MONESSEN — A lot of athletes on any level, from high school to college to professional, like to talk about their mental and physical toughness.
Many take pride in how tough they are as athletes.
However, Monessen girls' basketball coach Gina Naccarato says she has a player whose toughness doesn't take a back seat to anyone.
When the fourth-seeded Lady Greyhounds (19-3) take the court Saturday afternoon against Rochester (10-12) in a WPIAL Class A first round playoff game at Chartiers-Houston (1:30 p.m. tip-off), 5-9 junior forward Chelsea Szakal will be in uniform for Monessen.
Some people might not think that is an impressive statement. But when they realize that Szakal will be playing on a completely torn ACL in one of her knees, that puts a different spin on things.
Szakal hurt the knee going for a rebound in a game against California Jan. 23.
She writhed in pain on the court and the home crowd was hushed as she was carried off to the trainer's room, only to come running back to Monessen's bench later in the game to a rousing applause.
"You have football players who are carted off the field for the same injury, and here is a girl who goes to the trainer and jumps right up and runs back out on the court," Naccarato said. "I would say that is one tough girl."
"At first when I hurt it, I just thought it was twisted," said the soft-spoken Szakal. "I jumped up in the trainer's room and ran back to the bench. But the next day, it was really hurting, so we got it checked out."
An MRI revealed not only a complete tear, but also a slight tear of the meniscus as well.
Szakal has not played since, and after wearing a brace to keep the knee immobile, she began taking therapy.
On Monday she received clearance from her doctor to resume playing until she has surgery to repair the tear.
"The doctor said she can't do any more damage and she wants to play really bad," said Naccarato. "Chelsea is really dedicated. She has more heart than a lot of athletes. It means a lot to her to play in the playoffs and put the surgery off until after the playoffs are over. I can't say enough about what she means to this team.
"In fact, this team has had to deal with a lot of adversity this season and the girls have always found a way to rise above it."
Szakal said she will go under the knife as soon as the season ends with a recovery/rehabilitation process that will take her 5 to 8 months.
After getting clearance to resume practice, she returned to the court Monday sporting a protective brace.
"Practice went really well," Szakal said. "I was able to finish practice, so that was good. I was a little bit sore the next day, but I feel really good now.
"I have full range of motion and as long as I have that, I can play. I'm really excited to get back out there with my teammates for the playoffs."
Naccarato, who said that Szakal "looked like she didn't miss a beat" at practice, thinks that getting back the team's third-leading scorer at 13 points per game not only makes Monessen better, but will also serve as an inspiration to the rest of the team.
"She did every drill we did, but I did not let her scrimmage yet," Naccarato said. "I would think that her playing would give the rest of the team a spark. It shows the heart that she has."
Szakal said she is not worried about the knee, claiming that she didn't think about it at practice and won't think about it Saturday.
"If I think about it, I think it will just hurt me more than help me," she said. "I'm just going to play basketball like I always do. I'm just excited to play in the playoffs. I can't wait."
