City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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HORSHAM — For nearly 30 years, the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Basketball League has offered an outlet for local college players - and a few alumni - to get in some competitive runs during their summer.

The current iteration of the league is underway with twice-weekly game nights at the Kelly Bolish Gym in Horsham leading to a playoff wrapping up with the championship game on August 1. Six area Division II and III programs have entered their teams, with three teams featuring a mix of players from different squads rounding out the field. 

From incoming freshmen getting a first look at their new teams to some local legends still lacing up the sneakers for the fun of it, the league lives by its mantra that all players should be given the opportunity to hone their skills for the upcoming collegiate season, have fun and stay fit.

Tuesday night’s championship will pit No. 2 seed Sky Blue, which comprises Holy Family’s roster, against No. 5 seed Pink, the team of college alumni and defending champion, at 7 p.m.

Here are a few notes from this week’s games:

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Erin Morgan (Class of 2022 | La Salle)

Every time she’s thought she was done, basketball has pulled Erin Morgan back in.

When Morgan graduated from Archbishop Wood in 2018 as a two-time state champion and a PCL title to her name, she fully expected that was the end of her basketball playing days. Last spring, when she graduated from La Salle after a second life in hoops she still can’t believe happened, Morgan again thought that was it.

However, Shannon May can be very persuasive and she brought her former high school teammate into the league’s alumni team for this summer, making Morgan’s third act just as good as the first two.

“It’s been so fun, especially being back with all the Wood girls, I just feel like we play so well together,” Morgan said after Tuesday’s quarterfinal round. “I feel like we didn’t skip a beat.”

Morgan might have been in the league last year if not for a broken nose that she needed surgery to fix last May. She was told to take it easy for about six months, meaning no basketball, but when her old Vikings teammates started reaching out about putting a roster together this summer, she was in.

Cassie Sebold, May and Morgan were all part of Wood’s 2016-17 PCL champion team and the PIAA title teams of 16-17 and 207-18. Kate Connolly was a teammate for two years including the 16-17 title year and Morgan also shared two seasons at Wood with Lexie Edwards.

“It’s a good workout, we all go out together afterward, it’s like having our little family again,” Morgan said. “So happy I decided to play this summer.”

She had some Division III interest as a senior in high school, but La Salle ultimately won out thanks to an academic opportunity. Morgan was able to get into the university’s rigorous accelerated MBA program, meaning she would graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Business Administration in just four years.

Morgan’s first year on Olney Ave happened to coincide with Mountain MacGillivray's first year at the helm of the Explorers’ women’s basketball program. With the team in need of some players to fill out the roster, the first-year staff used their contacts to try and find anyone on campus who could help.

As it turned out, Wood coach Mike McDonald did know someone just like that.

“They had me come in and practice then offered me a spot on the team,” Morgan said. “It was around October, I’d really started to miss basketball by then. I was a little nervous about having to get back in shape, so I think I told them I had to think about it.”

A conversation with her mom reinforced the fact that if she didn’t do it, she’d absolutely regret it and soon after, Morgan was a walk-on Division I basketball player. She ended up playing in 28 games that year and starting in seven of them.

Morgan said MacGillivray was very fair, he gave every player the same opportunity whether they had been recruited or brought in as a last-minute walk-on but she certainly didn’t expect to play that much.

“It was the same all the way through my senior year,” Morgan said. “I give him a lot of props for that.”

She’d already lived the dream, including a couple surreal moments like getting a block against that season’s A-10 Player of the Year in George Mason’s Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, but it would get even better.

Morgan didn’t have to walk-on again as a sophomore. Instead, the coaches made her a scholarship player and a permanent part of the program the remainder of her time on campus.

“That was just a huge blessing and I’m so thankful for that,” Morgan said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I’m really grateful. Honestly, when I first started doing it, I was so uneasy about it and my mom told me I had to try it otherwise I’d regret it.

“Now, I can’t imagine having gone through college without basketball.”

Morgan appeared in 15 games as a sophomore, opted to sit out the 20-21 season during the Covid-19 pandemic and made 13 appearances including one start as a senior in 21-22. She may not have played a lot of minutes or scored many points, but she was there because she was supposed to be.

Morgan definitely took a different route to the second stage of her career than most of the other players Archbishop Wood has put on college rosters over the years. At the same time, she maintained that it was the program’s structure that even allowed her to make a D-I roster and stay there.

“I give Coach Mike a lot of props for that,” Morgan said. “When I went to my first La Salle practice, it was a lot of conditioning and the coaches came up afterward and said ‘it’s not like this all the time,’ and I told them it was comparable to our high school practices.

