City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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MANHEIM — The Select Events Prime East tournament’s high-level, two-day affair concluded on Sunday, with teams from Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, Select Events and the Hoop Group Summer League all battling for titles in action from 17U down on through middle schoolers

CoBL had staff around the facility at Spooky Nook throughout the weekend taking in the action. Here’s Part 3 of our recruiting notebook from the prospects we talked to over the course of the weekend:

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More coverage from Prime East: Day 1 Standouts | Day 2 Standouts / Notebook Pt. 1 | Notebook Pt. 2 | Notebook Pt. 3

Reese Power (2025 | iamBASKETBALL G!RLS 16U)

This time last year, Reese Power was working in relative obscurity. 

Sure, her last name had some cache with her older brother Mike having been a standout at Father Judge and sister Morgan playing at Little Flower, but Reece knew she wasn’t on the map. First, there was the breakout season with Nazareth Academy, the 5-foot-9 guard helping the Pandas to the District I 4A title in their last year in the AACA before jumping to the PCL next winter.

Now, playing with a new AAU team, Reece Power is out of the shadows.

“This is my first time playing high-level AAU, it’s really different but I’m excited about it,” Power said. “I’m getting in front of college coaches where last year, I wasn’t. I was playing in small tournaments just to get a run in but now that I’m getting exposure, it’s so much more different.”

Power, who hails from Northeast Philly, seems to have the PCL mentality down already. In her team’s game against BBA’s GUAA 16U side on Saturday, Power was relentless driving to the rim and either finishing herself or making drop-off passes when the defense collapsed on her.

Fortune favors the aggressive in the Catholic League and Power certainly had that on Saturday. She guarded BBA’s stronger perimeter players with high energy and when one of her drives went haywire and she lost the ball, Power responded with a hard sprint in pursuit of the player who had taken it off her. She joked that it's the Northeast Philly in her, but it’s the kind of style she’s found the most success with.

“I want to get the ball and go,” Power said. “I want the ball in my hands so I want to guard the best player to get the ball away from them.”

It was the kind of play that Power knows she’ll need to make if she wants to embrace an important role with her high school team this coming season.

“I knew I needed to work on my leadership,” Power said. “Our team, we’re all sophomores and need someone to step up, so that’s what I had to do. I want to lead everyone and bring a good energy going through the whole season.”

Power doesn’t have any offers yet, but she’s started to hear from some coaches and definitely wants to play at the next level. That’s been a byproduct of the step up in competition too, which she said is a new experience but one she’s glad to have.

The Pandas are coming into the PCL as a bit of an unknown, but Power is perfectly fine with that. With a core of juniors returning off a district title and state playoff win last year, Power and her teammates want to show they’re ready for the change of scenery.

“When you’re in the Catholic League, you’re playing against people from your neighborhood and you know everyone you’re playing against,” Power said. “If you’re good, you get go to the Palestra, so that’s what I’m excited for.” — Andrew Robinson

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Yordana “Yoyo” Samayoa (2024 | Mid-Atlantic Magic 2024)

It’s easy to come away impressed after just a few minutes talking to Yordana Samayoa.

The CB South rising senior, “Yoyo” to pretty much everyone, has seemed to have left that impression on some local D-III programs in recent weeks. It’s one thing to be wanted, but something else entirely to know the value in it.

Samayoa certainly knows her worth and is looking for the place that can make the most out of it.

“It’s great to get recognized by anybody; everybody who is looking to play in college is someone who is working really hard everyday,” Samayoa said. “It’s gratifying to hear that I’m being seen that way and getting attention from different coaches.”

She’s recently been on campus to meet with coaches at Ursinus, Arcadia and Gwynedd Mercy University, is planning to meet with the staff at Cabrini and hopefully will have some more opportunities come her way. 

In the Magic’s close win over LGB Select’s 17U squad on Saturday, the 5-foot-5 guard didn’t score but she just about ran her voice ragged while playing tenacious ball-pressure defense. She’s been with the Magic since seventh grade and has found a lot of her teammates share her same approach.

