Apachito refused to let broken foot end her season

It’s a safe bet to say Alamo Navajo’s Hailey Apachito is the toughest basketball player in Socorro County after playing the last 20 games of the season with a broken left foot.

Still, that didn’t stop her from leading her team to a district title, state tournament berth, winning the state all-stars’ overall three-point competition (she beat the boys’ champ, too), and being named an honorable mention all-state player on March 19.

Apachito suffered what is known as a navicular fracture to her left foot during a Dec. 27 game against Utah’s Monument Valley in the opening round of the Striking Eagle Invitational in Albuquerque. Thinking that her foot was just sprained, Apachito led her teams to wins over White Horse and Socorro before realizing the injury seemed more serious the following week.

A visit to the doctor and x-rays showed a serious gap in the ball of her foot that only surgery could repair.

“I couldn’t walk on it. I thought I just sprained it really, really bad. But, when I played in the games, I couldn’t go off it or anything,” Apachito said. That’s when I told my dad I think it was worse. Because it hurts badly.”

When she got the news she had a broken bone, Apachito’s heart hit the floor with a thud.

“Her heart was broken, and she thought that her high school career was over because this is her last year,” J.J. Apachito said.

It was a double blow because Apachito is Hailey’s father and he’s the Lady Cougars’ head coach.

But there was a glimmer of hope for the senior.

“The doctor kept looking at the x-ray and said hey, you could possibly still play if you can tolerate the pain,” J.J. said.

The moment she heard that her senior season could be saved, Hailey decided she was going to play. There was no family discussion – the senior was determined to finish the year.

“I have played basketball since I was a little girl, and I love the game,” Hailey said. “I want to play at a higher level, so I wanted to play and finish off my senior year, too.”

Together with her father, Hailey experimented with several ways to wrap the break for games. Regardless of how they protected her foot and prevented further injury, there was no way to alleviate the pain.

Every time a player jumps, they put stress on the ball of their foot and even more so when they land. The mental struggle of dealing with such an injury is even more challenging.

“In the beginning, right when I did break it, it hurt. Like every game, like my dad would set me down for rest, which really brought me down because I couldn’t be the player I was,” Apachito said.

The ordinarily fearless rebounder had to reduce the workload on her foot, and while she was hindered, she still led the Lady Cougars in scoring with 15.4 points per game.

Apachito is a standout in track field, but she will be skipping out on running this year as she prepares for surgery and graduation.

The senior hopes a college will note her performance at Gallup High School, where she won the state’s overall three-point shooting championship with a 19-of-25 performance that bested all shooters – boys and girls.

Apachito’s future plans are to attend college out of state—she wants to see the world. She also wants to play college basketball and get a degree in criminology.