It would be hard to blame Nicole Perna if she had decided to call it a career when – during a fall league game – she tore the lateral meniscus in her left knee.
That was never a consideration. The Souderton senior opted to forego surgery until the end of her final high school season.
“We went to the doctor, and he said I could get it sewed up, but that’s a six-month recovery, or I could get arthroscopic surgery and be out five weeks, but they wouldn’t know until they actually went into my knee,” Perna said. “I was scared they were going to have to sew it up, and I would be out for the entire season.”
The senior captain puts heat on her knee and takes Advil before practices and games and then ices it down and takes Glucosamine after practices and games.
“The pain is always there, but when I’m in the game, I honestly don’t even think about it,” Perna said. “That’s not my focus. My focus is to win.
“The season really has been fun. I don’t want it to end.”
Perna sets the tone for the Indians when it comes to all-out hustle.
“She’s playing in constant pain, but who can tell?” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “When she was a sophomore on jayvee, our phrase was ‘She can smell the blood in the water.’ If she saw a weakness at all in the kid she was playing – god help that kid.
“She is relentless, relentless and loves to make things difficult for the other team. In her half year of varsity, she has created more jump ball situations than any other player I have ever coached. She just goes after it all the time. She’s fierce, and she’s a pain in the neck to play against. She’s determined and hates to lose.
“Regardless of the health situation, that kind of thing is contagious. It’s tough to be on a team with a kid that plays that hard and not try to match that kind of intensity and then to understand that it probably hurts the whole time she’s doing it makes it even more meaningful. She just has a huge heart and work ethic that is unmatched.”
Three years ago, Perna was one of 10 freshmen who came out for basketball. This year, she is the only senior on Souderton’s roster, but she’s just fine with that.
“I’m supposed to be a junior,” the senior captain said. “I played travel basketball with the juniors, I played soccer with them, I played AAU with them – I did everything with them because of my age.
“I basically feel like I’m in that grade because I’m so close to them. I forget I’m a senior all the time.”
Perna is one of a handful of veterans on an Indian squad that lost three seasoned starters from last year’s squad to graduation – Averie Brittin, Emily Price and Brittany Sandone. Losing a fourth starter - junior tri-captain Liz Mower - to a torn ACL last May was serious blow for the Indians.
“Most coaches have a sense from one year to the next after the season is over what next year might bring,” said Carroll, whose lone returning starter is junior tri-captain Carley Kendall. “There are always surprises, but this year there were so many things up in the air.
“It’s a unique thing for a team because everybody has to battle – first to earn a spot on varsity and then to earn a starting position and minutes. There was no ‘I can see the writing on the wall’ because there was no writing on the wall. That was kind of a unique situation but not a bad one to be in.”
Stepping into the role of floor general for the Indians is a fearless freshman - Bianca Picard, who scored 11 points in her varsity debut in Souderton’s season-opening win over Christopher Dock.
“During that game, she had some freshman moments where I could tell it was her first time in a varsity game, but she had moments where she looked like she had been doing it for a couple of years,” Carroll said. “To be able to play that way at any point in your freshman year, let alone, in your first game, is impressive.”
Picard is the sister of 2010 grad A.J. Picard, an all-state player who earned a full scholarship to Goldey-Beacom.
“I knew because of her last name people were going to pay attention to her, but if she and A.J. weren’t related, people were going to pay attention to her,” Carroll said. “She doesn’t need a successful older brother for people to realize who she is.
“She quickly jumped on the radar of the opposing coaches in our league that she’s a kid that needs to be paid attention to. All of those coaches know how fortunate I am that I get to coach her for four years.”
For her part, Picard relishes the challenge of establishing her own identity.
“Everyone says, ‘You’re going to live in his shadow,’” she said. “A.J. has gotten me to where I am today. I wouldn’t be any kind of basketball player or any kind of person without him. Going into this team and school, it helped a lot because A.J. is a great guy, and he had a lot of friends.
“If it’s anything but a challenge, it would be that A.J. Picard and Bianca Picard are two completely different people. That’s what I’m trying to show people.”
So far, Picard has been doing a good job of establishing her own identity.
“She is really unlike most freshmen in so many ways,” Carroll said. “As soon as she joined our program – she wants to get out, and she wants to lead. That’s tough to be a freshman and do that. You have to find your place and not step on toes, and she’s done a really good job of not overstepping her bounds.
“She’s enthusiastic, which I love. She’s got a lot of heart and love for the game and is really excited about her team and her teammates. You just don’t get freshmen like this.”
For Picard, the toughest adjustment was getting used to a new and different style of play.
“Coach Carroll has a way that I had never played basketball before, and I was thrown into a group where I felt like I had no idea what I was doing,” she said. “That was the hardest part – getting to know everybody, understanding and knowing what each player is capable of doing and learning what you have to do.
“Once we got that win against Dock, everything was perfect. It felt like I was there for years.”
Picard credits her teammates for their unwavering support.
“My grandma passed away the other day, and my team was right there behind me,” she said. “Everyone is there for each other, not just on the court but off the court.
