James Wood's Prunty shows toughness in overcoming injury

James Wood’s Brenna Prunty must be good at making lemonade.

Faced with a tough injury heading into her senior basketball season, Prunty has not only overcome that lemon, but she swears the injury has made her a better player.

She’s among the area’s leaders in multiple categories as she has helped the Colonels go 19-2 overall and 12-1 in the Class 4 Northwestern District heading into tonight’s regular-season finale against unbeaten Millbrook.

Prunty’s final season certainly couldn’t have started much worse. Over the summer for her AAU basketball team, the 5-foot-10 Prunty suffered a torn labrum in her right shoulder. The injury ended her summer and put her senior season in doubt.

Prunty, who has to wear a black brace on her shoulder to practice and play, says the injury actually has helped her game. She’s moved from being a wing guard to a post position under the basket, where she’s scrapping against some of the bigger players the Colonels face.

“Over the summer, I had to change my entire shot,” said Prunty. “I had to really go through a lot of therapy to regain strength, but I think it’s made me a lot better overall. It’s something that I can be a lot more tough with because I know what I can handle and the pain tolerance I have. It’s made me a better post player.”

There’s no arguing that. She’s fifth in the area with an 12.5 scoring average. She leads the Colonels and is third in the area with 6.4 rebounds per game and she’s third in the area with 4.2 steals per game.

“I would describe Brenna as versatile,” James Wood coach Krista Crites said. “She plays offense. She plays defense. She’s a phenomenal kid. She’ll go anywhere I want. She’s tough. She is playing with an injury and you would never know it. She just continues to push through being in the pain that she’s in.”

Prunty said the season truly has been a revelation thanks to her injury.

“That’s why this year I’m thriving so much as a post player because I realize how tough I really am,” she said. “When I tore it initially, my physical therapist told me I would initially struggle and it would be very unlikely that I could make it through the whole season without redislocating it and having to go and get the surgery. Making it this far has taught me I’m really tough and my body can handle a lot.”

She’s found that taking on both beefier and taller players is a challenge that she enjoys. Even with an injured wing, she doesn’t mind the beating and banging under the basket.

“I think it’s more fun that way,” Prunty said. “It adds intensity and competitiveness. I like it that way.”

And she doesn’t want anyone to take it easy on her because he’s playing hurt.

“I don’t want people to be gentle on me for that,” Prunty said with a smile. “It’s more of a challenge and makes me have to compete more.”

Prunty began playing the sport in the fourth grade. She was on the same squad as current teammate Sue Carter and played against Colonels’ standout Makayla Firebaugh.

Prunty, whose mother Erin was a 1,000-point scorer in high school Connecticut, said it took until middle school before she realized was good at the sport.

And it wasn’t offense she was providing.

“As a freshman and sophomore, I definitely prided myself almost solely on my defense,” Prunty said. “It was something I thrived in. I didn’t really realize I could score honestly until my junior year.”

While she could have brought Prunty up to the varsity as a freshman, Crites said she chose for Prunty to mature a year on the JV team.

“Her sophomore year she started finally realizing, ‘I’m going to have to have a role here,’” Crites said. “Last year, she stepped up huge scoring-wise (12.6 ppg). Offensively, she has developed her game tremendously. She’s always been an amazing defender, which is what caught my attention in the first place with her.

“… I’ve gained so much respect for her as a player from being injured and continuously coming in and working hard as if she’s not. She perseveres through everything. She plays sick. She plays hurt. If she’s having a bad night, defensively and with effort she finds a way to make an impact on the game.”

Prunty has become a consistent scoring option on a squad led by Firebaugh, the Division I Rider University recruit who tops the area with a 26.1 scoring average.

The two players resemble each other so much, that you’d swear they were sisters and you’d almost be right.

“People get them confused on the court,” Crites said. “I know when I’m watching film, sometimes I have to rewind it. … They are best friends. They fight like sisters and encourage each other like sisters. They are one in the same — they compliment each other very well.”

“Oh my gosh, it’s everywhere we go,” said Prunty when asked if the two are often mistaken as sisters. “It’s so funny. We could be sisters, though. We’re so close. It’s so much fun. I couldn’t imagine playing without her.”

Crites says that Prunty is the player on the team that will challenge Firebaugh consistently.

“When we do competitive drills in practice, she’s always against Makayla and those two are going at each other,” Crites said. “… Honestly, she’s more vocal about it than Makayla. She does not want to lose at anything we do. If she beats you, she’ll let you know.”

“I’m extremely competitive and it’s so much fun being competitive with Makayla who is also really competitive,” Prunty said. “Like I said we’re really close and like sisters so we can compete and fight like sisters.”

But don’t get the idea that it’s all cut-throat all of the time for Prunty.

“Brenna is super fun,” Crites said. “She laughs all of the time. She is my goofball. It’s kind of hard to find her taking a day serious. She knows when it’s time to settle down and get to work. She’s that nice breath of fresh air sometimes when I need that calm-me-down moment. She’s that kid that is like, ‘Alright Coach Crites, we got this. We’re good.’

“She’s definitely a happy person. She’s dedicated to what she does and takes it very serious, but she doesn’t take to the point of not enjoying it.”

Prunty hopes to attend Virginia Tech where she plans to major in either physical therapy or speech pathology. “I definitely want to work with kids,” she said. “I love working with kids. That would be a really good choice for me.”

Even with a busy basketball schedule and physical therapy, Prunty has remained an honor student. “Like we were talking about being well-rounded on the court, I want to be well-rounded as a student as well,” she said. “It’s definitely hard to balance that, especially this year. We’ve had four-game weeks which is crazy, but it’s something that I can be proud of when it’s difficult to balance that.”

Crites said Prunty will be hard to replace.

“She’s huge,” Crites said. “She’s as vital as Makayla or any other player that we put on the floor. When she’s not on the floor, there’s an obvious change defensively. Offensively, you see a change in Makayla when [Brenna] is not on the floor. She’s a game-changer.

“There’s nothing I ask that she won’t do for me,” Crites added. “There’s not a position she can’t play. She’s huge. She’s one of the main pieces of the puzzle to our success.”

And even Prunty is surprised at the success that the Colonels have attained. Last season, they made the Region 4C tournament for the first time in 10 years and certainly could go back again this year.

“It’s so much fun,” Prunty said. “I’m sad it’s coming to an end. We’ve been together since seventh grade — all of the seniors. We’ve been together so long and we’re all best friends. … It’s crazy to see how far we’ve come.”

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