“Fun and heartbreaking.”
That’s how Henderson County basketball player Brooklyn Gibson described her senior year. A torn ACL suffered during a summer scrimmage has sidelined her for the entirety of the Lady Colonels basketball season.
“The reality of me not playing this year didn’t hit me probably until a couple of weeks ago,” admitted Gibson. “I knew I couldn’t play, but the feelings didn’t hit until the end of the regular season.”
Gibson had previously dealt with an injury to her MPFL ligament near the end of her sophomore season, causing her to miss the state tournament that year. The recovery period for that injury was much quicker, however.
Having been a valued member of the team since she was a seventh grader, Gibson’s absence not only left a void to fill in the stat sheets but also placed a greater burden of leadership on her fellow seniors, A’Tylia Green and Addy Gish.
The three have been playing together since the time they were in third grade, according to Green. She talked about what the team has missed without Gibson on the court.
“Her ability to get in the paint, draw the foul and be efficient takes some of the weight off us, me and Bear (Gish),” Green said.
Gish added that she never expected an injury like this to happen and that she “took it for granted” since the three Lady Cols grew up playing basketball together and had never experienced a serious setback.
Gibson started playing basketball in Henderson’s ABA league at the age of six and continued her career through her time at Spottsville Elementary and North Middle School.
It was after a game against Daviess County when Gibson, then a sixth-grader at North, scored 11 points playing against seventh-graders that she experienced a pivotal moment in her career and developed a true passion for the game and sense of belonging.
“When I was in sixth grade, that’s when I really wanted to start getting better,” shared Gibson. “I felt like I was actually good at it.”
Gibson joined varsity the next year and grew into one of the most reliable players for former head coach Jeff Haile, and later, his son Stephen, now the head coach.
Gibson’s versatility created matchup issues for opponents. She used her aggressive play to maximize her effectiveness on both ends of the court, never afraid to take the ball at the other team’s best player or to step in and take a charge. Her constant motor kept her playing hard every minute that she was in the game.
During her sophomore year, Gibson added the three-point shot to her game, going 21-of-50 (42%) from deep. She continued that work last season, finishing 46-of-112 to bring her career three-point percentage to an impressive 41%. In all, she collected over 1,200 points and 500 rebounds during her time playing for Henderson County.
“She’s just an all-around good basketball player. She’s a good shooter, rebounds the ball well, drives the ball and is a solid defensive player,” said Stephen Haile. “She’s a very high IQ player when she’s on the floor.”
She has spent months rehabbing and repeating the same exercises, while dealing with news from the doctors that her quad or hamstring was not strong enough, calling these experiences the most challenging. She credits her family, faith, and both her high school and college coaches for motivating her to persevere.
For someone to whom basketball has been so important, watching from the sidelines has been a major challenge that Gibson has managed well. On one hand, not being on the court with her best friends was deflating, but it has allowed her a new perspective on life and the game of basketball.
“It made me a coach. I can be hard-headed, but sometimes when I see things from the coach’s side…I can see what they’re talking about,” said Gibson.
Though unable to play, Gibson has contributed as a senior leader. The role of player-coach suited her well as she helped younger players understand the system better and highlighted areas of improvement for them.
Gibson, though, has enjoyed one highlight on the court this season. In a gesture of sportsmanship on senior night against Webster County, she started and was allowed to score a basket by the Lady Trojans.
“I definitely started crying when I scored and went back to the bench because I realized this was my last point that I’m ever going to score,” Gibson said.
It might have been her last point as a varsity player for HCHS, but the future is bright for the young basketball star as she has signed to continue her playing career at Asbury University.
Gibson noted that Asbury had a very welcoming environment with coaches who were “super sweet and caring.” She was impressed by their program and hopes she can go on to be a part of something special in college.
She has aspirations beyond basketball as well, stemming from her fondest memories of riding horses with her Papaw. She plans to major in equine studies at Asbury in hopes of one day becoming a large animal veterinarian.
As she moves on in life, she would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do anything on the court and as a player who made an impact on the community of Henderson.
“I hope I can make an impact on all the little girls that watch us,” Gibson said. “On senior night a lot of the ABA girls signed my book and were telling me how they were sorry that I missed my season and how good of a player I am. It’s special to me to be a role model and make an impact on the community like that.”
No matter what the future holds for Gibson, her legacy as a Henderson County Colonel is cemented as one of the most successful players of all time. The Lady Colonels won the regional title all six years that Gibson was on the team, culminating with their eighth straight regional championship this past weekend.
The Lady Colonels start their Sweet 16 with a first-round game Wednesday against Lexington Frederick Douglass. Game time is 10 a.m. Central.
