City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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WYNDMOOR — Maddie Newell doesn't need anyone else to explain how tough she is; the Gwynedd Mercy Academy senior just proves it on a consistent basis.

In the last season-and-a-half, the Monarchs' guard has gone from junior reserve thrown into the fire of a starting role to invaluable two-way contributor for the newly-minted AACA champions. A major reason GMA even got that long-sought league title was due to the efforts of Newell on both ends of the floor Monday night.

Newell scored 13 points, 10 in the second half, and locked up the AACA's MVP on defense as the top-seeded Monarchs topped No. 2 seed Villa Joseph Marie 44-25 to win the program's first league title since 2015-16.

"Our defense won the game for us," Newell said. "I'm so proud of all the bench people. We usually don't sub this much but for them to all be playing at that level in the championship game, it's really impressive."

Among those players stepping up was Maddie's younger sister Morgan, a junior who got the start in place of the injured Hannah Griffin. For Maddie Newell, who got her own shot in the starting lineup due to an injury last year, it made a special night even more memorable that she got to share the court with her sister and the two of them were able to make so many positive contributions

Morgan Newell didn't score, but had six rebounds and an assist.

"I was so proud of her," Maddie said of Morgan. "She's played limited minutes this year, but she steps in for the championship game - that's a lot of pressure - and she handled it well."

Maddie Newell was second on the team in scoring and didn't miss in the second half, going 4-of-4 from the field including a pair of 3-pointers and a steal turned into a layup that got things rolling again. Her defensive contributions were just as, if not more, important as she shadowed VJM's Tori Nigro and held the Jefferson-bound senior to seven points, and just two through the opening three quarters.

Even Nigro's one hoop in the first half was hard-earned with the senior not really able to shake Newell on a crossover and then having to finish over two help defenders.

"She's an amazing player. Coach (Tom) Lonergan came in with a plan. We just wanted to contain her, so I had to keep her in front," Newell said. "My teammates really did a good job of helping me. We were doubling her a little bit more and, even in the zone, we were covering her more, too.

"Defense is what I take the most pride in. I want to come out and play hard, lock down the best player every night. My teammates have my back, always."

Newell doesn't have to prove her toughness or her value to anybody on her team, but her coaches wishes more people outside the program would recognize the senior for those traits.

"Everybody keeps forgetting about Maddie," Lonergan said. "To me, Maddie is one of the top 10 kids in the league. It's not because she's scoring eight or nine points a game for us. She's our lock-down defender. She's the one we go when we need to lock somebody down as far as a guard.

"She's been so consistent at it. She's always been a good defender but has gotten better and better over the years and when you add that to how far she's come offensively, she's hitting 3s out there now, it's just a sign how far she has progressed."

Newell got her starting crack last year when injuries sidelined Bianca Coleman for a long stretch of the season and the guard, listed at just 5-foot-4, quickly found a niche as a feisty, ferocious and fearless defender. To her, anything she chips in on offense is a bonus but Newell would be happy just playing defense and letting her teammates do their thing offensively.

"Playing with the Colemans and Hannah, my job is honestly so easy," Newell said. "I love playing with all of them and they make me a better player."

On Monday, the Monarchs did their thing again in the second half by holding the Jems to just 10 points. They had a nearly 12-minute scoreless streak from the 7:30 mark of the third quarter to the midway point of the fourth where the Monarchs turned a four-point lead into a 23-point cushion.

The Monarchs won their first AACA title since 2015-16 thanks to a superb defensive effort. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

Even with one of their best defenders in Griffin out, the rest of the team turned the notch up once again.

"We just know how to flip that switch, we wanted to win so badly," Newell said. "After last year, we were undefeated and lost this game in overtime, so we really wanted to finish that off and win it, especially with Hannah out. Our coaches just had a really good plan for us and we executed."

Newell almost had the battle scar to prove it too, after a collision with Griffin during a shootaround earlier in the season left her with a broken nose.

"It was supposed to be laid-back and Hannah slammed into my nose," Newell said.

Griffin, standing right behind her teammate, shouted, "it's not my fault," only for Newell to retort, "yes, it is."

The encounter with her teammate's noggin left Newell wearing a plastic facemask for part of the season, an experience the senior is happy is over and would like to never go through again. While she did get used to playing with it, Newell said it obscured her vision and that was by far the most annoying part.

