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Three months after brain surgery, Sperring returns to the court


In late January, I wrote about York Catholic junior Michael Sperring, a promising basketball talent who survived emergency brain surgery in November. At the time of the procedure, which removed a massive blood clot in his brain, Sperring didn't think he'd play basketball again. While reporting for my profile, Michael's surgeon told me that he was probably "six to 24 hours" away from the clot causing major, potentially permanent damage. But on Wednesday night, during York Catholic's 45-36, District 3 Class AA play-in game victory at Reading Holy Name, Sperring did something remarkable: He made his return to the court, three months after the procedure that saved his life. Sperring was given a clean bill of health for the first time on Tuesday. He dressed and warmed up with the team for Wednesday's game, and got into the game for about 30 seconds. Then, the best part. After an attempt to set up Sperring for a 3-pointer failed, the Fighting Irish got the ball back, and James Dougherty hit Sperring for an easy layup. It was the sort of bucket Sperring has probably scored so many times in his career. But I have a feeling he won't forget this lay-up for the rest of his life.