Trinity’s DeRubbo hoping return is on horizon
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Trinity’s Riley DeRubbo, center, sits on the bench next to Coach Bob Miles, right, during a game against South Fayette Monday.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Riley DeRubbo, left, shakes hands with Trinity teammate Courtney Dahlquist as the starting lineups are announced prior to a Class 5A Section 1 game against South Fayette.
James Robinson /PennLive.com via AP
Trinity’s Riley DeRubbo drives to the basket during the Class 5A PIAA championship finals against Archbishop Wood in Hershey March 25, 2017.
Riley DeRubbo doesn’t need a spare seat near the end of bench to watch her teammates on the Trinity High School girls basketball team play.
DeRubbo, the standout junior guard who has missed every game to this point in the Hillers’ season after tearing an ACL in her knee in July, sits next to head coach Bob Miles.
“Her sitting next to me is by design,” Miles said. “Her being one of the speaking captains prior to the game is by design. We wanted her to be as big of a part of this as she could be without being on the court.”
That might not last much longer.
Cleared for non-contact practice last week, DeRubbo is hoping the long, grueling journey of recovering and rehabbing from the July 25 surgery could soon be coming to an end.
“I want to play but also have to be safe about it,” she said. “When I got cleared for non-contact practice by my doctor, I cried after getting back in my car because I was so happy.”
DeRubbo suffered the injury during an AAU basketball game – she plays for the Pittsburgh-affiliated WPA Bruins – in July during a game in Kansas. She fell to the floor in the final minutes, not feeling much pain, but she recalls having a ringing noise in her ears.
Since then, it’s been two days a week at Legacy Medical Center and three days rehabbing at Washington & Jefferson College, where her mother, Jina, is the women’s basketball coach.
“I always thought, if I suffered this injury my career would be over,” DeRubbo said. “It’s been one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to go through. These past six months have been rough for me, but I discovered how hard I can really work.
The hardest part was the mental side of it, always getting in my head and saying, ‘Wow, this is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.’ (You have to keep) pushing to do things that are painful but have to be done.”
DeRubbo averaged 17.1 points per game and just under five rebounds and five assists last season as a sophomore. She was named to the Observer-Reporter All-District First Team. She was a starter as a freshman on the Hillers’ team that advanced to the PIAA Class 5A championship game.
Her role this season has been helping Miles guide the young and inexperienced Hillers through a grueling schedule and quite possibly the toughest section in the entire WPIAL. Trinity is 7-3 in the section and 9-7 overall. The Hillers played close games against perennial powers North Catholic and North Allegheny early in the season.
“She gives us advice,” Miles said. “I mean, she lives with a college coach. The girl knows the game of basketball. She can relate to the other girls and is a calming effect, even from the bench. We get her back, we might be dangerous.”
Trinity has six games remaining in the regular season, including four in Class 5A Section 1, and is close to securing a spot in the postseason.
“I would really like to come back for the playoffs, but I don’t know yet,” DeRubbo said. “My conditioning is getting better. When I started running three months after surgery I couldn’t run up the court twice without dying. Right now, I’m good. I feel really good.”