Desert Mountain girls basketball guard Carly Rose, who averaged a team-high 13.7 points per game last season as a sophomore, is expected to miss this year after tearing her anterior cruciate ligament in September.

Rose shot 44 percent from 3-point range last season and was an All-Tribune honorable mention performer after leading the Wolves to a 19-10 record. She is expected to be healthy by late February or March, which would likely keep her out of any high school action.

It leaves a void for first-year coach Frank Mattucci.

“We’re definitely going to miss her points and her leadership,” he said.

Mattucci takes over at Desert Mountain following a storied coaching career at Stevenson High in Lincolnshire, Ill. He has a career record of 455-148 and won consecutive state championships in 1994-95 and 1995-96.  Mattucci coached seven-time WNBA All-Star Tamika Catchings in high school.

He retired from head coaching at Stevenson in 2006 but quickly returned to assistant duties and is now running a program again.

“I could only stay out for about a year,” Mattucci said. “I still have that passion.”

Tags: Carly Rose, Frank Mattucci, Tamika Catchings