She also ended up needing to have her nose reset surgically.

"The thing is, Mr. Griffin (Hannah's dad and assistant coach Curtis Griffin) told me I didn't break it, Hannah said immediately, 'oh, that's broken,' but the first week, I didn't even get it looked at because I also didn't think it was broken," Newell said. "But, it was still crooked, I couldn't breathe and I started getting bad headaches so when I went to the doctor he told me it was broken and I had to have a small surgery where they fixed it."

It was not a badge of honor Newell really wanted to keep either, especially the first time she looked at her face after the collision.

"I almost had an emotional breakdown," Newell said. "I said, 'I am not having a crooked nose. We're getting this fixed.' It's funny now. I laugh about it."

Did smashing her nose and having to wear a cumbersome piece of plastic over her face for a few weeks change Newell's approach?

This is Maddie Newell. Of course it didn't.

"I still played as hard as I could," Newell said. "It's my last season, I wanted to enjoy it. I love playing. I love my teammates.

"I want to bring the spark and bring the energy and hopefully my teammates feed off that."

Newell hasn't made her college decision yet, but is weighing options including Purdue, UConn and Penn State adding that she wants to go to a bigger university. She's not going to play on a college roster but Newell was adamant she's not leaving the game behind either and may look into club or intramural options.

In her time at Gwynedd, Newell thinks she's grown most as a leader. She's a co-captain this season and has found herself being more vocal and trying to encourage the younger players on the team so they can be ready if one of them finds herself in the same situation Newell faced as a junior.

The Monarchs will now gear up to try and win a fifth straight District 1 4A title, with Newell and her fellow seniors just looking to take it as far as they can, one last time.

"It's been fun. It really has," Newell said. "I didn't expect my [in] freshman year to be starting my junior year. To have all this happen, it's been really fun."

GWYNEDD MERCY ACADEMY 44, VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 25

Sofia and Bianca Coleman didn't want another slow start, so the senior twins made sure it wasn't an issue by combining for all 17 points the Monarchs scored in the first quarter.

Team captains Hannah Griffin, Maddie Newell and Bianca and Sofia Coleman. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

Sofia scored the team's first seven, then Bianca had seven straight and Sofia ended the first on a three as GMA built a 17-9 lead over the Jems in the third meeting this season between the teams.

"I think it was our mindset," Sofia Coleman, who scored 12 in the win, said. "Our last game, we did not have a good start and we knew we needed to play within our game, control what we can control and do our best within our role. I think that helped us get an early lead and continue on from that."

About the only thing the Monarchs did wrong in the opening frame was Bianca picking up her second foul with three seconds remaining in the quarter, limiting her to just 15 more seconds in the first half. Back on the floor after a sluggish second quarter, the senior restored some order and helped aid Gwynedd Mercy Academy's stout defensive effort.

With Newell doing her thing on the perimeter and Dylan Burke anchoring the paint with five blocks, the Colemans controlled the glass as GMA didn't yield an offensive rebound after halftime.

"I said in the first minute of the second half, we had to shut them down and that's what we did," Bianca Coleman, who netted a game-high 16 points, said. "We wanted to make a statement and that's what we did with our defense."

By Quarter

GMA: 17 | 4 | 10 | 13 || 44

VJM:        9 | 6 | 2 | 8 || 25

Scoring

GMA: Bianca Coleman 16, Maddie Newell 13, Sofia Coleman 12, Dylan Burke 2, Megan McDonell 2

VJM: Sammi White 4 0-0 10, Tori Nigro 7, Carly Austin 2 3-4 7, Emma Hagan 0 1-2 1

ALL-AACA TEAMS

First Team

Tori Nigro, Villa Joseph Marie (MVP)

Hannah Griffin, Gwynedd Mercy Academy

Sofia Coleman, Gwynedd Mercy Academy

Bianca Coleman, Gwynedd Mercy Academy

Lucy Curry, Merion Mercy Academy

Second Team

Sammi White, Villa Joseph Marie

Carly Austin, Villa Joseph Marie

Lauren Hoffman, Mount Saint Joseph Academy

Georgia Pickett, Mount Saint Joseph Academy

Clare Cronley, Villa Maria Academy

Ella Iacone, Villa Maria Academy