Manitou Springs girls basketball’s Ashlyn Thomson has thrived after an injury cost her three seasons

MANITOU SPRINGS – As Ashlyn Thomson sat on the bench waiting for her name to be called as a starter for the Manitou Springs girls basketball team, she was shaking. This was a moment that she had dreamed of since her days of playing middle school ball and one that she had nearly accepted would never come.

This was December 1, 2021.

Thomson was a senior, playing in her first varsity game since Manitou’s season-opener her freshman year. She scored just two points in that game, but suffered a torn ACL that cost her almost every minute of high school competition.

After several surgeries and countless hours of rehab (and almost deciding not to play), Thomson returned to the Mustangs this season. And has become a crucial piece of the Mustangs efforts to fight their way into the Class 3A state tournament.

“Besides a certain pleasant surprise, she has been a crucial piece of us holding onto the success that we have had,” coach Jessie Nunley said.

And it all started that night on Dec. 1.

Taking the floor, Thomson had never been so nervous to play in a competitive game. But those nerves started fading away. First she hit a 3-pointer. Then she made another basket. Then another. And another.

Before the game ended, she had scored 20 points in what was the first full varsity game of her high school career.

“My stomach was just turning,” Thomson said. “I had never played basketball on our home floor. When I got hurt we were at Faith Christian. This was my first actual home game and there were so many people there. I was so nervous.”

The 20-point performance has turned out to be a season-high, but she has been a big part of so many wins that the Mustangs have needed this season. She had a team-high 12 points in a win over Alamosa. She had 16 against James Irwin to help the team get its first league win of the year. And just this last weekend, she led the team with 18 points to beat La Junta in a district pigtail game. Without that win, the Mustangs state tournament hopes likely go up in smoke. Thomson has been the team’s leading scorer at 10.8 points per game.

When the initial injury occurred, Thomson’s recovery just never seemed to be going well. She found herself on the bench in more of a managerial role for the volleyball and basketball teams rather than on the court where she had envisioned herself so many times as a young athlete.

She got through volleyball season in 2021, but as basketball practices started her initial thought was to pull away and sit the season – her senior season – out. Playing basketball hadn’t worked out for three years so why would this season be any different?

“I was just sitting at home, and I was bored (on the first official day of practice),” Thomson said. “I could’ve been at basketball. I knew the team wanted me to be there and the coaches wanted me to be there, and they’d welcome me with open arms.”

The next day she showed up. That started a domino effect that included her playing as well as she has and perhaps changing her life plans.

When basketball season started, she was set to head to Arizona State for college and attend the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism. But her play on the court resulted in some college coaches reaching out. Now she’ll head to Cazenovia College in New York to play both volleyball and basketball at the Division III level, something she never wouldn’t though possible even six months ago.

“I’m still processing it,” Thomson said. “I’ll be sitting at home, and it hits me that I get to continue my volleyball and basketball career and I never thought one season could’ve brought me so many opportunities. I’m so grateful for it all.”

Thomson’s journey can serve as an example for high school athletes at any level. Injuries can certainly derail hopes and dreams to an extent. But the point of high school athletics is to overcome adversity and emerge a better person and a better athlete.

Her success this season has helped the Mustangs into a position where they can still make the state tournament in what they know is an underachieving season for the program.

And above all else, she has shown that adversity is merely an obstacle. She has overcome a bad hand in life, yet still made the most of it and gets to continue playing the games that she has grown to love.

“Knowing the recent decision she has made to go play two sports in college, I think it has a lot to do with it,” Nunley said. “It has helped her confidence and reinforced her love for the sport and the success she can have there.”

Thomson and the Mustangs are competing at the Tri-Peaks district tournament at Florence High School this weekend. They’ll away their state tournament fate when the 3A brackets are released on Sunday.