Three Rivers guard Johnson out indefinitely with broken nose

Three Rivers sophomore point guard Dominitrix Johnson is sidelined indefinitely with a broken nose that will require surgery.

Johnson, who suffered the injury when he caught an elbow across the face from teammate Abayomi Ajasin during the first half of Wednesday's game at Meramec, was initially told that he didn't need surgery. But a specialist Thursday morning disagreed.

Johnson, a Bell City graduate, will have the surgery in the upcoming days and be sidelined for Saturday's game against State Fair and Wednesday's trip to No. 8 Southwestern Illinois. He's hopeful that he can return Feb. 11 against MSU-West Plains.

"I was hoping it would be a little less invasive," Three Rivers coach Gene Bess said. "We're just interested in trying to get him well. I don't know yet what all the options are, but the major thing is to get him treatment as quickly as possible and try to get him back where he can play maybe with a face guard."

After playing State Fair, Three Rivers faces its most difficult three-game stretch of the season against Southwestern Illinois, West Plains and Mineral Area. All three have beaten the Raiders.

"It's going to be hard to sit out," Johnson said, "but I'm going to be rooting for them and cheering them on."