“College is harder, but Wood was right up there with how college practices are. He really prepares the girls for college, which I didn’t ever expect to need, but it was nice to be ready.”

Erin is not the only member of the Morgan clan with some PCL and state hardware to her name. Her younger sister Shannon has her tied with two state and one PCL title, helping Wood grab the double in 20-21 and repeat in states as a senior in 21-22. Ryan Morgan was a standout soccer player at Wood, helping the Viking win the PCL title as a junior in the fall of 2018 and make the state semis in ‘18 and 2019 while her youngest brother Colin was reserve this spring as a sophomore on Father Judge’s PCL and state champion baseball team.

Morgan also balanced an unplanned basketball career with a demanding academic track, graduating with her MBA in August of 2022 and parlaying that into a job as a tax associate with KPMG in Philadelphia. 

Already having experienced a second act in basketball she wouldn’t accept as real if she hadn’t lived it, Morgan couldn’t say no to a third. While this one is a little more believable, it doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.

“If you had told me at 12 years old I’d be playing Division I basketball, I wouldn’t have believed that would ever be a possibility,” Morgan said. “The fact that I locked up an A-10 Player of the Year for just one possession, younger me would have been in shock. 

“Even when I started practicing with La Salle, if you told me I’d have that career, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

~~~

Mia Kolb (Class of 2023 | Dickinson) & Natalie Kolb (Gr. | TCNJ)

For the last few years, Mia and Natalie Kolb always circled the same games first on their calendar.

The twin sisters, who helped tiny Jenkintown win its first state title in basketball during their junior year, had laser-like focus on two dates on their college team’s upcoming schedule. Teammates their entire lives, the Kolbs split up in college but didn’t get too far away as they eventually became rivals in the Centennial Conference and got to go up against each other.

In between, they managed to stay on each other’s good side by reuniting as teammates in the offseason just as they did this summer.

“We know each other’s style so well, so it’s always better to feed off each other,” Natalie said on Tuesday. “I’ve seen her play so much over the years and she’s watched me, so we’re super grateful to be able to play on the same team but also have that chance to play against each other.”

Both Mia and Natalie had to laugh on Tuesday, noting they had the same hair style which is not something they do very often. What they do share is a competitive drive that’s kept them involved with the game.

Natalie had a more roundabout route to college basketball. Right out of high school, she attended Villanova and had a role on the university’s practice team and club basketball team before deciding she wanted a little bit more.

It would lead her to Franklin & Marshall, where she was able to play two seasons and started all 50 games of her career. She finished up undergraduate studies this spring and next year, she’ll be playing at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), where summer league teammate and CR North grad Sydney Blum played the past four seasons.

Mia, a first team all-state selection as a senior and third team selection in Class A at Jenkintown, committed to Dickinson and was a contributor from the beginning, starting 48 of 50 games the last two years. She heavily considered playing a fifth year but ultimately decided not to so there was a little extra meaning to this summer league for the sisters.

“We’ve been able to do our own thing and make relationships with our own teammates,” Mia said. “Growing individually was really important whether it was socially, our studies or even our friend groups. We had all the same friends growing up so being able to grow separately but also only being an hour apart was important to both of us.”

The twins’ summer league team was heavy on Centennial Conference players, Mia and Natalie each grabbing a couple of their respective college teammates to help fill out the roster.

It’s easy for them to turn off any rivalry between Dickinson and F&M because they just got back to being sisters at the final horn when they play, but they’ve been able to bridge the gap between programs in a way.

“I get to know her teammates and she gets to know mine,” Natalie said. “It actually makes it more fun, because then I’m playing against her friends and she’s playing against mine and we become friends with them as well.”

Jenkintown is one of the smallest districts in the state, but under Jim Romano, the Drakes have won a lot of games. The Kolbs, along with twins Ashley and Jen Kremp - Jen preceded Mia by a year at Dickinson and is playing on the summer league’s all-alumni team - and Amelia Mulvaney led the program to its zenith in 2018 by beating Juniata in overtime for the PIAA Class A title.

Mia and Natalie would lead the team back to the state semis a year later while helping start a run of five straight District I titles. They may have come from a small school, but both sisters were ready to contribute at the next level.

“Coach Romano gave us a winning mentality,” Mia said. “He always made sure we took defense as the biggest aspect of winning games, so I definitely took that to my college game.”

While Mia was usually one of the Drakes’ top scorers and a menace at the top of their press defense, Natalie willingly took a back seat to focus on defense, rebounding and other team aspects for a Drakes group that didn’t have a ton of size or depth. 

“We learned how to use each other’s strengths,” Natalie said. “We saw the importance of really getting to know your teammates and how to feed off them and use their strengths.”

Despite the twins playing on separate teams, their parents dutifully split attendance over the last two years and twice per season, got to be in the same place for those all-important Kolb-vs-Kolb battles. Mia gleefully noted she and Dickinson were undefeated against Natalie and F&M, going 4-0 in their tenure. 

Jen Kremp helped bring the twins into the league and now in their third year playing in the summer, Mia and Natalie have been on the same side each time. They’re hoping to keep that up next summer even if only one of them is going to be playing this upcoming college season.

“I’m going to be jealous of her going on to play a fifth year,” Mia said. “I’ll definitely be at a lot of games.”

