Injured wrist and all, West Point's Mallory Walker, left, fights with Holly Pond's Molly Gambrill for a loose ball last Monday. Three days later, Walker's wrist was set in a cast, ending her high school basketball career.

There’s no better way to describe Mallory Walker’s senior basketball season than random.

There was the infamous jersey slipup on opening night, a half-court buzzer-beater at halftime of a close win versus Cullman, her 1,000th point in a West Point uniform and a championship run at the Hayden Christmas Classic.

All those memories are positive. The one not yet mentioned is not.

After playing six weeks with an injured wrist, a fracture was finally found this past Thursday, putting Walker in a cast and effectively ending her high school hoops career.

The usually lighthearted teen was understandably distraught. When the doctor delivered the unfortunate news, Walker didn’t know what to say — so she didn’t say anything at all.

The silence has subsided since. But her frustration? Not quite.

“I’ve never got hurt in my life,” Walker said. “The one time I do has to be my senior year when we have a chance of doing something.”

In coach John Welborn’s first year on campus, West Point has already returned to relevance. From three wins a winter ago to a much-improved 13 so far in this one, the Lady Warriors are in prime position to enter the postseason fray with a 3-1 area record.

Of course, Walker’s massive contributions have been a major factor in West Point’s successes. Twenty-plus points a game is enough to demand attention from opposing teams.

But there’s more than one player for foes to worry about.

Fairview found that out the hard way Friday in the Maroon and White’s first game without Walker. Using double-digit efforts from Jeri Beasley, Lexie Burdette and Bailee Yearwood, the Warriors shook off deficits after each of the first three quarters to pull off a 51-46 comeback.

“I was very proud of them,” Walker said. “They were happy. Coach Welborn was happy.”

And it’s always nice when West Point’s oft-intense commander is content, correct?

“Yes,” said Walker with a laugh.

As much as the guard would prefer to help out her basketball family on the court, she’s determined to make an impact as a spectator. If that means replacing points with pom poms — with her completely healthy right hand, at least — so be it.

“I don’t want to sit on the bench and have a bad attitude and get everybody down,” Walker said. “So you’ve just got to do what you do to keep ’em up.”

Up is where the multi-sport student-athlete feels the Warriors are still going — with or without her services. She’s not so shortsighted to consider her entire senior season a disaster, either.

“It’s not ended yet,” Walker said. “We still have a good chance of getting of area, and I think we will. They just have to keep working hard.”

Walker can’t recall precisely when she injured her wrist, but she does remember it hurting after a game at Danville’s Thanksgiving tournament. She approached Beasley’s mom, a nurse, about the pain and was advised to tape it. So she did and kept right on playing.

Eventually, though, Walker had no choice but to visit a doctor. The first specialist thought her wrist was broken. So did the second. But CAT scans and X-rays didn’t expose a scratch, so she was told to come back in three weeks.

Again, nothing.

The saga finally came to a head Thursday, when Walker was called at school and asked to come in for an MRI. At long last, X-rays revealed her scaphoid was indeed fractured, leaving no need for an MRI or additional CAT scan.

When broken, the scaphoid bone limits blood circulation and runs the risk of dying if untreated for too long.

Walker couldn’t even fathom how close she might’ve come to losing movement in her left wrist. She’s left-handed in all activities outside of sports.

“What are the odds?” she pondered.

Walker will return to the doctor Monday to determine if surgery is needed. If so, she’ll have it Wednesday and likely be out of commission for six weeks, which would run well into softball season.

Walker is a catcher, outfielder and offensive threat for the defending-county champion Warriors. She’s already committed to Snead State and actually talked to Welborn about the possibility of playing both sports for the Parsons the day before she was slapped with the cast.

Walker anticipates being slightly scared of reaggravating the injury when she makes her softball debut. In the meantime, she’ll take solace in a Bible passage (Jeremiah 29:11) that uncannily correlates to her current situation.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”