“When I have a problem, I know who I can go to for every single thing. They’re all an important part of my life, and I love it. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I’m definitely going to miss Nicole. In the offseason, we were working together, and she’s helped me so much.”
Perna has been impressed with her freshman backcourt mate.
“Bianca is a phenomenal player,” the senior captain said. “I’m always there when she needs me, but I have so much confidence in her.
“If there’s a one-on-one, I just let her go because I know she can go right past her girl because she’s good. She’s going to be a great player.”
As a captain, Perna has made a point to be there for all of her teammates.
“When I see someone down or crying or missing a shot and putting their head down – I always try and make them feel better,” she said. “I think that’s a senior’s responsibility.”
The Indians have had their ups and downs this season, jumping out to a 4-1 start in SOL play but since then have dropped three straight games.
“I feel like we came out, and we were so excited to play,” Perna said. “We were pumped before every single game and at practice.
“We were always going hard because we were so excited to get better, but once we started losing, practices became less intense. The focus wasn’t there. We lost confidence.”
Carroll believes the tough times will only make this team stronger down the road.
“It takes time to get to know one another and jell as a team,” she said. “It’s been a challenge for me to find the right rotations and how to utilize each of their strengths.
“We’re halfway through the season, and we’ve played a lot of basketball, but even now, there are question marks, but after everything we’ve been through – the good games, the tough games, it’s all going to pay off down the road for the rest of the year and certainly next season.”
Souderton will host Hatboro on Friday night at 7 p.m. Earlier this month, the Indians defeated the Hatters 66-39.
Just the Facts
This year’s record: Souderton 4-4 (7-7 overall), Hatboro-Horsham 2-7 SOL (4-12 overall)
Last year’s record: Souderton 13-10, Hatboro-Horsham 3-18
Last meeting: Jan. 4, 2011 – Souderton 66, Hatboro-Horsham 39 (Souderton: Libby Wetzler – 21 points; Erin Reagan – 14 points; Carley Kendall – 11 points. Hatboro-Horsham: Becca Purtell – 12 points; Alicia Hayes – 10 points)
Last game: Central Bucks South 41, Souderton 27 (Carley Kendall – 8 points; Gabby McAndrews – 6 points; Erin Reagan – 6 points)
Central Bucks East 68, Hatboro-Horsham 36 (Chrissy James – 13 points; Becca Purtell – 6 points)
Souderton
Projected starters:
#11 – Gabby McAndrews (5-6, Jr., Guard) 6.4 PPG
#12 – Nicole Perna* (5-2, Sr., Guard) 3.2 PPG, 2.5 rebounds
#14 – Carley Kendall* (5-11, Jr., Center) 11.2 PPG, 6.6 rebounds
#21 – Libby Wetzler (5-10, Soph., Forward) 7.5 PPG, 6.5 rebounds
#25 – Bianca Picard (5-5, Fr., Guard) 7.3 PPG, 5.2 rebounds
The rest of the Indians:
#1 – Allison Gallagher (5-9, Fr., Forward)
#3 – Stephanie Brown (5-5, Jr., Forward)
#4 – Katie O’Connor (5-3, Fr., Guard)
#5 – Elizabeth Mower* (5-7, Jr., Guard)
#10 – Erin Reagan (5-6, Soph., Forward) 3.3 PPG, 2.4 rebounds
#22 – Caitlyn Steinly (5-6, Jr., Forward)
#23 – Lindsey Kwiatkowski (5-10, Jr., Center)
*Captains
Hatboro-Horsham
#1 - Heather Lutz (5-5, Soph., Guard/Forward)
#2 - Lauren Jester (5-6 Soph, Guard/Forward)
#3 - Liz Purtell (5-3, Soph., Forward)
#4 - Lindsey Day (5-5, Jr., Guard)
#5 - Lauren Yanni (5-3, Soph., Guard)
#10 - Becca Purtell (5-7, Sr., Guard)
#12 - Alicia Hayes (5-7, Sr., Guard)
#13 - Nina Baker (5-5, Jr., Forward)
#14 - Carly Bixler (5-7, Jr., Guard)
#15 - Chrissy James (5-4, Jr., Guard)
#20 - Nikki Whisted (5-4, Sr., Guard)
#21 - Christina Maguire (5-6, Fr., Forward)
#22 - Daria Edwards (5-6, Fr., Guard)
#23 - Gabbie Wilson (5-7, Soph., Guard/Forward)
#24 - Emilee Fox (5-10, Fr., Center)
#25 - Tori Waddington (5-7, Fr., Guard/Forward)
#30 - Taylor Williams (5-6, Fr., Guard)
#31 - Michelle Poston (5-11, Sr., Center)
#32 - Laura Calvin (5-8, Soph., Forward/Center)
#33 - Emily Marvin (5-6, Jr., Forward)
#34 - Leshira Sharper (5-9, Fr., Center)
#44 - Shakia Baxter (5-8, Sr., Forward)
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