By Matt Popchock

The New Castle girls’ basketball team’s hopes of stringing three WPIAL Class AAA championships together suffered a big blow this week.

Mr. High School Sports learned yesterday that junior guard and three-year starter Kaylynn Waters will miss the remainder of the 2010-11 season with what head coach Jason Rankin described as a partially torn ACL.

Waters suffered the injury during New Castle’s 67-29 victory over Ellwood City in their section opener Dec. 16 when one of the Ellwood City players fell on her leg.  An exact timetable for her surgery and subsequent recovery has not been announced.

Waters, considered one of the best players at her position in the WPIAL, averaged over 27 points and seven rebounds through New Castle’s first three games.  She played an instrumental role in helping her team capture back-to-back district titles, averaging over 18 points per game as a sophomore and scoring 33 in the WPIAL Class AAA Final against section champion Hopewell.

The Red Hurricane is currently 3-1 overall entering the holiday break.