City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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WARMINSTER — The way they pulled it off, it looked like Reagan Chrencik and Gabby D’Agostino had been playing together for years.

Instead, Tuesday night marked just the seventh game as teammates for the New Hope-Solebury senior and freshman even if the results thus far may not look like it. Chrencik, the Lions’ senior co-captain, now finds herself in the role of mentor and leader for a young team with D’Agostino, the freshman point guard, the newcomer finding her way at the varsity level.

They’ll only have one season together, but it hasn’t stopped Chrencik or D’Agostino from tempering their expectations for the Lions.

“We have a lot of talent this year, we’re a young team but we have really high goals,” Chrencik, the only senior starter, said. “We’re trying to do everything we can with the talent we have for this year and I think we all work really well together.”

Chrencik led all scorers with 27 points in Tuesday’s 53-42 win on the road at William Tennent, keeping New Hope-Solebury a perfect 4-0 in the SOL Freedom division going into Thursday’s pivotal first showdown with unbeaten Upper Moreland. D’Agostino, who has quickly made the adjustment to high school basketball, added 12 points for a Lions team that is overall relatively young.

Outside of the 5-foot-11 Chrencik, the Lions’ starting lineup is all underclassmen. Izzy Elizondo, Emily Wilson and Ella Dudek are all sophomores, while D’Agostino is in the first five and fellow freshman Kayla Fennel was the first one off the bench Tuesday. Wilson also earned a captain’s role through all the work she did in the offseason.

With a pair of 20-plus point outings to her name already, D’Agostino hasn’t shied away from what made her successful in middle school and travel ball.

“Being a freshman, you’re nervous at the beginning of the year, but the whole team has been so welcoming,” D’Agostino said. “I think there was definitely pressure in the beginning but Reagan, the starting five and everyone else on the team, they gave me the trust you need to have in your point guard and that makes me comfortable out there.”

When she was a freshman, Chrencik stepped into a program that had some strong leaders already in place including then-senior Sabrina Vlahovic and junior Rachel Saxton. The next year, Saxton and Chrencik helped the Lions split a share of the SOL Freedom title with Upper Moreland in New Hope-Solebury’s first year as an SOL member.

Just like her upperclassmen did for her, Chrencik has embraced her role as a leader for this team. On top of her skill on the court, the guard/forward organized several team workouts and pick-up outings over the summer while balancing her travel schedule with the Comets GUAA team.

Chrencik hasn’t decided on her college stop yet although she is determined on playing at the next level and is weighing some options. To that end, a coach from Cabrini stopped in to watch and had a chat with the senior after the game. 

“It’s weird because I, in a sense, still feel like a freshman when I had those girls as role models and now Gabby’s in as a freshman, Emily, Izzy and Ella are sophomores so I’ve seen the dynamic shift,” Chrencik said. “Now, I’m on the older end of it, even if it doesn’t really feel like it.

“I think what Gabby said about how we’ve made her feel comfortable was the same thing they did for me, starting as a freshman is a tough thing to do but when you have a team that plays like a team and doesn’t play selfishly like we do, that really helps out.”

Elizando added 10 points and three assists while Wilson had four points and three assists. As a team, the Lions ran the floor well in the first half and that transition game led to a highlight play between D’Agostino and Chrencik.

Pushing the ball off a rebound, D’Agostino brought it up the floor while Chrencik came down the left side, drifting out toward the wing as William Tennent’s shifted toward stopping the ball at the point of attack. Spotting her teammate wide open, D’Agostino roped a great pass right into Chrencik’s shooting pocket, allowing the senior to pull and drain a three that would have been good easily from a college line.

“Reag plays big or guard, but having a pick-and-roll game with her being able to pop and roll, I’ve been able to get my shot off of that,” D’Agostino said. “We complement each other so well because we’re so versatile.”

“That’s what I was thinking of,” Chrencik said, picking up immediately. “We can both shoot, she’s as able to drive to the basket as a guard and I’m able to play out on the wing as well so I feel like being able to pick-and-roll, it’s not just with each other, everyone on this team is very versatile.”

Tennent dropped its second SOL game of the season, falling to 2-2 in the league. However, the Panthers showed a lot of fight in the second half which was an encouraging sign for coach Laura Whitney.

Junior forward Morgan Volz had 12 points, 11 rebounds and two assists to pace Tennent, which also got nine from junior Ella Mednick. Like the Lions, the Panthers only started one senior in Alyssa Lewicki and got plenty of minutes from freshmen Avery Kocur, Halie Staub and Haley Dickson.

D’Agostino said the biggest adjustment for the high school game was the speed, both of play and of opposing players. The freshman said she’s been relying on her teammates to figure out the pace, adding “when they go, I go.”

She’s also comfortable playing off the ball, with Wilson or Elizondo able to handle the ball and Chrencik always an option on the perimeter or out of the high post.

“Spacing is something we’re overall gotten pretty good at and having a good point guard is a big part of that,” Chrencik said. “It’s been a really positive thing for us and allowed us to get a lot of good looks on offense.”

New Hope-Solebury dropped down to Class 3A this year after playing the last two in 4A, making them the smallest school in the SOL by classification. The postseason is a long way off however, and the Lions are keeping their focus in front of them with a big game Thursday before they take a break over the holidays and come back in the new year to start SOL crossover play.

“No one’s age matters on this team,” Chrencik said. “We’re one team, we’re all playing together. We’ve got a couple big games this year we’re looking to win, we want to make a good run through districts and I think we have a really good opportunity with a lot of talent and a lot of potential.”

By Quarter

NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 18 | 19 | 7 | 9 || 53

WILLIAM TENNENT 10 | 7 | 10 | 15 || 42

Scoring

NHS: Reagan Chrencik 27, Gabby D’Agostino 12, Izzy Elizondo 10, Emily Wilson 4

WT: Morgan Volz 12, Ella Mednick 9, Halie Staub 6, Alyssa Lewicki 6, Jess Whisler 5, Haley Dickson 2, Avery Kocur 2