"When I went down I just felt it go and there are no other words to explain it."
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Warrnambool Mermaids' Molly McKinnon knew it was serious when she got injured during her team's Big V division one championship victory in September 2018.
"It was with about five to 10 minutes to go in the game, I was just running down the court and went to turn but didn't stop myself first and my (left) knee went in," the 19-year-old said.
"And obviously I was in a lot of shock and pain and I tore my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and had a grade one tear in my MCL (medial collateral ligament) as well as some bone bruising.
"But it was a good day for the Mermaids with winning and it was fun on the way home even though I had a bung knee."
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The injury also brought an end to her Hampden league open netball season with Koroit.
It came on the same weekend she won a qualifying final with the Saints which would go on to win the premiership.
While McKinnon played in the Country Basketball League (CBL) competition in 2019/20, she is now preparing for her first Big V game since the injury.
She was raring to go for the 2020 Big V season but it was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Mermaids play their division one season-opener against Camberwell at Balwyn High School on Sunday March 14.
Their first home game will be at The Arc on March 20 against Western Port.
"It'll be good to see where everyone else in the league is at and where I fit in the team, playing against bigger bodies and highly-skilled players," McKinnon said.
The teenager put in a mountain of work to recover from her injury.
"These days they're making you do more pre-hab (rehabilitation), so before your surgery they're wanting you to do probably two months pre-hab before your actual surgery," she said.
"It's so you're stronger when you go into your surgery and hopefully your rehab will be shorter, which mine was.
"So instead of 12 months after the surgery, it was only about 10 to 11 months and then I started playing CBL."
McKinnon, who had her surgery in Warrnambool, was glad she did the pre-hab.
"I had to wait for all the swelling to go down and then it was about strengthening the muscles around my knee before surgery," she said.
The youngster praised the Warrnambool Physiotherapy team, especially her main physio, Georgia McCormick who helped her through a year of treatment.
Her post-surgery involved regular gym sessions. She also started shooting hoops with a coach two to three mornings per week about eight to nine months after her operation.
McKinnon played most of the CBL season in the 2019/20 summer.
She said getting her match-fitness and game-sense back was a challenge.
The guard/shooting guard explained she didn't get to play CBL in 2020/21 because there weren't enough teams in the competition.
McKinnon, a massage therapist, intends to play netball and basketball this winter.
The netball defender, whose most recent game with Koroit was in 2018, is eager to get on court with the open-grade team again.
"I'm excited to play under coach Danielle (McInerney) this year," she said.
"Playing a bigger role and getting to play the full season is my aim because I haven't played a full season with Koroit yet."
Koroit plays South Warrnambool in round one.
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