City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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(Ed. Note: This article is part of our 2022-23 season coverage, which will run for the six weeks preceding the first official games of the year on Nov. 9. To access all of our high school and college preview content for this season click here)

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They knew as a group what they belonged to, even though they did it behind the curtains of squeaking sneakers and the blowing whistles of practice. They had a few eyes on them, getting gritty with their older teammates, learning from the daily pounding lessons they received. They also knew that in sharpening the Cardinal O’Hara starters for the Philadelphia Catholic League (PCL) and another PIAA Class 5A state championship run that their time would come.

Well, it’s here.

The Lions’ big three—Maggie Doogan (Richmond), Sydni Scott (Marshall) and Annie Welde (Villanova)—have graduated, leaving a solid group that benefited from going against them every day in practice.

The departure of Doogan, Scott and Welde leave a huge void to fill, though it’s possible this incoming version of the Lions could achieve what their predecessors did.

O’Hara finished 26-5 overall last season in repeating as PIAA Class 5A state champions and winning its first Catholic League title for head coach and former O’Hara star Chrissie Doogan, who will be entering her fifth year, her first without her standout daughter. Chrissie Doogan did more than just roll the ball out for a team loaded with talent. She did a fabulous job of keeping her team composed, knowing when to push certain buttons at the right time, and demanding mental toughness from them in the most important games of the season.

Doogan returns a group led by a potentially special player in 5-foot-11 sophomore guard Molly Rullo, who led the Lions in scoring during the postseason as a freshman, 5-8 senior point guard Bridget Dawson, and 5-5 junior guard Greta Miller, with 5-8 junior guard Joanie Quinn, 5-9 junior forward Carly Coleman, 6-2 senior forward Maria McCallen and 5-8 freshman guard Megan Rullo, Molly’s sister, playing vital roles.

There are a lot of new faces on the Lions. But the name still says “O’Hara” on the front of the jersey, and with that comes the pressure of upholding the success the program has had over the years.

“The last two years we had a group of unselfish kids who were willing to do whatever it took to win,” Chrissie Doogan said. “That was so much fun for me to coach because no one seemed to care that Molly Rullo, a freshman, was our leading scorer throughout the playoffs. That team last year had goals for themselves, and they went out and got them. That attitude will be big again this year.

“No one will try and do too much. If we concentrate on our team goals, we’ll be successful. Last year, we stressed defense and rebounding. This year, because we lost so much, we’ll need someone to step up as a scorer. We have Molly, who really stepped into that role last year, and after her, we’re going to need a No. 2 and No. 3 scorer. Joanie Quinn had a tremendous summer and grew a little. I think she’s ready to step up, and Maria has been sitting and waiting for two years behind Maggie and Annie. This is her time. She wants to show people what she’s capable of doing.”

To a point, this group got that in the gym by going against the first team.

“It’s why this team is really hungry to show what they can do, and they’re ready,” Doogan said. “This is their turn. I give this group a lot of credit for pushing last year’s starters. I tell my team all the time that winning teams are only as good as their second team. If the starters can’t be pushed in practice, we’re not going to win. We had a second team a few years ago that I think could have won the Catholic League.”

Doogan will give Molly Rullo the keys to the offense. The daughter of Drexel hoops standouts, will be the hub of the Lions these next three years. She averaged 16 points a game during the postseason and will attract special attention from every team O’Hara faces.

“As a team, defense is something we’ll stress, and take pride in,” Rullo said. “Everyone knows their own roles. We had a group of seniors who were really great, and we know this will be a challenging year. Our coaching staff will challenge us to compete and play defense. If we stick with that, we’re going to be okay. We have a great senior leader in Bridget and practicing against the first team every day last year will make us better this year. Those seniors really pushed us in practice. I think we have a secret weapon in Joanie Quinn. She had a great summer and Maria made Maggie (Doogan) better, and Maggie made her better.”

Leadership will fall on Dawson, McCallen and Miller.

“We all know everyone will have to have their scoring day, because we know Molly will be guarded tightly,” Dawson said. “Personally, I’ll need to shoot more and score more. I think I’m ready for that. If I can do that, that can also open the floor up for everyone else to get opportunities. This is it for me. I’ve been playing basketball since I was in fourth grade, for nine years. I’m not playing in college, so this will be a big year for me.”

Miller feels the pieces are there for the Lions to be competitive again. Again, she credits last year’s outgoing seniors for doing that.

“They really shaped this team, because they never took it easy on us,” she said. “We do have good talent on this team. We need to come together. I have to be more of a leader as an upperclassman. We do need to come together more as a team, and we’ve all been playing with each other for a while now. Everyone has put in the work. Every practice we’ll come together more.

“We know we’ll be faced with pressure again. We do have players on this team that faced pressure last year and what it’s like to play in the Palestra. Having that experience definitely helps. Everything will work out. Having pressure is okay.”

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here .