City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
& Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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KUTZTOWN, Pa. — The Kutztown University women's basketball program featured four dozen girls’ high school teams from the eastern half of Pennsylvania — and a few from New Jersey and Delaware — playing three games apiece on Sunday. CoBL was in attendance for most of the day, taking in a number of the local teams in action, including a few we hadn't seen in a long time.

Here's a list of the standouts from the action we saw:

Kendall Chiavelli (2027 | Downingtown East)
The 5-foot-8 point guard carved up West Catholic’s pressure defense with her tight handle in a Cougars win Saturday — crossovers, behind the back, through the legs she showed a lot of confidence in her ball handling for a young player in a tight spot. After breaking the pressure, Chiavelli continued to use her handle to get into the lane and also made some terrific cuts through the paint and stepped outside to showcase her range. 

Emilia Coleman (2026 | Gwynedd Mercy)
Coleman’s made strides tapping into her 5-foot-11  frame this offseason, allowing her skills to really shine. She controlled the ball both in the half and full court at times against Mastery North, using an array of dribble moves to shake the defense. The shot was dialed in and she helped her scoring output by cleaning up inside a few times. She was happy to keep her teammates involved as well, catching the ball high on cuts and making quick passes to the corner/wing for open looks.

Milan Harvey (2028 | Agnes Irwin)
The small guard is the younger sister of Simone Harvey, who was an All-Inter-Ac selection as an eighth grader last year — trying to make waves the same herself as an eighth grader this year.. In a low scoring win over Reading, Harvey’s 10 points led the way to an AIS win. Harvey carries herself with plenty of swagger and has some shake and bake to her game with the ball in her hands. She has really good strength for her player her size, able to push the ball up for outlet passes and zip the ball to the corners on drives. Defensively, she racked up three steals, frustrating opponents with her quick hands and in-your-face defense.

Chloe Hunold (2026 | Downingtown East)
In a scrappy, defensively-oriented game against Conestoga, Hunold’s willingness to battle her way to the basket was evident. The sophomore drove into the lane to draw two trips to the foul line in the first half, then kept attacking in the second half, converting an and-one and getting another tough layup to drop in an eventual loss to the Pioneers. She was also tough against West Catholic, helping handle the Burrs’ pressure and scoring a few key buckets as well.

Elle Johnson (2025 | Unionville)
The athletic lefty looked like a player ready to elevate Unionville into a Ches-Mont contender, finishing with 19 points on Sunday in a win against Ryan. A 5-9 guard/wing, Johnson can really get up-and-down the floor and push the pace when needed.  She jumps into passing lanes and has some length and lateral quickness to both bother players on the perimeter defensively. On the offensive end she scored on everything from drives to the hoop floater/ push shots in the lane and on the base line and shots from the midrange and beyond the arc.

Brooke McFadden (2024 | Conwell-Egan)
McFadden — who, in the opinion of one CoBL staffer, has impeccable shoe taste in wearing a pair of blue and white Jordan 13s to hoop in — was dialed in for the Eagles’ win over Watchung Hills and loss against North Penn. The 5-foot-9 guard, who got plenty of good looks off passes from her twin sister Bri, had double-digit scoring in both games, has a quick-release three but is also solid around the rim as a slasher, driver or getting stick-backs. McFadden was also active on defense and the glass, notably in the comeback bid against North Penn.

Janie Preston (2025 | Conestoga)
The Pioneers kept going to the 6-foot-1 forward and for good reason. Preston’s low post game was sharp throughout Sunday’s three games with the junior converting on some turnarounds, spin moves and up-and-unders once she got the ball. While her overall offensive game has grown, Preston and her teammates did a nice job recognizing where the advantageous matchups were and kept working them to good success.

Reynah Rattliff (2025 | Archbishop Ryan)
Rattliff was all over in the Ragdolls’ win over CB West, turning a robust second half to help put down the Bucks. The junior guard tallied 13 points, three rebounds, four assists and four steals while using her speed to put pressure on the defense. Ratliff had nine points and three assists in the second half against West, also earning three trips to the foul line. The Ragdolls had a tough go of it against Unionville in their second game but Rattliff poured in 20 of her team’s 24 points, getting the hoop and finishing tough shots through contact in traffic often and also stepping outside for a three.

Ciani Scott (2026 | West Catholic)
The 6-foot power forward was relentless on the glass in a tight loss to Downingtown East using her athleticism and physicality to make her presence felt throughout. Scott did some damage scoring in the paint as she’s difficult to stop once she gets the ball close to the hoop but it was some of the other parts of her offensive game that were eye-catching. She made some terrific reads passing to shooters out on the post and had a dime to a cutter down the lane. Coach Messiah Reames praised her work ethic this offseason and it seems to have paid off.

Caleigh Sperling (2024 | North Penn)
The Jefferson recruit was all-around terrific as the Knights held off Conwell-Egan on the big court Sunday, scoring 20 points. It wasn’t just the volume of points either in NP’s eventual 47-37 win, it was when Sperling got them. In the first half, she sliced her way to several layups and even mixed in a nice dish to younger sister Jadyn, then came out firing in the second half to extend a Knights’ lead. Sperling also helped seal the win, knocking down 3-of-4 at the foul line and coming up with a steal that helped counter Conwell-Egan’s pressuring defense.

Melody Vaughn (2029 | Shipley School)
No that’s not a typo, Vaughn is a seventh grader getting ready to play up at the varsity level this season. A 5-foot-9 guard/wing with the length of a forward, she was a key contributor in a win over West Catholic on Saturday. Vaughn drilled a pair of key second-half threes, including one from well beyond the arc. She was aggressive driving to the rim and looked really good getting there but will just need to be a little stronger finishing through contact against older players. Defensively her potential shined as well as she blocked multiple shots in the paint.

Honorable Mentions

Mayah Alford (2024 | Trenton Catholic), Milana Amoss (2024 | Unionville), Leilany Ayala (2024 | Mastery North), Ky’janae Cooper (2024 | Mastery North), Logyn Greer (2025 | Friends Central), Grace Hodges (2026 | Downingtown East), Sanai Johnson (2026 | Shipley), Grace McDonough (2025 | Lansdale Catholic), Ryann Jennings (2026 | Conestoga), Cara Lapp (2025 | Gwynedd Mercy), Sanyiah Littlejohn (2025 | Lansdale Catholic), Brianna McFadden (2024 | Conwell-Egan), Lily Milewski (2025 | Conwell-Egan), Ava Renninger (2024 | Archbishop Wood), Gabi Senior (2024 | CB West), Saniyah Spell (2024 | Trenton Catholic), Reese Zemitis (2024 | Neshaminy)