Through two hip surgeries, Lockport’s Alaina Peetz just knew she would be back playing sports.
Her right hip dysplasia acted up during her sophomore softball season in 2023. The following fall, she said she had one surgery to shift her hip bone to cover the femur. The second surgery was to fix a hole in her bone with a graft, causing her to miss her junior year of basketball.
Despite all of that, the St. Xavier recruit was confident there was a comeback coming.
“I think overall, I’m a pretty optimistic person,” she said. “I was looking to come back to play basketball in the summer. I had that mindset.
“I was always optimistic I would be back for basketball, and I was super excited to come back.”
Peetz came back in the spring, playing AAU basketball in a tournament in Indiana. She then played in the summer with the Porters before taking on a vital role in the team’s hot start.
That continued Monday night as Peetz picked up 12 points, four rebounds and a pair of steals for host Lockport in a 49-32 SouthWest Suburban Conference victory over Sandburg.
Senior guard/forward Lucy Hynes led the Porters (12-0, 5-0) with 19 points and six rebounds, while sophomore Katie Peetz came through with nine rebounds and two blocked shots.
Olivia Trunk popped in 10 points to pace Sandburg (3-5, 1-3), with twin sister Zoe adding nine points. Monique Nkwogu came off the bench to haul down nine rebounds.
Alaina Peetz, meanwhile, has been such a positive force that Lockport coach Darien Jacobs named her one of the team captains last winter even though she wouldn’t see any playing time.
“She wasn’t able to play, but I saw qualities in her and I thought she was ready,” Jacobs said of Peetz. “She’s vocal. She knows the game. She’s confident. I knew she would be able to help us.
“And I think it was a good position to come back and be ready this year.”
Hynes calls Peetz’s comeback “amazing.”
“She sat on the bench last year and was so supportive to everybody,” Hynes said of Peetz. “Although it was tough for her to watch all of us play, she kept cheering everyone on, which is great to see.
“It looks like she never left. She has gotten stronger. Without her rebounding and defense, we would really be in trouble.”
Speaking of defense, the Porters shut out the Eagles in the third quarter. During a 12-minute stretch from the second quarter into the fourth, Lockport outscored Sandburg 18-0.
“Our big focus is on defense,” Jacobs said. “Sometimes, the ball is not going to go into the hoop, but we can always play defense and hustle and give a maximum effort.”
The Eagles erupted for 14 straight points in a three-minute stretch to shave that 35-16 deficit to 35-30, but the Porters’ defense kicked in again and held Sandburg to two points in the final 4:30.
“The third was pretty good, but we had some collapses,” Peetz said. “But in the end, we settled down. I think that defense is the most important part of the game. It fuels our offense.”
Peetz enjoys being back on the court but said her time on the bench was not as bad as people might think.
“There were some moments,” she said of frustration from not playing. “It was helpful being with this team because I knew we could be good this year and I had a good relationship with them.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