“Our team is really passionate, we’re close and we push each other,” the guard said. “You watch the game and you see how nuts we go for somebody stealing the ball or you see Reese (Zemitis) get an and-one and everyone’s right around her. We’re here for each other and that brings our energy up, I’m losing my voice from screaming, but that’s our biggest thing.”

A three-year varsity player at CB South, Samayoa admitted this past season was a tough one with a youthful Titans team going 8-14 overall and just 3-13 in the SOL. While it’s easy to just see wins and losses, Samayoa was adamant that she believes her team is going to be much stronger in her senior season.

That kind of season, especially when it’s full of close losses, can be beneficial in its own way.

“The biggest thing is the resilience and mental toughness,” Samayoa said. “We’re that much tougher now. You’ve seen it and you don’t want to get kicked in the nuts twice, you're going to go rip their throats out the next time.

“It’s exciting but not going to lie, at times aggravating but that’s just how it is. You can’t win every time, all that matters is that you’re working really hard.”

Basketball is a vehicle that Samayoa can use to help her find the right college, but what ultimately is driving it is education. Her family is big on stressing academics - there’s no hoops without good grades - and Samayoa is an excellent student, saying on Saturday she’s in the midst of studying for her finals and AP exams.

She’s not in a rush to make a college decision, ideally she’d like to round back to the programs she’s visited in the fall and meet the teams when they’re back on campus, and any financial aid she can get will be a big plus. After all, she put all the work in, so why not make it worth the effort.

“I’m bringing passion and leadership. In high school basketball, I can put up 25 or like this game, I can put up zero and have as much of an impact by playing defense and telling the girls where to go,” Samayoa said. “I try to be the glue, you know? Being that leader on the floor everybody comes to, talking to the coach, just somebody that’s there keeping everybody together.” — Andrew Robinson

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Jocelyn Goldstein (2025 | Rebels Basketball Academy 16U)

At a place like Julia R. Masterman School athletics are certainly not the primary focus. Ranked one of the top magnet schools in the country, the Philadelphia Public School located on Spring Garden Street is better known for its academics (though the school did produce former WNBA player Andrea Gardner).

Jocelyn Goldstein, a 6-2 forward who grew up near Center City, has enjoyed blending both of her talents.

“I would say it’s definitely tough balancing athletics with the academic workload, but I definitely like it,” Goldsteain said. “I like what I’m learning in school while also playing sports.”

Goldstein averaged 16.1 ppg this season and earned All-Philadelphia Public League honorable mention honors as her team posted an 18-2 mark and went undefeated for a division title, reaching the PPL quarters and qualifying for the PIAA Class 3A playoffs for the first time in school history.

“It was so fun,” Goldstein said. “We had a really short season last year because of COVID, so I was really happy to have more games and just playing more.”

Coincidentally, the 54-24 thumping Masterman took at the hands of New Hope-Solebury is how Goldstein ended up playing for the Rebels Basketball Academy and coach Steve Polinski (the head coach at New Hope) this summer.

Rebels Basketball Academy picked up a big win against the GUAA Germantown Lady Panthers during action on Saturday and took the Lady Runnin’ Rebels to the brink before finishing the weekend 2-2.

This summer has definitely been a step up in competition from the high school season.

“The competition in AAU is definitely more competitive than the teams we play in the Public League,” Goldstein said. “It’s definitely nice, and four games, five games a weekend, a lot of running, a lot of basketball is fun.”

Goldstein is a post player who can certainly score down low and work on the boards as well as make a defensive impact. She has some range she is showcasing this summer, something that Polinski is challenging her to show off. 

“I’m trying to work on my inside game, work really hard on rebounds and things that I can control, hustling and getting up and down the floor,” Goldstein said.

While working on her game, Goldstein is also taking a math course at Temple this summer for college credits in addition to workshops in environmental justice and genomic medicine. She’s potentially interested in a career in radiology with the potential to go on a pre-med track when she gets to college.

If she can find the right fit, there is certainly interest in continuing to blend her academics and athletics at the next level.