~~~

Rachel Conran (Jr. | West Chester) & Alexa Abbonizio (Jr. | West Chester)

Rachel Conran and Alexa Abbonizio have known each other almost their entire lives.

Fittingly, a lot of that time has been spent together on the same team playing just about every sport imaginable. It also, indirectly, led them to the same place in college where two Springfield (Delco.) grads are keeping their partnership going as part of West Chester’s women’s basketball program.

They both earned their spot as Golden Rams, keeping a good thing going.

“I think it probably goes back before middle school,” Conran said after Thursday’s semifinals. “Even playing travel sports, it seemed like we were always on the same teams.”

Last year, both guards had a role as West Chester put together a fantastic season that ended in the NCAA Divsion II round of 16. Abbonizio played in 31 games, making three starts while Conran had 19 appearances and had the team’s highest three-point field goal percentage of players who had at least 20 attempts.

“Because we’ve been together for so long, we just have a great understanding of how each other plays,” Abbonizio said. “When she’s hot, I’m looking to go set screens and if I’m hot, she’s looking to set screens, we just have that chemistry together.”

In high school, the duo both played for Springfield Delco’s extremely successful program and graduated together in 2021. They didn’t quite figure on being teammates again, but it’s been a pretty nice bonus.

“It’s fun when you continue to get to play with a player you’ve been with since fourth or fifth grade,” Conran said. “When we’re out there, we’re looking for each other and we know how to read off each other.”

Conran and Abbonizio, who also spent time as AAU teammates with the Delco-based Comets, had to put themselves out there a bit to have an opportunity to play at West Chester. Abbonizio got herself noticed by the Golden Rams coaching staff, who were eventually sold on what they saw and offered the 5-foot-7 spot.

“I reached out to them, told them I was interested,” Abbonizio said. “The rest was history.”

For Conran, who had a breakout season in her senior year of high school, she had decided on West Chester for academics when she took a chance on herself.

“I’m a walk-on,” Conran said. “I was looking at D-III schools, couldn’t make up my mind where I wanted to go and I really liked West Chester’s campus and they had my major so I reached out to the coaches. They let me try out and took me as a walk-on.”

Abbonizio added they didn’t really talk much about their respective recruiting journeys just due to how different they were.

“It was never planned,” Abbonizio said.

“The dice just fell that way,” Conran added.

While the Cougars have been a powerhouse in District I in girls basketball, the school is equally well known for its lacrosse prowess. It’s pretty common to have a couple high-level lax recruits on the basketball roster every winter and usually among the team’s top players.

Conran did play lacrosse, but basketball was always her main sport while Abbonizio stuck to basketball. As seniors, they led the Cougars to a District I 5A title with Abbonizio making third team all-state using a reliable formula.

“What’s neat about Springfield is we have all those lacrosse players so our defense is usually pretty good,” Conran said. “We could get away with putting the ball in the basket because we had role players who were so aggressive and defensive-minded that it really helped us out.”

As they enter their junior season, the roster around them is again changing quite a bit. Last year, a number of transfers helped transform West Chester’s look and heading into the coming campaign, the Rams are bringing in a mix of transfers and freshmen that should bolster a team bringing back all five starters.

With a majority of the team spending at least some time on campus this summer, on top of their run through the summer league, Abbonizio said it’s had a positive impact. 

“If you have chemistry off the court, then there’s gotta be chemistry on the court,” Abbonizio said. “Us all getting closer throughout this summer, it’s going to help us.”

Both Springfield grads earned their spot at West Chester, but they’re the first to say that doesn’t give them any kind of edge when it comes to working harder than anyone else on the team.

“If you see our practices, you can’t go light,” Abbonizio said. “All our players are so competitive. Elbows are being thrown. It’s game-like, you really have to be on your p’s and q’s at our practices.”

They grew up about five minutes away from each other in Springfield. They played soccer, softball and more, always on the same team and all of it always led back to basketball. Even when they didn’t plan to be teammates one last time, that still found a way to happen.

At least they can get away from each other off the court if they need to. Can’t they?

“We’re roommates,” Conran said. “Of course we had to live together.”