Jan 23, 2024 By Eleanor Bailey 7 min read

Gemma Walker drives to the basket after gaining a step on her defender.

Gemma Walker averages 16.3 points per game but the senior was in a bit of a hurry to score a dozen of them when Peters Township hosted Bethel Park on Jan. 19 at AHN Arena.

During a 59-55 overtime win against the Black Hawks, Walker tossed in 12 of her game-high 22 markers in the first quarter. On a fast break, Natalie Wetzel dished off the ball to Walker and she scored her 1,000th career point on the layup with a little more than a minute left in the quarter.

Of the milestone Walker said she wanted to do it at home, in front of fans and family. Yet, she was apprehensive.

“I love this gym, the design, the lighting,” Walker enthused. “The fans are crazy and I had a decent amount of people, family and friends, rooting for me because it was senior night.

“I was super excited but really nervous,” she added. “It was looming over my head; in the back of my mind. The priority was to win.

“Bethel Park was not our best game. We came out flat in the second quarter but we fought back.”

For Walker and the Indians the victory, the team’s 16th in a row this winter, was a relief. They can get back to the business of becoming the first championship club since the 2019 team went undefeated and claimed the program’s first-ever WPIAL title as well as a PIAA banner.

“If we all play together, we can go pretty far,” Walker said. “That’s the biggest thing. Everyone understands our roles and nobody tries to do anything out of character. We trust each other and nobody is worried about records.”

Walker’s milestone though was monumental. She became the fifth player since 2000 to accomplish the feat. Wetzel, who stood at 952 points after the BP win, will become the sixth.

“Getting 1,000 points is an awesome accomplishment but playing all four years in Class 6A in what is arguably the best section in the WPIAL makes it even more impressive,” said PT floor boss Steve Limberiou. “Becoming only the fifth Lady Indian since 2000 to accomplish this shows just how difficult it is to reach this milestone and the list of names she joins is extremely impressive.”

Makenna Marisa is the most recognizable name. The Penn State senior, who is the only Lady Lion to notch 1,750 points, 500 rebounds, 400 assists and 175 three-pointers in her career, racked up 1,730 points while leading Peters Township to that perfect 30-0 record and those inaugural championships.

“I’d watched Makenna play ever since her freshman year and I wanted to achieve 1,000 points too but to get that is crazy and to realize who else has gotten that before me is even more incredible. Those were such good players.”

Good players run in the family.

On Jan. 21, 1978, Walker’s aunt, Sally, converted a free throw during Waynesburg’s game against Mon Valley Catholic to become the first female player in the WPIAL to score 1,000 career points. Her father, Pete, also played basketball at Waynesburg while her mother, Gretchen, excelled in track at Baldwin. Her younger brother, Wyatt, competed in scholastic sports. He currently is a right-handed pitcher on the Westminster College’s baseball squad.

Walker noted that she accompanied her brother to his recreation basketball practices, which were run by her father. “I’d try to throw the ball up at the hoop,” she said. “It was something I could do with my dad.”

As a youth, Walker played softball, lacrosse, baseball and soccer but gravitated to basketball. “I liked it best but I think playing all those other sports, if not just for skill, helped me with the mental side of sports as well as with competitiveness,” she said.

Walker honed her skills playing at the AAU level, competing around the country. She also developed uncanny interpersonal skills.

“I think Gemma is a top-notch athlete and this sometimes gets overlooked,” said Limberiou. “What makes her special on the floor is her ability to create offense on her own. The best scorers are able to beat their defenders and create their own shots and scoring opportunities. Gemma’s able to do this constantly.

“As a person, she is very mature,” Limberiou continued. “Her ability to establish connections in conversation with people of all ages is unique and well beyond her age. She has also done a great job of integrating some of the younger players on our roster and making them feel comfortable in the program.”

Those instincts are second nature to Walker and reasons why she turned down opportunities to attend Ivy League schools such as Yale, Dartmouth and Penn. She also visited Northeastern. Walker, instead, is taking her 4.63 GPA and basketball skills to St. Francis University in Loretto. She plans to major in early childhood and special education.

“If I was going into business, it would make sense to go to Penn but getting my teaching certification and teaching in Pennsylvania was important to me.”

Walker noted that she met with professors and sat in on classes at St. Francis in addition to meeting with the basketball coaching staff

“I like what they were doing in the classroom. I like the teaching style,” she said. “The coaches also were very supportive of me and it felt like the team was a family.

“St. Francis is all that I could hope for. They were all great people. They have confidence in me and that was important. So I’ll go in there having confidence in myself, play my game and work super hard to reach my career goals both in life and in basketball.”

Limberiou sees success in Walker’s future.

“From a basketball standpoint, Gemma’s ability to score should translate well to the collegiate level,” he said. “I think Gemma will have a great college career at St.Francis, and I will be excited to watch her make that transition.”

Before that, however, there is plenty for Walker to accomplish at the scholastic level. The next two months are particularly pivotal to PT’s plans. In between visits to Mt. Lebanon on Feb. 1 and Canon-McMillan on Feb. 9, the Indians will host rival Chartiers Valley on Feb. 6. The Colts came closest to snapping PT’s winning streak on Jan. 11 when they dropped a 53-49 decision.

“The second half of the season is going to be hard. If we weren’t aware of it, we were after Bethel Park. It was a wake-up call. All the section teams are going to play their hardest against us. Everybody wants to see us fail and if they beat us, then that’s a big step for anybody.

“We might want to do what the 2019 team did but we are not the same team. We are different players and expectations are different,” Walker continued. “The biggest thing we are looking for is a long playoff run because we haven’t gotten past the first round before. We all realize just how challenging the second half will be, but if we can play like we did the first half, we have the potential to do great things.”

Limberiou agreed with Walker’s assessment.

“Our expectations for the season really have not changed. We remain focused on improving on a day-to-day basis and there’s little talk about our record or what lies beyond the next game directly in front of us,” he said.

“Our goal is to simply maximize our potential as a group. We understand we are going to get everyone’s best shot at this point in the season and we know to prepare accordingly.”