Gwynedd Mercy has wild comeback to top Mount Saint Joseph in AACA semifinals
RADNOR >> Bianca and Sofia Coleman have played a lot of basketball games together, but the Gwynedd Mercy Academy seniors had never been in one quite like Saturday night’s.
After what might have been the worst collective first half they, classmate Maddie Newell and the rest of the Monarchs had ever played, they were starting a comeback bid when teammate Hannah Griffin slammed hard to the floor at Cabrini University. Griffin stayed down for a while before eventually making her way off the floor and to a nearby medical center to get checked out all while giving her team the last bit of motivation it needed.
Top-seeded GMA put together a dominant closing quarter to best No. 4 Mount Saint Joseph 43-29 in their AACA semifinal game, outscoring the Magic 22-2 in the final eight minutes.
“It was all defense,” Bianca Coleman said. “Our defense won that game for us.”
The Monarchs’ defense wasn’t readily available for most of the first half, although to be totally fair, neither was their offense. GMA came out colder than a penguin habitat and never warmed up in the first two quarters, shooting a frigid 4-of-27 from the floor and 0-of-12 from behind the arc.
Mount Saint Joseph didn’t have near as many shot attempts as the Monarchs but given that the Magic were making most of theirs, it seemed like a fair trade-off. Lauren Hoffman started the scoring with an and-one and the Magic junior led the way with nine points in the first half while Kiersten Pumilia had a pair of treys for six points as the Mount buried 4-of-6 looks from behind the college line and led 20-10 at the break.
GMA coach Tom Lonergan has won a lot of games but even he hadn’t seen anything quite like what his team pulled off Saturday.
“It would certainly have to rank near the top, I’m not sure our team has experienced a game where we’re 4-of-27 from the field in a first half,” Lonergan said. “We were out of sync. I give a lot of credit to Maddie and Bianca for getting us some aggressive driving going and Hannah just kept telling the team ‘don’t quit, don’t quit.’
“We got up and aggressive defensively and got more aggressive full court, which is very difficult on the big court and because we don’t sub, so give them credit for hanging in that whole time.”
Newell, GMA’s smallest starter, got the third started with a driving layup but while the Monarchs would win the frame 11-7, they still trailed by six points going into the fourth. So, it was time to smash the “in case of emergency” glass and break out the full court pressure defense.
Griffin set the tone, picking the ball up off the inbound and picking the pocket of a Mount ballhandler for a steal and score to make it 27-23. The pressure caused another turnover, this from Newell on the baseline and it got Griffin going the other way when she was fouled going up for a shot, landing awkwardly and coming down hard on her head.
The rest of the team gathered, with Sofia Coleman leading them in a short prayer, while the staff tended to Griffin and were eventually able to get the junior guard on her feet and off the floor. While Griffin went to get checked out — Lonergan said after the game Hannah’s father Curtis, an assistant coach on the team, reported she started feeling better leaving the arena — her teammates rallied in her stead.
“We all wanted to play for her,” Newell said. “It rallied us up, she has so much fire and brings so much to this team and we wanted to win it for her.”
There was still 6:52 on the game clock and the Monarchs still trailed their arch-rivals by two possessions. That wouldn’t last much longer.
Sofia Coleman scored four straight points to tie the game 27-27, the press forced another turnover then Newell came up with the biggest shot of the game. As a team, GMA was up to an 0-of-15 start from behind the arc when Coleman found her fellow senior open on the right wing and despite an earlier plea from Lonergan to stop shooting threes, Newell pulled and buried the go-ahead look.
“Lonergan told us to stop shooting threes, but I was wide open and I just shot it with confidence,” the senior guard said.
The run was fully on by then. Morgan Newell, Maddie’s sister who subbed in to replace Griffin, made a great play to save the ball and find Sofia Coleman for another three the next possession, the Monarchs made five of six at the line and the Coleman twins connected on a hoop for a 40-27 lead with 30 seconds left.
“Hannah holds us together,” Sofia Coleman said. “After we said our prayer, we knew we weren’t losing. She’s our glue and we need her, but we were going to get it done for her tonight.”
Mount nearly went the entire frame without a point but a foul with 3.1 seconds left allowed Pumilia to knock down a pair at the stripe.
Gwynedd Mercy Academy will face No. 2 Villa Joseph Marie, a 47-41 winner over No. 3 Villa Maria Academy, in Monday’s championship game. While it’s a new opponent, the Monarchs seniors laughed when it was noted they must feel like they’re haunted by ghosts with a number of former St. Basil Academy players now on the Jems roster.
While GMA has two wins over VJM this season, the Monarchs also had two wins over St. Basil last year before losing to the Panthers in the title game so this team isn’t overlooking any scenario. They aren’t expecting Griffin to play, but they’ll for sure be playing for her if she isn’t able to be on the floor with them.
“When Hannah went down, it was the worst part of the night but it also fired us up,” Newell said. “It was the turning point, we just wanted to win this one for her.”
GWYNEDD MERCY ACADEMY 2 8 11 22 – 43
MOUNT SAINT JOSEPH ACADEMY 7 13 7 2 – 29
GMA: Maddie Newell 3 1-2 8, Hannah Griffin 2 3-6 7, Bianca Coleman 3 5-6 11, Sofia Coleman 4 4-4 13, Dylan Burke 2 0-0 4, Morgan Newell 0 0-1 0. Totals: 14 13-19 43
MSJA: Kiersten Pumilia 3 2-2 11, Lauren Hoffman 3 4-5 11, Chloe McGrorty 1 0-0 3, Georgia Pickett 1 0-0 2, Erica Martin 0 0-2 0. Totals: 10 6-9 29
3-pointers: GMA – Newell, S Coleman; MSJA – Pumilia 3, Hoffman, McGrorty
