VIDEO: Emotional Senior Night curtain call for injured MTHS senior

Posted: February 5th 2024

Middle Township's Madison Palek, shown in a game earlier this season against Trenton Catholic, took the floor one final time as a high school player during Senior Night last week against Atlantic City.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

Madison Palek suited up one last time for the Middle Township High School girls basketball team last week.

The 6-foot-1 forward was on the floor at the start of a game against Atlantic City on Senior Night.

“It was definitely really nice to put the uniform on again and get ready with my teammates in the locker room and get on the floor,” Palek said.

Palek’s stint in the game didn’t last long. She was stationed under the basket as the opening tip took place. Atlantic City allowed Middle to win the tip. Palek’s teammate, Hannah Cappelletti, passed her the ball. Palek made one final shot, a layup from the right side of the basket.

Shortly thereafter, after Atlantic City was permitted by Middle to score to tie the game, Palek was lifted for a substitute.

The reason for all this is because the Division II Clarion University suffered a second foot injury in as many years earlier this season. The injury required surgery, which was performed the morning after the contest with Atlantic City. Palek had not appeared in a game since suffering the injury, which occurred during a loss to Bishop Eustace in mid January.

But when coach John Leahy approached Palek about taking a curtain call on Senior Night, she was receptive to the idea.

“It was Coach Leahy’s idea,” she said. “I’d been sitting on the bench during home games, and he brought it up to me about doing something on Senior Night if we could make it work and if I wanted to do it and I said, yes.”

While the moment tugged on the heartstrings of those in attendance, Palek said it wasn’t overly emotional for her.

“Considering I already knew my season was over, I wasn’t as sad,” she said. “I thought I was going to be, but I had time to prepare myself. But after it was done, it was kind of unreal to think about it.”

Palek has turned into a motivator and confidant for her teammates since the injury.

“I try to give the girls some advice from my point of view,” she said. “Now that I’m not playing, I kind of see things from the coaches’ point of view more. Maybe I can put it in a different way to help them understand.”

Palek has missed significant playing time over the course of her career. She missed the second half of her sophomore season after transferring from Our Lady of Mercy Academy before missing the final 35 percent or so of last season after her first foot injury. Palek played in just 15 games this season due to her second injury. She was averaging 10.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.8 blocked shots per game at the time of her injury.

Middle struggled a bit immediately after Palek’s injury but has played better of late as the team has learned to play without one of its top players, who, in addition to being a significant offensive contributor, was also considered one of the top defensive players in the Cape-Atlantic League. The Lady Panthers take a record of 16-6 into its CAL playoff tournament game with Atlantic City on Wednesday.

Palek doesn’t exhibit bitterness when discussing her injuries. Instead, she cherishes the experiences she was able to have.

“It was fun while it lasted,” she said. “My teammates and coaches made it all worth it.”

Palek is fortunate that she’s talented enough to get the chance to resume her career at the college level.

“That definitely helps, that I know I’ll have a chance to keep playing,” she said. “The thing I’m looking forward to the most is to try to get back some of the time I lost and see if I can accomplish some things I wasn’t able to accomplish in high school.”