare to the length of her recovery this season. 

“I won’t be able to play basketball this year, and this will be the second year in a row, so it’s a little bit upsetting, but next year I’ll get to play again,” Gwiazdoski said. 

Aubrie Salisbury, a sophomore on the team, is currently out with a sprained ankle. 

“We were at basketball practice and we were scrimmaging and I like V-cut in and out, and when I V-cut out, my ankle bent the wrong way,” Salisbury said. “I’ve been out for a month and I’m gonna be out for four to six more weeks.”

Salisbury, like the rest of her teammates, has been watching from the sidelines unable to help out their team. 

“It’s hard because it’s sad, but they’re figuring everything out and working as a team and filling in all the spots that have been missing because of injuries,” Salisbury said.

Maisto, Nonnewaug’s first-year coach, explains how they have been dealing with all the injured players. 

“We have been using a lot of our underclassmen a lot more minutes then we probably would have if we didn’t have a couple injured players, but in the long run, those underclassmen are getting quality minutes and it’s gonna help them in the future,” Maisto said. 

Maisto says there are a few players that have significantly stepped up over the past month.   

“Chloe [Whipple is] set up in a position where probably she was getting no minutes and she’s playing valuable minutes,” Maisto said. “Gemma [Hedrei] is now starting because of the injuries, [and] Elliana [Obolewicz] is now running point because of the injuries, so I would say the underclassmen [have stepped up].”

Senior captain Emma Jackson agrees with Coach Maisto that the underclassmen have been the ones to step up in these challenging times. 

“We’ve definitely had some underclassmen rise up; for example, Gemma has risen up and then became a starter when McKenna was out with a concussion,” Jackson said. “When Olivia was out that also opened up stuff for Elliana and many of the other girls on the team and I definitely think we have adapted the best with the strong underclassmen that we have gathered.”  

Gwiazdoski explains the struggles that come with being hurt and not being able to play with your team. 

“I’m always supportive of them and I’m happy when we do good but I am obviously upset that I don’t get to play and that I’m not the one out there playing for my team and my school,” Gwiazdoski said, “but I’m happy that everyone else is having a good time playing.”