Marian’s Shaud battles back to reach 1,000

Joining the “Grand Club” – 1,000-point scoring – didn’t seem like a possibility last summer for Marian’s Emily Shaud.

After completing her junior year, Shaud suffered an injury that looked like it would end her high school career. The dreaded ACL tear.

Shaud will always remember when she went down.

“It was in June during an open gym,” she said after reaching the coveted milestone Thursday against Nativity.

She twisted her knee, felt a little pain, got back up and walked off the court. She didn’t think much of it at the time.

But then the pain increased, and when the result came back that she tore her anterior cruciate ligament, it stunned her. Reality set in a day later when she was taken for an examination.

“When I got the (MRI) results I said, ‘Wow I didn’t think this could happen to me.’”

Shaud remembers being told how serious her knee injury was, and it was startling, too. The standout point guard for the Fillies knew pain, and knows how to handle adversity. She always finds a way to get back up off the canvas when floored.

And like all the great ones, Em — as she is known by her teammates — was not going to give up. She worked constantly, even though there were days when the doubts would creep in.

“You have to regroup, focus and work at getting back, and yes, it can become frustrating,” Shaud said.

Her doctors and physical therapist kept pushing and encouraging.

“They told me it was all on me, and if I wanted to get back that I would get back.”

Indeed, that was the case in early January.

“She is determined,” said head coach Paul Brutto. “I’m extremely happy for her; when you consider her injury and needing just a hundred-and-half points (to score 1000). And yes, you feel for her, a player who has worked so hard. And to have it (the injury) happen in her senior year.”

There was just 15 seconds ticked off the clock Thursday evening when Shaud put up a trey from the top of the key to hit the jackpot – career point No. 1,000. The suspense had finally come to an end.

“I just wanted to get it over in a hurry,” Shaud said. “You know it’s not about me, me, me, but I just wanted to get it out of the way so that we could move on and play the game.”

During the early stages of her return, Emily would hit the floor in agonizing pain, since her knee was still tender, and the lack of preseason work was apparent. Some wondered if she was going to ever get off the deck.

“Oh, I will always get up, always get up,” Shaud said. “There’s no more injuries senior year ... I’m always getting up and I’ll be (ready) to get in the next game (and play).”

Her family was in full force Thursday to watch the milestone, which occurred during a tough 35-34 overtime loss, including her mother Jeannette Shafer Barron, who was a standout basketball player at West Hazleton — where she scored over 1,500 points during her illustrious career.

“We have a lot of fun kidding each other,” Emily said about her mom’s career. “I get a thousand, she gets 1,500, and I know I’m never going to hear the end of it.”

Emily did get a special gift from her grandmother, Charlotte Shafer, following the moment.

“I gave (Jeannette) these one-thousand pennies when she scored her one-thousand point,” Charlotte said, holding the coins in a wrapped plastic bag. “Now they go to Em.”

If anything, Emily wished that one of her biggest supporters could have been on hand to watch her get to the magic number: Poppy Bill Shafer, who passed away late November of last year after a six-month battle with cancer.

“He was my biggest fan, and I miss him a lot,” Shaud said, looking upward and fighting back the emotions. “Definitely, he’s always on my mind when I play.”

There was a reminder of him, however. At each and every game, the family would sit at midcourt with a piece of Shafer’s attire, which was spread out between Jeannette and Charlotte.

“Bill was here watching her tonight,” grandma Shafer said.