Editor’s note: This is the fourth in a series of stories chronicling Archbishop Mitty basketball player McKenna Woliczko’s road back from a serious knee injury. Woliczko is a five-star Iowa-bound prospect in the class of 2026. Here are Parts I, II and III.
SAN JOSE — On the day after New Year’s, McKenna Woliczko left her house in San Bruno at 9 a.m. and made the nearly hour-long drive to San Jose in time for Archbishop Mitty’s shootaround at 10.
It was time to prepare for a moment the basketball star had been awaiting for months and months. And it was just five hours away.
Woliczko’s parents, Aaron and Erica, arrived hours later flanked by grandparents, brother Patrick, uncles, former teammates and Mitty alums. Woliczko’s boyfriend, AAU coach, trainer and physical therapist also attended.
Even Patrick’s boxing coach made an appearance, sporting Woliczko’s new T-shirt designed in partnership with a local manufacturer in Iowa, where she is committed to play in college.
Hundreds showed up to watch Woliczko’s comeback game, filling the home section of Mitty’s Herman J. Fien Gymnasium.
And they were treated to a show.
Three hundred and sixty-three days earlier, on Jan. 4, 2025, she had torn her right ACL and meniscus in a showcase game against Southern California powerhouse Ontario Christian, the opponent Mitty will play Saturday.
Thus began a long climb back to her perch as the best girls basketball player in the Bay Area and one of the best nationally.
But after months of surgery, strenuous rehabilitation, fatigue, rest, heartache, and challenge, the promised day had arrived.
It was time to get back on the floor.
Woliczko finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds in 14 minutes, leading the Monarchs to an 82-44 win over Clovis. But it wasn’t a seamless display entirely free of trepidation.
Late in the first quarter, Woliczko fell to the floor along the baseline after taking a hard foul on a layup attempt.
Half the air immediately escaped Fein Gym. Aaron, watching intently, gave a stern “Hang on,” when another spectator asked him a question after the play.
After five to 10 of the longest seconds any attendee would have that day, Woliczko returned to her feet and the air returned to the building.
The moment was viewed through a different lens by everyone. For Aaron, who had torn his Achilles while doing footwork drills with Woliczko and Patrick on Christmas Eve, it was time to hold your breath and hope.
For Woliczko, it was no big deal.
“It wasn’t too crazy,” she said. “That happens to me all the time.”
Archbishop Mitty's McKenna Woliczko (20) stretches before a game against Clovis at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)It seemed to be of greater benefit for everyone else. For her teammates, family, friends and all the rest of the fans in attendance.
After a year away from the court, they were reassured that Woliczko can still take a hit.
“She’s been practicing with us for several weeks, so we’ve had the pleasure and joy of having her with us in the gym and seeing all the amazing things she can do,” Mitty coach Sue Phillips said. “She’s such a graceful athlete. Watching her move and play out there, it was actually good she took a hard foul so that she could experience that.
“Because that’s part of the process of her knowing that she’s ready to take those kinds of hits. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been cleared and she wouldn’t have been out there.”
The mood lightened considerably when Woliczko got back up and stayed there the rest of the afternoon.
Dozens of friends and family members approached various members of the Woliczko clan before, during and after the game to talk shop. There was near universal acknowledgement of Woliczko’s readiness to play and how fluid she looked on the court.
A lot of work went into that. As Phillips noted, Woliczko practiced with Mitty for weeks – really months, if you include individual drills and four-on-four scrimmages – before fully ramping up and being cleared to play this month.
Woliczko originally intended to return for the beginning of Mitty’s season in December, but setbacks, indicated in part by unorthodox shooting mechanics cropping up, lengthened her recovery process and pushed back her return date.
A clean bill of health finally came on Dec. 22 when she met with her orthopedist and was fully cleared to play 11 days later.
On the morning of Jan. 2, Mitty’s girls basketball X account posted a gameday graphic that said at the bottom, “Welcome back McKenna.”
The Monarchs were ready to have her back.
Archbishop Mitty's McKenna Woliczko (20) smiles during the National Anthem before her first game at Archbishop Mitty after recovering from an ACL tear at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)Pretty much everyone in the gym that day was ready to put 2025 in the rearview. Especially Aaron, who vowed that the Woliczkos were leaving all injuries – his included – in the previous year.
As Woliczko, with ice on her right knee, said hi to Patrick and then took turns greeting various members of the multitude who wanted some of her time after the game, she embraced the watershed moment.
Now, Woliczko and Mitty will get ready for their biggest test yet. The Monarchs have traveled to Southern California to face Ontario Christian, the No. 1 team in the country according to MaxPreps, on Saturday at Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana.
Mitty ramped up for the monumental test with home wins over Clovis (82-44) and Valley Christian (82-26), the latter of which opened West Catholic Athletic League play for the Monarchs.
Mitty also plays Fairmont Prep on Friday to open the two-day showcase at Mater Dei.
But the Ontario Christian game is the one everyone has been waiting for. Since Woliczko tore her ACL against Ontario Christian last January, Mitty has sought an opportunity to prove itself again on the big stage.
That opportunity was taken from the Monarchs last year when Woliczko was hurt. Though Mitty still made it to the CIF Open Division state championship game, the Monarchs were routed by Etiwanda.
Their ceiling was clearly diminished. Now, Mitty is back at full strength for the first time since with the ability to truly prove what it can do.
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The two rematched as the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country on Jan. 4 under the watchful eyes of a packed gymnasium at the Sabrina Ionescu SI20 Showcase at Carondelet High in Concord.
Mitty led 19-17 when Woliczko went down with her injury in the second quarter.
Nothing has been the same since. Today, the Monarchs will have the chance to show that things are back to normal – and have maybe even changed for the better.
Woliczko will never be the same person she was before her injury. It will always be part of her story.
But her pen has much more ink in it. As her comeback concludes, a new chapter begins.
“A year ago today, I tore my ACL and meniscus,” Woliczko wrote on X Jan. 4. “Just two days ago, I played my first game since, and I just want to say thank you to everyone that supported and was a part of the process. One of the worst days of my life turned into one of my greatest battles and accomplishments.”
Archbishop Mitty's McKenna Woliczko (20) and Archbishop Mitty's Abi James (10) talks while stretching before a game against Clovis at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Archbishop Mitty's McKenna Woliczko (20) gets her knee iced after the third quarter during a game against Clovis at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Archbishop Mitty's McKenna Woliczko (20) high fives teammates before playing against Clovis at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group) Archbishop Mitty's McKenna Woliczko (20) takes a shot against Clovis' Amieya Walters (23) in the second quarter at Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)Hence then, the article about comeback complete mitty star s return to basketball a year in making was published today ( ) and is available on mercury news ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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