An act of sportsmanship helps Port Charlotte senior secure 1,000 career points

Author: Zach Oliveri
Published: Updated:

Aryianna Progl is a fixture on the court for the Port Charlotte girls basketball team. But now, she finds herself on the sidelines.

“I’ve gotten hurt multiple times in my basketball career but this is a big injury and I have to realize that I have to take this really seriously,” Aryianna said.

In the Pirates game against North Port, which was a day before senior night, Progl suffered a torn ACL that ended her senior season.

“I think she was on her third steal already and was coming down on a fast break and jump stopped,” Port Charlotte girls basketball head coach and Aryianna’s father Mike Progl recalled. “And the defender was next to her and her knee buckled.”

“When I got the news that it was my ACL, I definitely it hurt,” Aryianna explained. It like my heart dropped.

Aryianna was closing in on a milestone not many players achieve: 1,000 career points. She was just 27 points away from that elusive mark.

Once DeSoto County girls basketball head coach Ardine Primus heard about how close Aryianna was, she came up with a plan. That was to have Aryianna do 14 layups, on her home court, so she can hit the milestone.

“It’s a humbling experience to be able to bring that to life for any player is a humbling experience for me,” Primus explained. “And one I know I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.”

With one of the DeSoto County players, Yahri Tyler, who was also sidelined with an ACL injury, on the other end doing the same thing.

“I felt like I helped Ari finished something out that she deserved because I played against her last year and that’s a good player,” Tyler said. “I felt she deserved that.”

For Mike Progl, this was more than just a milestone.

“It was everybody respected her so much not only as a player but as a person that they felt she deserved it,” Mike explained. “And that’s the best thing from a father standpoint, that’s all you really want.”

“It’s been a very long time since I’ve seen sportsmanship like that,” Aryianna said. “I didn’t think that was ever going to happen.”

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