Senior Emerson Gunther caught fire in the second half, specifically in the fourth quarter where she was 3-of-3 for eight points, and put together a game-high 19 points to spur the comeback offensively. Martin did a lot of the work defensively matched up with Bensalem senior Grace McShane, who has been putting up gaudy stat line after gaudy stat line all year and junior point guard Ruby Bross supplied the energy as the smallest player in the CR South lineup grabbing some of the game’s biggest rebounds.

The Golden Hawks trailed 23-15 at halftime but got back in the game during the third quarter before winning the final frame 13-2 and holding Bensalem scoreless over the final 7:14 of play. Bross, Martin, Gunther, senior Bella Hettler and sophomore Carly Conetta all played the entire second half, sparking the comeback efforts.

“I know this will sound so cringe, but it felt like we were in a flow state,” Gunther said. “I didn’t even notice, it was awesome, we just played great team basketball and Carly came off the bench to give us some clutch minutes.”

“Bella really helped us on the rebounds, we were unselfish and we looked for the extra pass,” Martin added.

The loss to CR North on Wednesday put CR South about as close to the edge of the bubble as possible, bumping them to No. 24 in the Class 6A rankings at the start of the day Thursday. With two tough games left against Perk Valley and Pennsbury following the game against Bensalem to close the season, the Golden Hawks needed at least one win somewhere in there to try and get away from life on the edge.

Gunther has committed to Salisbury and Bross has another year of high school hoops but Martin has decided not to play beyond this year, so if they wanted their time together to extend past next week, they had to do something about it.

“After (Wednesday) we looked it at like ‘we have three games left, we have to step up,’” Gunther said.

To get it Thursday, they were going to have to do something not many teams have done this year and best a Bensalem team that had already accrued 17 victories and was No. 12 in the rankings coming into the game. What CR South had on its side was the fact it owned one of the three losses Bensalem had on its record coming and with the trio of Martin, Gunther and Hettler, three players who knew every bit of what McShane was bringing to the table.

“She’s a very good player, she has a high basketball IQ and she can see the floor very well,” Martin said. “Playing with her for three years now, I know her spin move in the paint, I know I’d rather force her left than have her take a wide-open right-handed layup and I think that definitely helps. 

“Once she starts, she gets hot and I think that was huge. We had a game plan, they (Bross and Gunther) talked me through the screens because I was supposed to face-guard her so I couldn’t see anything and their communication helped a lot.”

Martin covered her longtime summer teammate the entire game, the CR South senior face-guarding McShane in a battle that went similar to the game as a whole. McShane, who announced her commitment to Rowan earlier this week, had 14 of her 18 points in the first half but did not have a point in the fourth quarter.

Gunther, who made the go-ahead three in the fourth quarter, pointed to her teammates’ defense instead as the turning point.

“I think it was Gill,” Gunther said. “She locked down Grace, we all helped out on her because she was a focal part of our strategy, but Gill just did a great job.”

McShane’s two baskets in the third quarter did come at a key interval, the senior getting back-to-back scores for a 31-27 lead after CR South came back to tie it 27-27 on a Bross three. She also kept looking for teammates, but the Owls couldn’t get that secondary scorer going that’s been a hallmark in most of their wins this season. Bross did a nice job not giving Bensalem’s Mary Beck, the senior guard a pretty potent shooter, much room to get looks while Hettler was a deterrent around the rim.

“Ruby and I knew what we had to do in order to help Gill out,” Gunther said. “It was just an awesome win, I’m so excited.”

Bensalem still has plenty to look forward to. The Owls finish the regular season on Tuesday against Neshaminy and they’re in good standing to qualify for the eight-team SOL playoff then host a first round district playoff game.

Bross candidly said her team’s energy just wasn’t good in Wednesday’s loss and it showed in a slow start that put the Golden Hawks behind early. The junior point guard and her teammates didn’t get off to a great start shooting the ball either on Thursday but even with McShane – who will be teammates with Bross’ older sister Lily at Rowan next year – starting well offensively, the CR South players felt like they were much more competitive.

The point guard certainly helped with that. Bross had five rebounds in the fourth quarter, the junior citing the previous meeting with Bensalem where she’d gotten beat on some key boards and not wanting a repeat, and she nearly came up with an extra possession for her team off a missed foul shot despite being outnumbered four-to-one going for the ball.

“You just keep working,” Bross said. “Something doesn’t go your way? Keep working.”

Martin only scored two points, both coming at the foul line, but the senior made the key pass on a couple of big shots including the three by Bross that briefly tied the score in the third and later on Gunther’s go-ahead triple that put the Hawks ahead 35-33 with 5:13 to play.

“Em wasn’t hitting her shots in the first half but she just kept firing and Ruby hit some really big threes,” Martin said. “You keep shooting. You’re shooters so you keep shooting, (CR South coach Steve Polinsky) wants us to keep shooting any time we catch the ball and are open.”

Even with Thursday’s win, Council Rock South was still on the edge of that bubble as results started to permeate the rankings. Whatever that looks like Friday afternoon or Sunday evening heading into the final week, the Hawks are sure of two things.

They have at least two games left, and they’re going to do all they can to win them to make sure there’s another one added on.

“It’s a mixture of both,” Martin said. “You have to focus on the game itself but in the back of your mind you’re thinking ‘I have to give it my all, this is it.’ It’s either this or go home.”

~~~

By Quarter

COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 8 | 7 | 12 | 13 || 40

BENSALEM 11 | 12 | 8 | 2 || 33

Scoring

CRS: Emerson Gunther 19, Ruby Bross 7, Bella Hettler 6, Carly Conetta 6, Gillian Martin 2

B: Grace McShane 18, Sydney Daut 6, Mischa Ellzy 6, Mary Beck 3