Delaney Crook has returned to full strength to help the Bend High soccer team after hurting her right leg playing basketball in February.

Delaney Crook had seen injuries like this before. She had heard the stories, about the distinct “pop” sound that precedes the pain.

But Crook had never experienced anything like it. Not until this past winter, during Bend High’s final girls basketball game of the regular season.

In the second quarter of that Feb. 22 contest, what would be a 51-33 home-court win over Mountain View, Crook’s right knee buckled as she was forced out of bounds by a defender. That distinct “pop” she had heard from the stories, she now felt. Right away, she knew. Later, doctors would confirm — her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was completely torn.

Crook, then a junior, thought about her teammates, how they would fare the rest of the season (the Lava Bears would eventually place fifth at the Class 5A state tournament). She wondered how long recovery from her injury would take, how soon she would be able to return to sports, and whether she would be back in action for her senior soccer season.

“That was obviously my main goal,” Crook says, noting that her initial target return date was midway through the soccer season. “I just wanted to be able to be a part of the team and return to the team.”

Crook underwent invasive surgery to repair the torn ligament on March 12. Rehab began the next day. Six months later, on Sept. 13 — a relatively short recovery time — Crook took to the soccer pitch at 15th Street Field in Bend’s fourth game of the season. Her No. 1 goal had been accomplished, and much quicker than she had anticipated. But Crook made her return even more special.

In limited playing time, she scored three goals, and the Lava Bears cruised to a 5-0 win over Corvallis’ Crescent Valley.

“It was a special moment for me just to be back on the field, and most importantly, just being back with the team,” says Crook, whose 10 goals and five assists have helped Bend to a 3-1-1 record in the 5A Intermountain Conference and an 8-2-2 mark overall. “I had been a part of the team through the preseason, through the tryouts and all that, but I wasn’t able to participate or be a full part. So just being back on the field with this group of girls was a great feeling, and just knowing that I was playing again.

“No matter what the outcome was, just playing again was a great feeling.”

Seven months after surgery, Crook is going strong. Her soccer team has followed suit.

Behind one of their captains, the Lava Bears have vaulted to No. 5 in the Oregon School Activities Association’s 5A state rankings with only Thursday’s home contest against Mountain View left in the regular season, and they are in line to host a first-round state playoff contest.

And Crook is a big reason why.

“You know where her heart’s at all the time,” Bend coach Mackenzie Groshong says, noting the passion that her senior midfielder constantly displays. “You never have to question it, and I think her teammates see that, and they know that everything’s going to be OK when Delaney’s there. They really look up to her.”

“She has a really big impact,” Lava Bears junior forward Hannah Cockrum says. “One, just from her ability, and she’s a huge threat on the field. But also, I think mentally for the team, it’s another person to rely on and somebody you can look up to for a lot of the girls. On the field, it’s a huge impact, but mentally, I know at least for me, it was almost relief having her back.”

Crook, who also suffered a meniscus injury to the same knee last fall, still experiences a little soreness in her reconstructed knee, little pains here and there, but she knows that comes with the injury. For the most part, she says, she is stronger than ever, and if anything was even remotely wrong with the mended knee, Groshong trusts that Crook would open up about it.

“She’s very passionate about every sport she’s in,” Groshong says. “So I know if something was bugging her, she’d definitely tell me. I have a great relationship with her parents, too, and if they had any concerns, I know they would be the first to voice it to me.”

Crook has completed her physical therapy, although she does have specific exercises she performs about twice a week and she ices her right knee, which is supported by a brace, after nearly every game. Two and a half weeks since that hat trick against Crescent Valley, Crook was playing full time, with no limitations on her minutes.

“I expected her to be back just because that’s how she is,” Cockrum says. “Anybody else, I probably would (be surprised) just because that’s not very much (recovery) time for an ACL. But she’s probably the most determined person I’ve ever met, so it’s not shocking to me.”

Crook’s explosive return followed little steps, first bearing weight on the surgically repaired knee followed by working to regain the joint’s full range of motion. Then came walking, jogging, biking and running.

“My physical therapist really emphasized on getting that full strength back,” says Crook, who intends to step back on the hardwood when basketball season comes around. “Like I said, it was the little goals that just kind of motivated me.”

Sure, every now and again a thought will pass through Crook’s head, concerns about re-injuring that right knee. But that is all it is, a fleeting thought — and it never crosses her mind during competition.

Crook’s comeback has been based on resilience, on using tiny steps to make the large leap back to the pitch.

Achieving those small goals fed her confidence and, more important, helped her return to her team — in time for a possible run at a state title.

“That’s every team’s goal in the end, and our team is striving to get there and get as far as we are able to,” Crook says. “But at the same time, with everything I’ve been through, it’s just incredible to be back on the field with the team and just play again.”

Game of the week

With visiting Summit playing a man down and with about four minutes left in its Intermountain Conference boys soccer matchup against Bend High last Tuesday, the Storm’s C.J. Fritz collected a pass from Luca Chiletti and scored. The goal broke a 1-1 tie, and it secured Summit’s second consecutive IMC championship.

Players of the week

On Thursday night, for the first time since joining the Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference in 2010, Madras sealed the volleyball league title — thanks in no small part to Shelby Mauritson and Alexis Urbach. In the Buffs’ 20-25, 25-17, 13-25, 28-26, 15-11 win over La Salle in Milwaukie, the two Madras juniors combined for 55 kills and 40 digs (Mauritson with 30 and 21, Urbach with 25 and 19).

Stat of the week

Ridgeview consistently pressured Cleveland quarterback Scott Brant on Friday night, recording 10 sacks and forcing an interception and a fumble that was recovered by the Ravens. In addition, Ridgeview limited the Warriors from Portland to just 133 yards of total offense and 18 yards rushing in the Ravens’ 43-0 football win, their sixth straight victory of the season.