Lansdale Catholic Grace McDonough a perfect fit for Philadelphia Catholic League
After hiking the wilds of Wyoming, Grace McDonough thought she knew all about hostile territory.
That was before she played her first Philadelphia Catholic League basketball game.
“The competition in the PCL is so intense,” said McDonough, a 6-foot-2 junior. “The student sections are so huge and they bring so much energy.”
That was just one of the adjustments McDonough faced after transferring to Lansdale Catholic from a public school this fall.
“I really liked the academic options and the opportunity to take a bigger course load,” McDonough said. “But I only knew one person at the school so it was definitely difficult to adjust.”
That one person happened to be junior Nadia Yemola, her teammate on the Runnin’ Rebels AAU.
“Nadia helped me get to know the other basketball players,” McDonough said. “Now, my closest friends are all on the team.”
While it took McDonough some time to adjust to her new classes and classmates, it didn’t take any time at all for her to feel at home on the basketball court.
In her first game with the Crusaders, she tallied 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
“The standards are so high for this team,” McDonough said of the defending Catholic League and PIAA state champion Crusaders. “I was never a starter before so I was nervous because it was hard to believe in my abilities.”
Her teammates, though, had little doubt in McDonough’s abilities. She gave the Crusaders a primary post player, something they hadn’t had before, and her teammates were more than willing to adjust their own games to incorporate McDonough’s.
The results speak for themselves.
McDonough averaged 15 points per game and led the team in rebounding, averaging nearly a double-double per game, as well as in blocks. She had a season-high 18 rebounds against Conwell-Egan, and closed out the regular season with 29 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Neumann-Goretti.
Not bad for someone who estimates she scored about four points per game prior to this season.
“After the first few games, I became much more confident,” McDonough said. “The girls were all so welcoming and we’ve become really close.”
McDonough, who plans to study sports medicine in college, started receiving Division I interest almost immediately.
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“My coach (Eric Gidney) has helped me so much,” McDonough said. “He changed a ton of things around to give me this opportunity.”
McDonough had an impressive debut in the Catholic League playoffs, leading the team with 12 points and 12 rebounds on the road in the quarterfinals. Though the game ended in heartbreaking fashion with an Archbishop Carroll buzzer-beater, McDonough is already looking forward to next season.
“I know people will be doubting us again next year,” McDonough said. “We take every loss as a learning opportunity. I think we are capable of beating any team.”
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Lansdale Catholic girls basketball: Grace McDonough fitting in
