KR grad House having strong year after knee injury

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 11:32 PM Saturday, January 14, 2012

FINDLAY — Saira House wasn’t going to let a knee injury affect her basketball career.

The Kenton Ridge High School graduate and University of Findlay sophomore point guard tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee at the end of last season, but was cleared after four months and hasn’t missed a day of practice all season.

She’s one of five players on her team to undergo knee surgery, and she knows she was lucky to be back playing so soon.

“I was very fortunate with my knee,” House said. “I only tore my ACL, so I was able to have (weight on it). I healed so much faster.

“I don’t wear a brace or anything. It’s like absolutely nothing happened.”

She has picked up right where she left off last season. House has started all but one game this year for the Oilers (11-5, 5-4 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). She’s leading the team in both assists (3.9 per game) and steals (2.6 per game), and is averaging 6.4 points per game.

She scored a career-high 16 points in an 88-71 victory over Wayne State on Saturday. She also had six steals, three assists and two rebounds.

She feels like she’s growing as a player this season after the jump from high school last year.

“Even though I was starting, it was still a learning experience,” House said. “Going from high school to college is so much different.”

This year, the young Oilers have a year of experience under their belts after playing so many young players last season.

“We didn’t have any seniors last year, so we were all able to build,” House said. “We had five freshman and were a young team. This year, we’re still a young team, but we’ve got more experience. We know how each other plays.”

The Oilers lost back-to-back games for the first time this season earlier this month, falling to Division II No. 18 Ashland on Jan. 5 and Wayne State in overtime on Jan. 7. They bounced back last week with victories over Lake Erie and Wayne State.

“We’re playing well as a team, but we have to keep doing that to continue to grow,” House said. “We want to win. That’s the main goal.”

House said she’s happy with her role on the team, and she sees a bright future for the Oilers in the next two seasons.

“I feel like I’m very fortunate with the team that we have,” House said. “I like where we’re at. It could be a lot better, but we’ve learned from a lot of things. We’ve got a lot of big things ahead.”

Short Takes

Women’s Basketball: Graham grad Darbie Zirkle, a 5-7 guard, has transferred from Ohio Northern to Wittenberg University.

• Northeastern grad Jillian Adams, a sophomore forward at D-II Tiffin University, has played in all 15 games for the Dragons (11-4) this season. She’s averaging 3.0 points and 2.2 rebounds in 12 minutes per game.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0365, Michael.Cooper@coxinc.com or on Twitter @SNS_Wizard.

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