The two-time all-county point guard found the answer with a last-second change of heart over Easter weekend. Misenheimer decided to accept a scholarship offer from Pfeiffer University coach Angie Morton and will continue her hoops career in, ironically enough, the town of Misenheimer, just 10 minutes down Highway 52 from her Rockwell home.

Misenheimer, a stellar student who had already been awarded an academic scholarship worth $20,000 over four years, had been torn for the past month between offers from Lenoir-Rhyne (which liked her as a basketball player, but was more excited about her cross country talent) and Pfeiffer (which likes her cross country possibilities, but was most excited about her as a basketball player).

Pfeiffer had a lot going for it. Misenheimer liked Morton, liked the basketball team and liked the school. She also liked the fact that the Falcons’ point guard is graduating. What she didn’t necessarily like was the location. Going to Pfeiffer wouldn’t exactly be “going away” to college.

“That’s why I really thought it would be Lenoir-Rhyne when they offered a full ride,” said Misenheimer. “At one time, I had my heart set on it.”

But things changed when Misenheimer worked out with the Pfeiffer team last week.

“Coach Morton had told me all along that she was recruiting two point guards,” said Misenheimer. “Tuesday, she told me it was just me. That means I might really have a chance to make an impact. I could start as a freshman. That sounded really good, like too good an opportunity to pass up.

“Yeah, Pfeiffer is really close to home, but then, college is what you make of it.”

The only catch was this: Morton needed to know Misenheimer’s answer, like, right now.

“I understood that,” said Misenheimer. “If I wasn’t coming, she had some recruiting work to do.”

Misenheimer says the choice of colleges was the toughest decision she’s ever made. The next toughest was choosing which sport to pursue. You hear about her mostly for basketball, but she’s also been one of the county’s top cross country runners for years and was 1999’s Runner of the Year in the South Piedmont Conference after winning three events and placing second in another in the conference meet. She was runner-up to North’s LaTasha Pharr last summer as Rowan County Female Athlete of the Year.

“I’ve always done all three sports,” said Misenheimer, “and they’ve been a big part of my life since middle school. But I just love basketball. I’m anxious to see what I can do when I concentrate on it all year. I’ve never done that.”

Misenheimer started playing basketball early. Her father, Steve, and Stan Honeycutt, father of North star Megan, were among her early coaches. She was part of a state championship 13-&-under AAU team as a middle-schooler and that experience gave her the basketball bug for good.

Her game evolved for three years under the coaching of Gina Talbert at East, then blossomed further after Randy Bingham took the reins this season. A four-year varsity player (along with long-time backcourt mate Nicole Loggins), Misenheimer grew from a reluctant shooter as a youngster to the Mustangs’ best percentage shooter on 3s (37.3) as a senior.

Still, Misenheimer was smaller (5-foot-7, 110 pounds) than the prototype college guard and never a huge scorer (8.6 ppg as a junior, 10.4 as a senior). And sometimes those kids get overlooked.

That’s why going into this season, she feared it might be her last go-round with the game she loved so much.

“At the beginning of this season, I prayed every night that I’d get the chance to play ball in college,” she said. “That opportunity came my way.

“As smart as Brooke is, as well as she listens, and hard as she works, she should help Pfeiffer a whole lot,” said Talbert. “I think her size hurt her with the bigger schools, but she’s got talent. Pfeiffer is getting a real gem.”

What Pfeiffer is getting, if you haven’t seen her, is a player in the Steve Wojciechowski mold. OK, make that “Wojo” with a ponytail, rather than a crewcut.

“I loved to watch ‘Wojo’ play when he was at Duke,” says Misenheimer. “He embodied what a point guard should be with his heart and hustle. He was small, like I’m small. He was never the most talented person out there, but he always gave everything he had. That’s the way I’ve tried to play since middle school.”

The past two seasons, Misenheimer put up assist (378) and steal numbers (142) that Wojo would have been proud to claim.

Most of all, East fans will remember how tough she was at the end of games. When East went on its run to the regionals in ‘99, she sank 37 free throws over one unbelievable three-game stretch. As a senior, she shot 75 percent from the line. That speaks volumes for her cool head and steady right arm under pressure.

But Misenheimer’s biggest challenge lies ahead. Somehow, she has to get used to wearing a uniform that says “Falcons.”