Best of Sports, Girls Basketball: Gemma Walker and Natalie Wetzel, Peters Township
Gemma Walker and Natalie Wetzel went together as well as peanut butter and jelly or cookies and milk.
In other words, on their own they are very good. But when put together, they form an almost unbeatable combination.
They were the perfect combination for Peters Township basketball.
With Walker, a cat-quick guard, and Wetzel, a tall and talented versatile forward, leading the way, Peters Township returned to elite status in Class 6A and gave opponents fits on both ends of the court.
Walker, a senior, is a drive-first penetrator on offense with a knack for getting all the way to the rim. Those times when she didn’t make it to the hoop, Walker often attracted a crowd of defenders and passed off to Wetzel for an open shot and basket.
Wetzel is a different type of player than Walker, which made the combination so difficult for opponents to defend. At 6-3, Wetzel could simply stand in the low post and dominate opponents. However, there is much more to her game. She often played away from the basket, from where she made textbook jump shots over smaller opponents, even from behind the three-point line. She was as dangerous from 20 feet away as she was from two feet.
“Natalie played around the rim more and outside, while Gemma is a prototypical wing,” PT head coach Steve Limberiou explained. “The assists they had between the two of them is amazing. They really worked well together.”
Wetzel averaged 17.3 points per game during the regular season and Walker 15.7. Together, they helped Peters Township start the season with 20 consecutive wins and finish with a 24-3 overall record and berths in the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA’s second round.
Both players scored their 1,000th career point this season.
“And both had the assist on the other’s 1,000th point,” Limberiou recalled.
“The impressive thing about those two is we needed both of them to be good, and our opponents knew that, too. Yet the analytics showed how amazingly effective they both were. It’s not like they were both taking 25 shots a game.”
HONOREES
Payton Collins, junior, Mt. Lebanon
Erica Hall, senior, South Fayette
Rylee Kalocay, junior, Upper St. Clair
Juliette Leroux, sophomore, South Fayette
Kaitlyn Nease, senior, Burgettstown
Ruby Morgan, senior, Trinity
Kaley Rohanna, senior Waynesburg
Raney Staub, senior, Fort Cherry