NORRISTOWN – The scene was an unusual one.
Instead of the usual giddy post-game celebration after their team clinched a berth in Friday night’s District One AAAA title game at Villanova University, Council Rock’s players made a mad dash for the trainer’s room on the opposite side of the gym at Norristown High School.
The Indians’ no-doubt-about-it 45-32 win over Lower Merion was secondary to the condition of their fallen teammate. With 2:12 remaining in regulation, junior Lauren Gold was carried off the court after injuring her knee on a drive to the basket.
Gold, who left the gym on crutches, is expected to have an MRI on Thursday.
“We need her,” said her older sibling, senior Devin Gold. “Everyone hopes she can play in Friday’s game. That’s what we’ve been working for this whole season. Hopefully, she won’t have to miss out on something that big.”
Gold’s injury made a joyous occasion bittersweet for the Indians, who will be playing before the Council Rock North boys’ team in a doubleheader at Villanova on Friday night.
Although it took awhile, eventually chants of ‘Nova, Nova, Nova’ were heard coming out of the classroom where the Indians met after Wednesday’s win.
“If anybody can come back from an injury like that, it’s her,” coach Lou Palkovics said of Gold. “I told (the players), ‘Lauren would want you to enjoy this.’
“They’re sitting there with their heads down. You don’t get this chance too many times. Me having experienced it four times – I know how special this is, and I tried to tell the girls how special it really is.”
In the other semifinal contest, second-seeded Mount St. Joseph Academy crushed third-seeded Downingtown East 48-27. The Indians, who fell to Abington in last year’s district semis, will take on the Magic in a 7 p.m. game at Villanova.
“Honestly, this means everything to us,” junior Emily Grundman said. “This was actually the game that we lost last year, and we knew the feeling of going to Villanova and having to sit in the stands and watch two other teams battle for the title.
“I think this year we came out with a much more businesslike manner, and when we won, it was a feeling of pure ecstasy. It was so exciting, but at the same time, it was bittersweet because Lauren got hurt. We’re going to see how things roll.”
Grundman lead the Indians with 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds as she effectively controlled the paint for the Indians.
“She’s gone five or six games without double figures, and she averages 12 a game,” Palkovics said. “It was nice to see her have a breakout game against a team that had good size.
“I was watching (Carmen) Torres play the last game, and she had 17 points and 12 rebounds. I had a big concern. “
Also coming up huge was Helena Gemmell, who spent the night creating havoc on defense for the Aces. She finished the night with seven steals.
“She’s extremely quick defensively,” Palkovics said. “She has that gift, that knack for the ball.
“I give her all the credit. We definitely knew we could sag a little bit off the wings, and she read post pass. If you put any kind of degree on the ball, she’s one of the first ones to the ball.”
In addition to seven steals, Gemmell also had several deflections that led to steals.
“Their big girl is good down there, and the more help we can get – if you double the ball, it’s hard to get passes off, so I was looking for that,” she said.
Gemmell also chipped in with 11 points and admits she looked to become more offensive-minded after reading some pointed comments from Palkovics.
“Actually, I read the article before the game where he said I needed to take more shots,” Gemmell said. “In the beginning of the game, I made two shots in a row – usually, I don’t know when to take shots because I don’t want to force it.
“I was making my shots, so I was trying to get as many as possible. I try and help out the team as much as I can.”
The Aces took their first and only lead of the night when Sheba Hall scored on a drive to the hoop on her team’s opening possession. Grundman answered by scoring on a putback, and when Grundman turned a Lauren Gold pass into a fast break bucket off a Lower Merion miss, the Indians, who had a lead they would not lose, were off and running.
Gemmell buried an outside shot to make it a 6-2 game, and the Indians led 9-2 after Megan Cunningham connected on a baseline three-pointer. A foul line jumper by Gemmell put the Indians on top 11-2, and it was pretty clear that the Aces did not have the firepower to stay with the Indians.
It was an 11-4 game at the end of one quarter, and the Indians opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run that began with Grundman scoring on a putback. Lauren Gold, after coming up with a steal on the defensive end, buried a trey to make it a 16-4 game.
Lauren Gold connected on a pair of foul shots, and Grundman followed with a bucket on the low post to put Rock North on top 20-4 before the Aces got on the scoreboard on a bucket by Jessie Porter.
All but lost in the shuffle of the Indians’ dominance was the defensive effort of senior Devin Gold on Lower Merion’s Lila Jones. The gifted guard torched Cheltenham for 18 points, including a pair of huge treys. She had zero points in the first half.
“Our last two games, we shut down their best three-point scorers and best overall scorers,” said Palkovics, whose team kept Courtney McManus under wraps in its win over Central Bucks East. “Tonight it was someone different most of the time.
“I challenged Devin because the matchups weren’t good this time for Megan (Cunningham) to matchup against their shooter because they were a little bigger. It was definitely one of our priorities to shut her down, and it came down to Devin playing great defense.”
By halftime, the Indians led 28-10, and the second half figured to be little more than a formality.
The Indians led 40-28 when Gold went down, and although there was no chance of a Lower Merion comeback, suddenly everything felt different down the stretch.
“That has a huge impact,” Gemmell said. “When she hurt her ankle (this season), she was hurt, but she was still playing.
“It hurts to see her go down like that. At the end of the game, that’s what sparked me to play point guard. I’ve never played point guard. It’s horrible to see her go down like that.”
“I loved the way she stepped up the last two minutes,” Palkovics said of Gemmell. “She’s out there handling the ball in the delay.”
It’s the kind of thing Palkovics will be looking to see from all his players on Friday night if Gold cannot play.
“We know how good Lauren is, and we know how important she is to our team, but I just told them, ‘If Lauren doesn’t play, I just know someone is going to step up and do something special on Friday night,’” Palkovics said. “It will make it that much more special if somebody steps up.”
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 45, LOWER MERION 42
Lower Merion (32) – Sheba Hall 5 1-2 12; Jessie Porter 2 0-1 4; Carli Swartz 0 0-0 0; Rosie Stahler 0 2-4 2; Lila Jones 3 2-3 8; Carmen Torres 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 13 5-10 32.
Council Rock North (45) – Devin Gold 1 3-4 6; Lauren Gold 1 4-6 7; Emily Grundman 6 4-8 16; Megan Cunningham 1 0-2 3; Helena Gemmell 3 5-6 11; Alyssa Dumont 0 2-2 2. TOTALS 12 18-28 45.
Lower Merion 4 6 7 15-32
Council Rock North 11 17 5 12-45
3-point goals: Lower Merion – Hall 1. CR North – D.Gold 1, L.Gold 1, Cunningham 1.
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