The notion sounds preposterous.

South Kitsap senior Taylor Sunkel acknowledges that.

But without the break she received from missing nearly her entire sophomore season, Sunkel might not be on the court attempting to lead the girls basketball team to its third state-playoff appearance in the last four seasons.

Two summers ago, Sunkel recalls hearing her left shoulder pop three times when she became entangled with another player.

She said a doctor told her it was a torn bicep even though she insisted the shoulder was injured. Two doctors later, Sunkel found out she had torn ligaments in her shoulder. Despite that, she went through rehabilitation — a piece of bone also broke off, but she was unaware of that.

It did not take Sunkel, a 5-foot-11 wing, long to realize that playing through the injury would not be feasible. During the first game of the 2009-10 season, Sunkel dislocated her shoulder twice at Graham-Kapowsin. She estimates the last was the 15th time she suffered a dislocation since her initial injury, and afterward she told her father, Ty, that it was time to schedule season-ending surgery.

“It was the worst pain I think I have ever experienced,” Sunkel said.

And the best respite she has ever received.

Sunkel had played the game since elementary school and was “burned out.”

“I was not looking forward to my sophomore season,” she said. “I was playing six nights a week. I was sick of it.”

After undergoing reconstructive surgery on her shoulder, which she said now is completely healthy, Sunkel spent the remainder of that season watching from the sideline.

It changed her perspective.

“After I got hurt, (playing basketball) was all I wanted to do.”

Sunkel did not want to remember it as a wasted season. In addition to watching each game, she worked with Total Package coach Megan Murray to improve her footwork as soon as she was cleared to practice.

“We worked on everything,” Sunkel said. “I definitely would not be the basketball player I am today without her. I have a lot to be thankful for her for that.”

A particular emphasis has been on footwork, which showed when Sunkel’s consistency with her jump shot helped her garner first-team all-Narrows League honors last season. She particularly is strong from the baseline.

“That’s always been my sweet spot, especially on the right side,” Sunkel said. “That’s where I’m comfortable.”

Despite reducing her offseason basketball schedule — she elected

to throw the javelin last spring instead of playing with Total Package after suffering multiple concussions — Sunkel has started this season as strong as ever. She averaged 17.5 points per game as South entered this week with a 6-1 record.

But even those numbers are deceptive. That is because Sunkel went scoreless in the second game of the season in a 54-53 loss against Yelm when she was ejected after an official claimed she punched another player during the first minute of the game.

Whenever a player or coach is ejected, they are subject to a one-game suspension. Coach Mike Hulet said game tape shows that Sunkel did not punch anyone, but she still was forced to miss the Wolves’ 74-37 win Dec. 7 at Lincoln.

“I hate to see that get called,” he said. “She plays hard and she plays aggressive, but she doesn’t play cheap. She’s a good kid.”

Sunkel, who has averaged 21 points in five full games this season, said the incident is behind her and that she would prefer to not discuss it.

But Sunkel vows not to shy away from the physical play she strives for in the post.

“I’m competitive and I’m aggressive,” she said. “You can ask anyone that’s ever played against me. I’m not nice. I want to win.”

After all, she has raced go-karts and Sprint and NASCARs with her brother, Cole, 15, and father for as long as she can remember at an assortment of Northwest tracks.

“I love NASCAR,” Sunkel said. “People can call me a redneck all they want, but those are my true colors.”

Well, not until she is ready to shed the maroon and white. Sunkel said she will not return to racing cars until after she graduates, and then she likely will head to a community college as she prepares for a career as a firefighter or emergency-medical technician — preferably in Kitsap County.

“I really just want to help people,” Sunkel said. “I get an accomplished feeling after I help someone.”

It is a feeling she also hopes to take back to the state tournament. The Wolves finished with a 20-6 record — their most wins in a decade — and advanced to the second round of the state tournament last season. But South also graduated starting guards Kelsey Callaghan and Angela Romonsky and forward Dana Goularte.

That does not mean Sunkel’s expectations are any less.

“We want to go back and go further,” she said. “We want more.”