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Sunday, November 4, 2018 23 Northwest Arkansas Basketball KYIAH JULIAN SCHOOL Greenwood CLASS Senior HEIGHT 5-9 POSITION Guard NOTABLE Julian averaged 12.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 27 games as a junior before tearing her ACL and meniscus. … Was named all-state in Class 6A. … Has started since her freshman season, where she averaged 9.3 points and 4.0 rebounds. … Aver - aged 11.7 points and 3.6 rebounds as a sophomore. … Drawing inter- est from Division II schools, includ- ing Arkansas-Fort Smith. All Kyiah Julian could do was watch as her Greenwood teammates made their run to the Class 6A state finals last March. Julian, the Lady Bulldogs' leading scorer and a starting guard since her freshman sea- son, tore her ACL and meniscus in her right knee in a mid-Feb- ruary regular season game. Inside, sitting on the side- line was killing Julian, but on the outside she knew she had to be strong for her teammates. "It was my best season, but I couldn't really be upset be- cause I still had a team I was captain for," Julian said. "I couldn't think my life was over and didn't want to put doubt in anyone else's mind. I had to be strong for my team and sup- port them. I couldn't feel bad for myself." The Lady Bulldogs (22-10) went on to win five straight games, including twice in the Class 6A State Tournament be- fore falling to Jonesboro 57-44 in the 6A state finals. Just three days before that championship game, Julian had reconstructive surgery to repair her knee. "I was proud of them, but you still want to be out there," Julian said. "It's the first time that I've been at Greenwood that we made it to the finals. We could have made it all the way. But it was hard at state. I didn't get to sit on the bench because I had just come from surgery and they didn't want someone to jump on me." Julian was on crutches for about a month after the surgery and began phys- ical therapy after that, which lasted around four months. Now she's back and hoping to lead the Lady Bulldogs to their first state title since the 2015 season. She feels like she's stronger than before her injury. "I've surprised myself," she said. "I feel like I owe my team a lot because I wasn't there. Even though it's not my fault, I still feel like I have to give Healthy and ready to win C L A S S 5 A Greenwood's Julian returns from injury NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER GRAHAM THOMAS NWA DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE "I couldn't think my life was over and didn't want to put doubt in anyone else's mind. I had to be strong for my team and support them. I couldn't feel bad for myself." — Kyiah Julian, Greenwood guard, on injuring her knee last season See JULIAN, Page 29