“I definitely would like to play basketball in college, maybe like a Division III is what I’m really interested in because of the dynamics with academics and basketball at that level and just the size of the schools,” Goldstein said.

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From left, Brianna, Mike and Brooke McFadden

Brooke & Brianna McFadden (2024 | Philly Heat North 17U)

Mike McFadden doesn’t have to try hard to find common ground with his twin daughters Brooke and Brianna.

The sisters absolutely love basketball, so much so that they’re even willing to put up with their dad being their coach. Actually, Brooke and Brianna love having their dad as their coach, even if he can be a little hard on them at times, because their shared passion brings them even closer together.

It’s the last run for the McFadden trio - and most of the core group of a Philly Heat North 17U squad that’s been together for years - so they’re making the most of the experience.

“I love it, sometimes it’s a challenge but at the end of it, we always have a lot of fun,” Brooke said. “It’s a bonding experience for all of us.”

“I think it’s fun that we get to be together every day,” Brianna added. “This is the center of our lives so it's something for all of us to do together.”

Brooke, a 5-foot-9 shooting guard, and Brianna, a 5-foot-7 point guard, are both soon-to-be seniors at Conwell-Egan. They’re the coach’s daughters, but that doesn’t mean they’re afforded any extra leeway when it comes to competition.

“The biggest compliment to me is when a coach comes up to me after a game and asks ‘did you have a daughter on the team?’ because they don’t know it,” Mike McFadden said. “I have high expectations for all the girls, they’ll tell you, and that goes for on the court and how they play.”

Brooke said Mike is “always intense,” and that whether he’s dad or he’s coach, he always expects the most from her and her sister but the twins know it’s because he wants the best for them. Brianna added that the girls don’t think of it as father-daughter on the court, they’re players, he’s the coach and if they’re not playing up to par, they’re subject to the same standards as any of their teammates.

“He doesn’t give us a break, let’s say that,” Brianna said.

Brianna and Brooke have come to expect that their dad is going to get on them during games and they’ve gotten pretty adept at leaving whatever is said between the lines and moving on to the next game. 

“If you have a kid on the team, then they have to be the best listeners,” Mike said. “They don’t have to be the best players but if they don’t listen, then I try to tell your kid to hustle up the court when they’re not hustling, it’s an impossible situation.

“That responsibility has been on them since I started coaching them.”

The twins know they only have a limited amount of time left where they can call their dad their coach as well, so that’s certainly making these handful of events and tournaments more special.

“I love the sport, but I also love spending time with my family,” Brooke said. “Our mom comes to all the games, she’s our biggest supporter, so it brings us together.”

That also extends to their teammates as well, many of them in their sixth year playing together and some of them even longer than that.

With most of their teammates split between Pennsbury, CR South and CR North, there are some fierce rivalries when the Heat players are in their high school seasons. The McFaddens said thanks to playing the PCL, they don’t have any allegiances so they can go to SOL games and cheer for their friends, but the sisters joked they’ve definitely seen a few teammates sneaking a clap or a cheer for a Heat teammate on the opposing side.

“We’ve been together with this team since sixth grade and that last game is going to be really rough,” Brooke said.

“A lot of the girls, we’ve been together even since first grade until now, so it’ll definitely be weird not playing with each other anymore,” Brianna said.

Mike McFadden coached his son Mike, who had a nice career at Holy Ghost Prep and played club ball in college and he knows there’s so many lessons that can be learned from playing a sport. It’s been the same ride with Brooke and Brianna and he feels if they never played again after their senior year, the time they spent together will set both girls up for success in their future.

“Are there hard times? Absolutely, but it’s the good times we talk about,” Mike McFadden said. “They love basketball, they’d like to play in college and hopefully it’s an opportunity that continues to grow for them. I look at basketball as a very, very positive experience.” — Andrew Robinson

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Azjiona Golston (2024 | Fencor 17U)

When talking to players at a grassroots tourney, many have very specific and big basketball goals. Most, if not all, are looking to land a coveted D-I  scholarship and continue their career at the highest level.

