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Prepping for Preps '22-23: Souderton (Girls)

12/01/2022, 12:15pm EST
By Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)

(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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It all starts at the ending.

Souderton’s 2021-22 regular season was fantastic, the Indians going nearly unblemished in SOL play to secure an SOL Colonial title and a top-four seed for the District 1 6A playoffs. The postseason didn’t play out as smoothly, with the team’s offense falling off at the wrong time and three consecutive losses bringing an early exit in the first round of states.

That state playoff loss to Easton, on their home floor, may have ended Souderton’s season last winter but it also set the stage for some higher goals this time around.

“The way our season ended, we had such a successful regular season but we were all disappointed in how the postseason went really from beginning to end with SOLs, districts and states that I think the girls have used it through the entire offseason to motivate them,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “They’ve really been putting in work, in the weight room, skill stuff, I think everybody is better than they were. They’ve done what they needed to do in the offseason to keep that a reality.”


Souderton senior Casey Harter is committed to Northwestern next season. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

Souderton had no seniors a year ago and has the luxury of retaining not only its starting five, but its top reserve players on top of any newcomers or athletes ready to play for a bigger role. That doesn’t mean the same players are coming back.

Senior point guard Casey Harter had already established herself as one of the best defensive players not only in the SOL, but District 1 at large and even across the state. Frustrated by the way her junior year ended, Harter went to work as hard as anyone, sharpening her offensive game and parlaying it into a tremendous summer with her Comets AAU program and a commitment to Big Ten contender Northwestern.

“It’s a huge motivation,” Harter said. “We came up short last year and none of us want it to end like that, so we know the difference it takes and have all put in the extra work to maybe get us a few games further. We’ve all been showing up and putting in the work, we were there last year, we saw what it takes and our aim is to get further.”

Prior to last season, Carroll likened her group to the 2016-17 and 2017-18 teams with the former a junior-heavy team that had built expectations for a senior sendoff which ended with SOL and District 1 6A titles and a state semifinal appearance. With a now heavily senior-tilted roster, Souderton has that same idea of making this season really count.

It’s an unusual dichotomy, there was no doubt last year’s team wanted to go further but it had a safety net of sorts. This time, that’s not there but the coaches don’t want a sense of finality to take the enjoyment away from what could be a really good season.

“Last year, there was really no pressure when you know you’re coming back the next year, it makes it so the stakes aren’t quite as high,” Carroll said. “We’ll have to make sure we handle the expectations in a way that allows them to play care-free and the way they’re capable of playing but everybody in the group realizes there isn’t a goal we can’t accomplish and we’re going to set the ultimate highest goals we can set.”

Teya McConnaha, Erin Bohmueller and Mikayla McGillian join Harter as returning seniors. McConnaha is the key to the team’s defense as a do-it-all helper and rebounder who has worked hard to increase the variety of her offense and Carroll noted that McGillian has increased her shooting range and confidence.

Junior Brooke Fenchel returns with a year of starting experience and drew praise for her defense in the team’s fall and summer games. The X-factor for Souderton could be sophomore Grace McDonough, who spurted up to about 6-foot-2 over the summer and is looking to be more assertive after assuming a secondary role as a freshman.

“I could write pages about them and as a coaching staff when you ask individuals to do something and they all go out and do it, it makes your job fun and it’s exciting,” Carroll said. “They’re good kids and they work hard.”

Souderton will most certainly be tested by the end of the regular season. The Indians are starting strong with their annual Jim Cook Classic tournament, inviting West Chester Rustin, Abington and Mount Saint Joseph Academy to complete the field and will have the annual grind of their SOL slate.

The Colonial division looks to be a gauntlet, with most every team returning several top players for the home-and-away sets broken up with a crossover run through the Patriot division that always features some talented teams. A non-league game with Perk Valley, a rematch of last season’s District 1-6A quarters, also highlights the schedule. 

Opponents that plan on playing Souderton the same way as their final three opponents did last winter may be in for a rude awakening.

“The biggest thing for us was some teams would defend us in a very specific way and we struggled with it,” Carroll said. “It was mostly because of shot types we weren’t comfortable taking or we felt weren’t strengths of ours and it’s that piece the kids took very seriously in the offseason and we feel that kind of game plan won’t work against us anymore.

Harter is excited for her future in the Big Ten, but the All-SOL guard is completely focused on this season and making the most of a second chance with a group that is invested in each other’s success.

“We’ve all developed beyond what we were last year. We might throw in some new defenses and offense, it’s a combination of everything,” Harter said. “We’re not going to be the same team as last year even though we have the same players. I think we’re going to be better.”


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