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Injured referee watches from afar By Greg Stiles Ken Millsap was at the top of his game last March. The 41-year-old basketball official was picked to work the Class 4A girls championship game between Crater and Westview of Beaverton. It was the second state final and third state tournament for the former president of the Rogue Valley Basketball Officials Association. Now, he�s missing in action at local gyms, relegated to the bleachers. Last week, his season came to an end � thanks to complications from summertime knee surgery � without so much as one varsity appearance. "I had some guys ask me (Friday night) why I didn�t have a game," Millsap says. "I�ve had coaches ask me where I�ve been." Millsap hurt his left knee during a men�s game at Oregon Tech last January. He worked through the injury and even called high school summer league games. But while he was at an officials camp at Bellingham, Wash., the knee got worse "There was some fluid and I wasn�t doing well," Millsap says. "Everything looked like torn cartilage, so we decided to trim the meniscus and then I�d be ready to go when basketball season began." The thought of surgery, even minor cuts, is unsettling to many. But it is a way of life for Millsap, who has been party to hundreds of operations as a first assistant to surgeons. He knew the cast and the routine when he showed up Aug. 10 at the Ambulatory Surgery Center across from Rogue Valley Medical Center. Plus, Millsap previously had gone through arthroscopic surgery. "I was pretty at ease with it," he admits. "I had each knee scoped in the late �80s and everything went well, but this one turned out a little different." Three days later, he was admitted to RVMC with an infected knee joint. Before he checked out 11 days later, Millsap had endured three more surgeries to wash out the infection. "Because of the inflammation and the scar tissue that formed from the infectious process, I couldn�t straighten my knee out," he says. "I could only bend a few degrees. The muscle had atrophied and it was real weak." Millsap spent the next four months rehabbing so he could don his striped shirt and toss up the ball around the first of the year. "It�s really difficult," Millsap says. "You kind of live for November to come around when you�ve been officiating as long as I have. You want to be out officiating. I have a lot of good friends that I�ve gone through battles with � I want to be involved in the game." When his colleagues took the court, he grabbed a seat in the stands and took notes and chatted with fans. On Jan. 2, he stepped on the floor for the first time this season to work a freshman girls game. "When my knee swelled up," he says, "at that point I decided to go ahead and take the rest of the year off and let it heal." Retirements and relocation of veteran officials in recent years has thinned the ranks of the officials association have thinned out. Local basketball commissioner Lee Sparks misses Millsap as much as anybody. "Losing Kenny is like losing your quarterback for the playoffs," says Sparks. "We�re not very deep right now, and it�s a terrible loss." Millsap�s goal is to return for summer leagues and be back 100 percent next season. "I�ve had some people say they missed me out there," Millsap says. "So I guess I haven�t messed up too bad. "It�s hard to listen to people in the stands and not be out there involved with the kids and coaches. But in the long run I need to do this so to make sure I�ll be back next year." A TEAM OF SOC seniors placed third in the California Kickoff Volleyball Tournament at Stanford University. North Medford�s Jill Carrigan, Kaci Maldonado and Kendra Mitchell; Ashland�s Leslea Brown, Crater�s Crystal Galdrige and Klamath Union�s Kaylene Munson teamed up against 33 other teams. They went 3-0 in pool play Saturday and advanced to the semifinals before losing to the Fresno, Calif., Red. The squad was coached by Malcom Munson, who stepped down at Klamath Union after last season. "They practiced three days before they went down," said North Medford coach Ron Beick. "For them to do as well as they did is a great sign. Most of the teams there have been practicing since late December. We start later because we don't want the kids to get burned out." Carrigan appears to be headed to Colgate on an academic scholarship but plans to play volleyball at the Patriot League school in Hamilton, N.Y. Mitchell is considering Western Oregon, Kent State, Western Baptist, Portland and Seattle-Pacific. Munson has attracted attention from Portland State. A team of North Medford juniors advanced to the consolation bracket finals before losing to another Fresno team. CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS and Lithia Toyota presented the Medford School District checks for $4,275 last Friday during halftime of the North Medford-South Medford boys basketball game. Charter Communications donated $25 for each touchdown scored by Medford schools during the football season, equaling $2,625. Lithia Toyota tacked on another $1,650. Both sponsor local high school broadcasts aired by Table Rock Sports Productions. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 776-4483, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.