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KERNERSVILLE — Anna DeFrancesco once played a whole basketball game with a cracked femur, and when she shredded the ACL in that same right leg last season, she went days thinking it was just a sprain.

"I must have a nerve problem," she says. "Or high tolerance."

Few people are hurting more for a win in Saturday's 1-A girls title game than DeFrancesco, Bishop McGuinness' senior point guard who has come all the way back from her debilitating injury to regain her place as the Villains' floor general. They'll face East Bladen at noon Saturday in Raleigh.

After playing behind Division I-bound Kat Lyons for two seasons, DeFrancesco was in line to start for the Villains last season before landing awkwardly while making a cut in their second game. She didn't hear the trademark pop that usually accompanies ACL injuries and even accompanied the team on an ensuing trip to Atlanta, but when she got back in town a doctor told her she'd need season-ending surgery.

She came to every practice the rest of the season, helping freshman Whitney Knight ease into her position and cheering on as the Villains rolled all the way to their third straight state title.

"The hardest part was watching," she said.

DeFrancesco started riding an exercise bike a week after the procedure and worked out every day for the first four months. One day off would mean several of soreness.

"There were days I felt like I was getting nowhere, that I wanted to give up," she said. "My trainer (Lee Howard) could tell, too. I've been playing sports since I was so little, I couldn't handle being out. It was so frustrating. He had to give me a couple pep talks."

DeFrancesco also had to make some painful reconsiderations about her ambitions to be a star player in college. She's considering walking on at some schools now, but basketball is no longer the first factor in her decision.

"It was a reality check," she said. "Everyone thinks they're better than they are. It helped me realize my limitations, but it also helped me realize what I can do."

Those skills are just what Bishop needed from a point guard — someone who can bring the ball up court, distribute it to a laundry list of scorers and defend at every turn.

DeFrancesco is an excellent penetrator off the dribble and a moth-on-porch light defender who came up with four steals in Saturday's regional final victory over East Surry. She's averaging almost five points per game.

She still wears a brace while playing but rarely feels effects from the injury anymore, and there would be no better pain reliever than to go out a winner on Saturday. Bishop has a chance to become the third school in North Carolina history to four-peat.

"I can't say it would mean more than the others, because they're all great," DeFrancesco said. "But for me, this is the first year I've really gotten to contribute, to be a major factor in it. Not many people get four."

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com