The ones that aren’t headed for DI are looking for opportunities wherever they can get them at the D-II and D-III levels. 

Azjiona Golston is as unique as first name. She is simply a diamond in the rough.  

Playing for her Norristown High School team, Golston has endured some tough battles on the court as her squad struggled with a 4-14 record this past season. She knows a league championship isn’t in the cards while district and state playoffs are a pipe dream. Chasing a scholarship or personal glory is not what drives her.  She would like to play basketball in college but that’s not what drives her. The love of the game does. 

 “I just love the game of basketball,” said the amicable Golston. “Not that it doesn’t matter about winning or losing, but as long as I’m playing basketball, that’s all that matters. Winning is just the icing on the cake.”

Despite not experiencing the thrill of victory as often as she would like, the lack of depth on her high school team has helped her develop a more all-around game while developing additional leadership skills

“We don’t really have much talent at my school, so I play every position on the court. I just play wherever our team helps.”

As captain of her Fencor team, the 5-2 guard said her coach has enlisted her to be the coach on the floor and get everyone going in the same direction.

“I’ve been given the title of captain, so it’s my responsibility to lead the team and get everyone in line and on the same page.”

The rising senior is a high-energy, hard-nosed player whose strength lies in driving to the basket. During her AAU season she has been looking to expand her repertoire and improved her outside game.

“For me personally, driving is what I’m best at and getting to the basket, so I’m just focusing on getting better at shooting and taking it back to Norristown for next season.” — Matt Gaffney

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Sophia McDonald (2027 | Mid-Atlantic Magic 14U)

Sophia McDonald has been a fixture at Archbishop Wood games for a long time.

In recent years, that’s been sitting with her dad Matt while watching her uncle Mike coach the Vikings on one long playoff run after another. This coming winter, “Uncle Mike” will become “Coach Mike” as Sophia moves from the stands to the court as an incoming freshman at Wood.

It won’t be too much of an adjustment though, as Sophia already has an idea what to expect having played on her uncle’s Mid-Atlantic Magic 2027 team the past two years.

“It’s different than when I was younger and I didn’t play for him, but I get to see a different side to him,” Sophia said. “I see a little more of his personality but I always know he still loves me either way whether we’re on or off the court.

“He might be a little hard sometimes though.”

Mike McDonald, who took over as Wood’s head coach during the 2014-15 season and has guided the Vikings to two PCL and five PIAA titles in his tenure, laughed at his niece’s answer. Mike is also Sophia’s godfather, but that doesn't mean he cuts her any slack on the court.

During Sunday’s win over K-Low Elite’s 2027 team, Sophia had an open look at the net but hesitated and didn’t take the look. As the Magic came up the court, her coach let her know in direct terms she needed to take that shot.

“It’s fun, it’s a different dynamic, I just try to be her uncle any time we’re away from the basketball court and compartmentalize when I’m coaching,” Mike McDonald said. “I try to forget she’s my niece, she’s just another player in the game.

“It is special watching her grow. I coached her when she was in third or fourth grade, took a couple years off, then have had these girls since they were in sixth grade, so I become a little harder and a little more demanding as they get to high school.”

Sophia concurred, noting a change in demeanor when Mike McDonald is on the sideline.

“Very different,” Sophia said. “He yells more.”

Seeing the Vikings up close for so many years, Sophia said she like the team aspect the program emphasizes

“It’s really good basketball and I know it’s going to make me better,” Sophia said. “The girls are really nice and they’re a really good team.”

Sophia, who is also a good soccer player and will be part of Wood’s back-to-back PCL title winning program, has actually been going to Wood games before her uncle coached there. Mike and Matt’s mom Mary, who spent over 30 years coaching including 12 years at Cardinal Dougherty where her boys went, worked at Archbishop Wood before Mike joined the Vikings staff as an assistant.

“We have a picture, she’s about three, watching a game with my brother,” Mike said. “She’s been coming to games for almost 11 years now, I don’t think she had a choice.” — Andrew Robinson