This wasn't the ending Kelly Miller had in mind.

Butler's senior point guard - the only senior on the Golden Tornado girls basketball team - planned to lead a young squad to the program's seventh consecutive WPIAL playoff appearance.

Her knee had other ideas.

When Miller collapsed to the floor early in a game Jan. 14 at Pine-Richland, the Tornado's playoff hopes went down with her.

"It was so weird," Miller said. "I wasn't even sure what was going on. I was dribbling the ball. … My knee just gave out."

The diagnosis was a torn ACL and the end of her high school basketball career.

Miller had injured the knee early in the season, straining a ligament and bruising the bone. She sat out a little more than a week before returning to the lineup.

"I guess it could have started there," she said. "Maybe it wore out, maybe I came back too soon. Who knows?"

"This just wasn't my year. Before this season, I was never injured in my life."

Before her injury, Butler was 9-8 overall, 3-4 in Section 3-AAAA and battling for playoff position.

Since losing Miller, who joined fellow starter Samantha Karns on the injured list, also with a torn ACL, Butler has lost five of six games, all section contests.

The Tornado close their first losing season since 1998 when they host New Castle Friday.

"Kelly did so much for us," Butler coach Dorothea Epps said. "I know she's been gone for a while now, but we're still trying to retool our lineup.

"You just can't replace what she provided. No one can drive to the hoop and dish like she can, handle the ball like she can. She was our best defensive player. We counted on her for rebounding. I could go on and on," the coach added.

Though she hasn't played for six games, Miller still leads Butler with 47 assists, 36 steals and 65 fourth-quarter points.

Amy Achesinski is second on the team with 63 fourth-quarter points and 19 assists. Ashley Nocera is second with 29 steals.

"What we miss most is how a player like Kelly makes everyone else on the court better," Epps said. "She draws so much attention defensively that it opens things up for the other girls. That's not happening now."

Neither are Golden Tornado wins. And nobody feels that more than Miller.

"I watch these tight losses. … I feel so helpless," she said. "It's a sick feeling.

"What's bad is that my knee doesn't feel like it's hurt. The doctor told me I'd feel like I could play in a couple of weeks, but I can't. It feels OK, but it's wobbly. If I try to do anything on it, it'll just go out again."

Miller is scheduled for surgery Thursday. Her knee figures to be 100 percent in August, should she decide to play in college.

That decision will come in a few weeks.

"I'm not sure what kind of atmosphere I want in college right now," Miller said. "I applied at Pitt and Penn State and if I go to one of those schools, I won't play basketball.

"I'm also looking at schools like Washington & Jefferson and Carnegie Mellon. If I go to a smaller school, I definitely want to play."

Despite their season-ending injuries, Miller and Karns have continued to attend every Butler practice and are on the bench at every game, home and away.

"We've missed Sam's offensive rebounding ability, but she's a junior and she'll be back," Epps said. "Kelly's been an excellent leader off the court.

"She still talks to the younger girls and they still look up to her. She has a presence in the locker room."

Miller never considered leaving the team.

"I know I can't play, but I still want to support the team," she said. "I feel like I'm still the leader - even if it means being the loudest cheerleader on the bench."