City of Basketball Love

Rich Flanagan (@jrichflanagan33)
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(Ed. Note: This story is the latest in CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2021-22 season preview coverage. As we publish more, the complete list of schools previewed will be found here.)

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The latter part of Joe Woods’ 19 years at Garnet Valley has consisted of not only winning but also winning at the highest level. The Jaguars are only three years removed from claiming the Central League and PIAA District 1 6A title. They continued their run into the state playoffs, where they reached the championship game in Hershey before falling to Peters Township, 62-49.

It was the program’s first-ever district title and the first state title game appearance in school history. Garnet Valley finished with a 30-2 overall record in a memorable season, which preceded one full of uncertainty and difficult decisions.

“We had won five Central League titles prior and we’re always in the mix,” Woods said. “That year was phenomenal and making [it] through both brackets to playing at Temple University then Hershey, it was a great run. Last year, the pandemic was brutal and we were just trying to survive.”

The five starters from that 2019 team were Morgan Falcone (Immaculata), Emily McAteer (Loyola Md.), Jill Nagy (Elizabethtown), Brianne Borcky (Drexel) and Madi McKee, who played two seasons of lacrosse at La Salle and is now at Louisville. That group scored all of the points in that state final. McAteer finished her career as the all-time leading scorer at Garnet Valley (1,773 points) while Borcky scored 1,207 points.

While Woods won his 300th career game in a win over Lower Merion in February, the 2020-21 season did not meet the standard that he had established since coming over from Chichester, where he coached the boys program. Garnet Valley (9-9, 5-6 Central League) did not advance to the district or state playoffs and Woods felt he had to help his team navigate through more than simply the game itself.

“You could call it kind of a down year for us because of what we were used to,” Woods said. “I wasn’t disappointed because we got a season in. We were down some players but it’s very competitive in the Central League. We’re looking forward to a normal season with a full schedule.”

The Jaguars graduated seven seniors in MaryRose Berry (St. Joe’s lacrosse), Jessica Brewer, Taylor Daubenberger, Mikayla Anderson, Alivia Scerba, Julianna Keller and Kendall DiCamillo, who was the starting point as a junior but suffered a major knee injury that forced her to miss all of her senior season; she’s playing lacrosse at West Chester. Senior Dominique Preising, who had been with the basketball program since coming to Garnet Valley, will not play this season as she focused on soccer.

Woods has seen the exodus of large senior classes before and been able to replace them with the next corps. Ava Possenti, a 5-foot-7 senior guard who averaged 7.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.4 assists, is the lone returning starter. She scored eight points against Radnor and added nine against Ridley.

“She’s a hard-nosed player. She has a nice outside shot and can finish in the paint. Strong overall player and plays with a lot of passion,” Woods said.

(L to R) Carly DiSabatino, Kaitlyn Dugery and Ava Possenti are the tri-captains for this year's Garnet Valley squad. (Photo courtesy Garnet Valley)

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Carly DiSabatino, a 5-6 senior guard who came off the bench last season (2.3 ppg), will be part of the rotation. Woods notes that she’s a “strong defender and handles the ball well. She’ll be one of our leaders.” In the frontcourt, Kaitlyn Dugery, a 5-11 senior forward who also saw time off the bench as a junior (1.7 ppg), “will definitely contribute for us this year,” as Woods states.

Garnet Valley has a promising freshman in 5-7 guard Haylie Adamski, who will be a starter this year. “She’s multi-talented in many ways. She has a very high basketball IQ. She can stick the jumper and has good range with a quick release,” per Woods.

Nicolette Saccomandi, a 5-7 junior who can play guard or forward and saw action a year ago, will see more minutes. Two other juniors who could see extended time include Alana Williams and 5-7 guard Ally MacDonald, both of whom played JV last year.

A couple sophomores will also be in the mix in 5-6 guard Jordan Daubenberger and 5-9 forward Emily Olsen, who also played JV and “has made some strides and may be contributing at the varsity level,” as Woods noted.

The Jaguars will open the season on Dec. 10 against North Penn in the Perkiomen Valley Tip-Off Tournament then face the Lady Vikings on Dec. 11. They will also play Unionville on Dec. 23 then go up against St. Georges Tech (Del.) in the Maggie Lucas Play-by-Play Classic at Jefferson University on Jan. 30.

The Central League will be deep once again and, with 16 league games, Garnet Valley will dive right into the thick of things early in a matchup with Ridley on Dec. 14. Last season, Springfield won the Central League and District 1 5A title by defeating Harriton, an up-and-coming team in the league.

For Woods, his young group will have to develop quickly and be prepared for what this league brings on a nightly basis.

“Traditionally, Springfield is very strong and has always been a challenge,” Woods said. “Haverford High has a very strong team with a lot of players returning. Harriton has done a great job the past two seasons. Ridley is always strong.”

After navigating through a shortened season, Woods can focus solely on basketball and getting the program back to its winning ways. It may be a young group but it has a lot of experience at the varsity level that should benefit it in the long run.