City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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(Ed. Note: This story is part of 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 2022-23 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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For as long as Sherri Retif has been at Germantown Academy, the Patriots have been the dominant force in the Inter-Academic League. 

Since her hiring before the 1998-99 season, when GA split the league title with Notre Dame and Shipley, Retif has guided the Patriots to 20 championships, all but two of which were outright, surpassing 700 career wins in the process. There was a brief two-year gap when Episcopal Academy won it all in 2012-13 and then defended its title, but otherwise the 21st century was all GA.

Now it’s once again been two years since the Patriots have last hoisted a trophy, thanks to the COVID season and then a rare rebuilding year in 2021-22, one which saw Penn Charter win the Inter-Ac for the first time since 1997-98.

The Inter-Ac is getting tougher, deeper and more talented, and Germantown Academy’s reign as the obvious annual preseason favorite might be over. But that doesn’t mean they’re ready to stop winning.

“We’re coming in with high expectations, because the last couple years with COVID and everything, we’ve been in a rebuilding stage,” junior Isabella ‘Izzy’ Casey said. “I feel like this is the year that we have our highest goals — we want to win the Inter-Ac and even possibly a state championship.”

The ‘rebuilding’ year wasn’t much of one for Germantown Academy, which still went 17-8 last season, its 9-3 league record good enough to tie Notre Dame for second place in the seven-team conference of elite area private schools. Even with a rotation featuring one junior and the rest sophomores and freshmen, the Patriots still had no issues against the bottom half of the league, splitting their matchups with ND, PC and Episcopal Academy but sweeping Baldwin, Agnes Irwin and SCH Academy.

Now everybody’s back, and they know what the expectations are. Anything short of a 21st title would be a letdown, especially considering the reputation the program’s built up over the years.

“I think we’re all trying to think about the future, but also we have to remember that wearing this [jersey] is a legacy,” Casey said during a preseason event in October, “so we have to remember how successful we’ve been in the past and carry that into the future.”

“I’ve had a couple conversations [with the team] and like, we’ll embrace the underdog role, we’re okay with that,” Retif said. “All of that doesn’t matter to them, they just want to get better.”

The only member of the 2019-20 squad still around is senior forward Kendall Bennett. The 6-3 post, a Binghamton commit, was a freshman when a group of seven seniors — including current La Salle guard Jaye Haynes — led the Patriots to a 25-win season, a year after they won 30 games and a Pa. Independent School (PAISAA) state championship. 

Now she’s the only senior in the starting lineup, the only one likely to play significant rotation minutes, a key cog in the Patriots’ attack. After averaging a double-double as a junior, Bennett’s set the bar high for her senior year, the lessons she learned three years ago ready to pay off.

“It was challenging but it was one of the best lessons I’ve ever gotten, playing with a team full of seniors, and I was the only freshman,” she said. “Now I’m really implementing that into the way I want to be a leader, and making sure we’re all on the ride together and getting everyone to that high point.”

“It’s obviously loving everyone on the team, (but) it’s also tough love where you know what’s expected out of you,” she added. “I don’t know if it was anything specific [the 2020 class did] but just the team as a whole — pushing each other, watching after them, seeing what they do, modeling how they play, and that’s how you get yourself to that point.”

Behind Bennett, a first team All-Inter-Ac selection last year, are a strong group of sophomores and juniors who are all entering their second year as starters or significant role players. That includes the 5-10 Casey, who Retif called the “motor” of the team and who’s making the transition from the ‘4’ to the off-guard/wing position; 5-10 junior point guard Samantha Wade, 5-10 junior ‘2’ guard Jess Aponik, 5-11 sharpshooting sophomore Gabby Bowes, and sophomore point guard Jess Kolecki.

Aponik and Casey were both second team all-league selections a year ago, but Bowes and Wade will make pushes to be included this time around. Retif was especially pleased with the progress Wade had made this offseason.

“Her ball skills and ability to handle the ball has just skyrocketed,” she said. “She hadn’t run the point before, and last year mid-season we put her at the point, she just embraced that role. She’s always given us defense, so we need her on the court for defense, but now she’s giving us the heady-ness and the ball skills, she’s also a really nice 3-point shooter; she’s really diversified her game and her leadership.”

Backing up Bennett inside and occasionally playing the ‘4’ alongside her will be 5-11 sophomore CeeJay Thomas, who’s also drawn the attention of college coaches who’ve stopped by the Patriots’ gym for offseason workouts. Freshman guard Addison Levensten has also impressed in the preseason, and Retif expects her to play a role from the get-go.

Retif hasn’t had much time with her team in the offseason, Inter-Ac league rules limiting coaches’ abilities to run many workouts or practices. But with so much back in the fold, she’s using what time she has to focus on the details.

“Just fine-tuning chemistry, timing. I think we play at a really high pace and we’re fast, (and) fast is great but timing is everything,” she said. “So we get to fine-tune timing and angles, like I’m really pleased with the fact that we’re getting the ball up high to Kendall [...] that’s something we didn’t do as well last year, so those little angles and timing are things that we’ll fine-tune.”

Germantown Academy will enter the year as one of two favorites to win the league, though Penn Charter also returns almost its entire rotation from last year’s championship squad, plus adds a terrific eighth grader in Ryan Carter, who’s already gotten high-major Division I offers. The two archrivals will meet for the first time Dec. 13 at Germantown Academy; the return game is Jan. 20 at Penn Charter.

How those two contests shake out could very well decide the league title. If history is any indication, the Patriots will be ready — but that’s only half the battle. The rest is up to them.

“I think of it as every year’s a new year, and it’s for them to create their legacy,” Retif said. “As for me, I’m along for the ride. What is it about this team that’s going to set them apart and make them unique? We were talking the other day and I said my goals are to create great memories, to have a lot of fun and have no regrets. That’s how I approach the season, it’s not wins or losses; those things will take care of themselves if they focus on the details now.”