Ackerman twins push through freak injuries

Derek Ackerman remembers the feeling well. In last season's Week 8 football game against Plymouth on Oct. 10, the Monroeville senior wide receiver made a tough catch. Hit immediately by multiple tacklers, he came down awkwardly on his right leg. "It was actually a nice catch," Derek said. "That was the only good thing about it." But in an instant, he knew the injury was serious. "I felt it tighten up really quick, and I looked down at my leg, and it was flipped over the other way," Derek said. "I knew it was over. I was done." As he was carried off the field with what was diagnosed as a broken fibula and dislocated ankle, Derek's twin brother, Blake, ran out on the field. The brothers, both key two-way players, often rotated on both offensive and defensive series for the Eagles. While longtime Fisher-Titus Medical Center athletic trainer Monica Nickoli began assessing Derek's injury, the game went on. For one play. Writhing in pain himself, Derek thought he heard someone say that Blake was also injured. "But that didn't make any sense," he said. On a simple run play, Blake was more than 30 yards away from the action when he planted his foot, twisted and fell, needing help to get up. "I thought Derek would be OK, but then it was clear he was really hurt," Blake said. "And I thought I'd be OK, too. It really hurt initially, but after about 10 minutes, Monica was bending the knee around, and I thought I'd be fine. "I actually thought I'd be able to play the next week." Instead, Blake's left-leg injury turned out be worse news. Not only had he torn both menisci in his knee, he had also ripped his anterior cruciate ligament. The brothers, who are fraternal twins, had suffered devastating leg injuries on consecutive plays in football. But the fallout went much further than football. Blake, the leading scorer for Eagles' basketball last year, was also an All-Ohio Division VI selection for the 2024-25 season. His injury cost him the remaining football games and all of the basketball season. The hope for Derek's return to sports was for midseason with a Monroeville basketball squad that had high expectations on the court. "That loud scream that sounded like a woman that everyone heard at the football game was probably me when they got hurt," Monroeville coach Bob Fries said, adding that the injuries were "just devastating" for the brothers. "I'm sure the whole family had many sleepless nights, but I'm pretty sure I was right behind them." The comeback Despite the injuries to the Ackerman twins, the Eagles found their footing this winter. In many ways, much of that success that can be tied to Derek's return to the court. With his rehabilitation completed, he began playing again Jan. 10, which was Monroeville's ninth game of the season. The Eagles were 5-3 in the first eight games and then added seven wins against just four losses after Derek's return. He scored 16 points in a 70-57 win at South Central on Jan. 21 in his third game back with the team. "We had the leadership from both Blake and Derek because they were still coming to practice every day," Fries said. "But Derek then had that big game when he scored 16 and couldn't even jump. He'd be sore after a game and would sit out practice." After the Eagles lost their next game at Crestview on Jan. 23, they fell to 7-5 — but they haven't lost a game since. Now, in the postseason, Monroeville (18-5) takes its 11-game win streak into Thursday's 6 p.m. Division VII district semifinal game against Cardinal Stritch (14-9) at Oregon Clay High School. The Eagles are Firelands Conference champions for the first time in 42 years. The 18 victories matches the number of wins in the 2021-22 season, with both seasons being the best the Eagles have done since 1983-84. In Derek's 14 regular season games since his return, he has averaged 10.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest while shooting 49 percent on two-pointers. He is slotted into the third-leading scorer role behind Maverick Myers (14.3) and Cole Perry (12.8) and is second in rebounds behind Cole. Derek's growth on the court after his leg fracture was noticeable in Monroeville's 69-60 sectional tournament win over St. Paul on Feb. 26. He didn't play in a 57-47 win over the Flyers on Dec. 12, and was in only his second game when the Eagles lost at St. Paul, 44-38, on Jan. 17. Hitting his stride in the third roundball game between the rival teams, Derek was the difference-maker. Maverick and Cole combined for 37 points and Derek was right there with them at 17 points and six rebounds. "It's been great to see him back," Fries said. "When Derek is playing well, he is so strong down low and gets rebounds and finishes at the rim. He is starting to polish his game at a good time for us. He is getting back to where he was toward the end of last year." Blake's moment When Derek returned to the court, the moment was bittersweet. As is often seen with twins, the sons of Lee and Samantha Ackerman did everything together, along with Kole, their older brother by two years. Because they grew up "going at each other" while playing basketball and other sports in the front yard, Derek said that brotherly dynamic helped them excel in high school. But that dream ending was denied with the severity of Blake's injury. "We'd go against each other and be competitive in the driveway — but when we were on the field or court, you knew we had a chemistry no one else did," Blake said. "To get the news about my knee was devastating. "We were working all summer — everyone —not just me. To have it taken away in one play, it hurt because I'll never get high-school sports back." Watching the first basketball game of the season was the most difficult, Blake noted. "The realization that you won't be part of it was hard," he said. "When Derek came back, I was happy, but that also hurt me a little bit, too. Not playing with him is hard." Derek's work ethic showed in his relatively short recovery, Maverick noted, calling him a key part of the team's success. He also admires Blake's attitude in a tough situation. "I don't know how he's doing it, because if I were in his position, I'm not sure if I'd handle it as well as he has," he added "I give a lot of credit to him. He shows up every day and is as much a player on this team as any of us because he's there helping coach us every day." Not all was lost this season for Blake, however. The Eagles had their Senior Night on Feb. 21. And with Blake now four months into recovery, he has been able to move much better. Fries put him in the starting lineup against Fremont St. Joseph, with an agreement that Blake would stand under the basket, shoot an uncontested layup for two points in his senior season, and then return to the bench. Except that Blake balked at the idea. "I didn't want a freebie," he said. "I wanted to work for it and make it mean something. I wanted to make it a real shot. I had to." When the game began, Blake got the ball and immediately fired a three-pointer. It swished through to a loud ovation from the crowd and his teammates. "I'm not going to lie. I actually didn't think it was going in," Blake said. "But it felt so good, honestly. It put me at ease mentally a little bit. It just felt really good. These guys worked hard for that championship and are playing great. "I miss playing with them the most. I'm still part of it, but it is what it is at this point, too. You can't change it. I needed that three." After Blake objected to the uncontested layup idea, the revised plan was for the Eagles to get as many offensive rebounds as possible and keep feeding the ball to Blake until he made a contested shot. The SJCC team and coaches were unaware of the circumstances. "Then he buries it on the first try," Fries said. "When he came off the floor, I told him he was our best three-point shooter this year, which is fitting. "What hurt the most was I really felt like Blake was poised to have a Player of the Year-type season for us," he added. "And to see him make that shot, that's an All-Ohio player. It was like riding a bike for him." Seeing his brother hit the three-pointer, Derek was unable to hide his excitement. Afterward, effusive praise bubbled forth. "The greatest feeling of the season," he said. "That honestly felt better than winning the conference for me. Nothing else mattered. "To see him come out and just hit a shot like that as if he'd been playing this whole time — in a season [when] he should have been — was special. "Seeing what he had to go through, and he's still rehabbing every day, it's not fun. Because I get to see that, every minute I'm out here is a complete blessing. I am so thankful for it."