Grace Academy’s Corey Nelson is either a fast healer, a lucky guy or both. How else would one explain his amazingly quick recovery from a crippling football injury to help the Golden Eagles’ basketball team?
The seemingly devastating lower-leg injury Nelson experienced six months ago isn’t bothering him now, and proof lies in his 16-point average per game that paces the Golden Eagles going into Saturday’s Region 3-A game against Signal Mountain at Grace Academy at 5 p.m.
The Region 3-AAA tournament began Thursday with the girls’ quarterfinals. Girls’ quarterfinals in Regions 4-AA, 3-AA and 3-A are scheduled tonight, along with one 3-AA boys’ quarterfinal-Howard at McMinn Central at 7.
The remaining boys’ quarterfinals are set for Saturday. Winning teams this weekend will move on to central sites beginning Monday. Girls’ championships will be decided Wednesday and boys’ titles will be decided Thursday.
Nelson’s misfortune occurred Aug. 20 at Notre Dame in Grace’s first football game of the season. He dislocated an ankle and suffered a broken bone, along with some ligament damage.