Holtz is Maquoketa Valley’s comeback kid

DELHI - The upset of the year by the Maquoketa Valley girls' basketball team hasn't been reflected on a scoreboard.

It has been a return. A shocking comeback.

'Nobody thought it was possible,” said senior guard Ashley Holtz, who made it back from ACL surgery in five months. 'Before I had the surgery, I was down in the dumps.

'It was all done. Everything was over.”

Only it wasn't.

Holtz rehabilitated her injured right knee with ferocity, every day for two hours. It generally takes 9-12 months to get back on the floor. Holtz returned well ahead of schedule.

'I don't know if I've ever seen anybody work as hard to come back as Ashley did,” said Wildcats Coach Scot Moenck. 'The only way she was going to do it was if she worked her butt off. She wanted to come back. She wanted it bad.”

Holtz was injured July 22 at Spirit Lake summer team camp.

'I went up for a rebound and hyperextended it,” she said. 'I didn't land on anybody. There wasn't any contact. It was just a freak thing.”

Surgery was Aug. 22. Then it was time to get to work. Grim, grueling work.

'If you'd have told me at the time that I would play again, I'd have thought you were crazy,” Holtz said. 'But after I started putting in the work, nothing was going to stop me.”

By mid-January, Holtz was cleared to play. She returned to full practice Jan. 19, and her first game action was Jan. 23, in a home win over Cedar Valley Christian.

'About a week before, Coach told me to be ready,” Holtz said. 'He didn't tell me when it was going to be; he just said to be ready.”

Holtz's minutes have increased gradually as time has passed. She is averaging 4.2 points per game through five contests.

'Her movement isn't where it needs to be, but you can definitely tell it gets better every (game),” Moenck said. 'Her confidence grows every time she takes the floor.”

Maquoketa Valley (17-5) plays at 13th-ranked Cascade (19-3) in a Class 2A regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday. It's one of 11 games involving area teams in 2A and 1A.

'(Cascade) will be a typical (Mike) Sconsa-coached team,” Moenck said. 'They're going to play hard and get after you defensively. They have good post play. They seem to be shooting the ball better than years past. That makes them scary.”

Holtz's return has Sconsa's attention, and respect.

'For her to come back like that, it's a testament to her,” Sconsa said. 'That's a heck of a lot of work, a lot of grueling pain. She had two things in her favor - she's an athlete, and she's young.”

Holtz plans to play next year at Loras College. But the motivation for her rehab was an extended postseason run in her final season at Maquoketa Valley.

'We're ready to go,” she said. 'We have a goal, and we're not going to let anything stop us.”

FRIDAY'S CLASS 2A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 4

Starmont (10-12) at North Linn (21-1)

MFL MarMac (13-10) at Sumner-Fredericksburg (17-5)

Region 5

Maquoketa Valley (17-5) at Cascade (19-3)

West Branch (17-5) at Durant (15-7)

Region 6

Hudson (16-7) at Dike-New Hartford (20-2)

Pekin (19-2) at Iowa City Regina (19-3)

FRIDAY'S CLASS 1A REGIONAL SEMIFINALS

(All games, 7 p.m.)

Region 3

Algona Garrigan (18-5) at Newell-Fonda (18-4)

Northwood-Kensett (19-4) at Turkey Valley (22-1)

Region 4

North Tama (20-3) at Colo-Nesco (21-1)

Lansing Kee (20-3) vs. Janesville (21-1), at Oelwein

Region 5

Belle Plaine (13-10) at Lynnville-Sully (21-1)

Bellevue Marquette (16-5) at Springville (19-3)

Region 6

Fort Madison Holy Trinity (14-9) at Burlington Notre Dame (21-1)

WACO (16-7) at English Valleys (17-5)

l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com