Kyra Collier was blindsided in an automobile accident one night and scored a career-high 33 points less than 24 hours later.
It’s just the type of feat North Little Rock Coach Daryl Fimple has come to expect out of his 5-9 senior guard.
“She’s the toughest kid we’ve ever had,” Fimple said.
And arguably one of the best players North Little Rock has ever produced. Collier is averaging 20 points a game this season and — after a 16-point effort in Friday’s 52-45 victory at Cabot — has scored 1,659 points in her career.
“She’s a really good athlete, but she’s not a great athlete,” Fimple said. “She’s crafty. But as far as basketball IQ and things you just don’t teach, she’s just got it.”
On Jan. 25, Collier was driving home in her 2004 Lincoln Aviator after watching her younger brother, Craig, play a junior high basketball game in Sherwood. It is a trip that normally takes three minutes to complete.
Collier was stopped at a traffic light on Arkansas 107 when the light turned green.
“I paused a few seconds before I went through the light,” Collier said. “And the next thing I know, this other driver is coming at me. He didn’t have his lights on, and he flew through the [red] light. He was going about 45 and he T-boned me … he just wasn’t paying attention.”
Collier, despite being stunned by the impact, was aware enough to steer her automobile out of the way of another vehicle traveling in the opposite direction and avoid a head-on collision.
Moments earlier, Collier had refused to allow Craig to ride home with her, telling her brother to ride with their older sister.
“I may have saved his life,” Collier said. “[Craig] was mad at me until they [saw the accident]. They were behind me, so they drove up to the accident shortly after it happened. He just kept hugging me. He couldn’t talk. He was shaking.”
Collier was taken later that evening to the emergency room at the Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock after she experienced some pain. She was told that it was nothing more than a few sore muscles, and she was released.
The next evening, North Little Rock was scheduled to play West Memphis. Collier insisted on being in the starting lineup.
With a generous amount of heating ointment, commonly known as Atomic Balm, applied to her muscles, Collier stepped onto the court for what turned out to be a double-overtime 85-80 victory over the Lady Devils.
“I was sore, real sore,” Collier said. “But they rubbed me down with some muscle gel. That stuff is hot. It’s doesn’t feel good, and it doesn’t smell good, but once I get into the flow of things, I was fine.”
Three nights later, Collier scored 12 points in a victory over previously unbeaten Little Rock Central. Fimple said his senior did not have the same “bounce” she usually shows, but she did hit a crucial free throw in the game’s waning moments.
“She probably played 70 minutes last week,” Fimple said. “I don’t think she came out of the game.”
Fimple said Collier’s will to perform while experiencing pain was not surprising. During last season’s state tournament, Collier played with an injured finger in the semifinals against Conway.
“A kid stepped on her pinkie, and it’s completely sideways,” Fimple said. “They put it back in place, taped it up, and she’s back on the court. She plays the entire second half. She scored 14 points in the second half with a mangled finger. We found out after she had it X-rayed, it’s broken in three spots. She had six pins placed in it. It was awful. She had to do six weeks of rehab. She’s just an unbelievable kid.”
And now she’s even more alert when behind the wheel.
“When I’ve been driving [since the accident], I’ve been way more cautious,” Collier said. “I’ve been sitting at green lights like, ‘Should I go?’ But I’m trying to get better about that. I’m trying to let it go.”