City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
__

(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2023-24 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

~~~

Amya “Mousey” Scott tuned the world out. 

Last March, the quicksilver Neumann-Goretti guard placed her headphones on, melted into the back seat of the car and cried the entire 90-minute ride home from a PIAA Class 4A second-round state playoff loss at Coatesville. The only thing Scott, a 5-5 junior guard, and her buddy, fellow 5-5 junior guard Carryn “Clutch” Easley, had known was winning as integral parts of the Saints’ 2022 Class 3A state championship team.  

Last spring, they greeted a new feeling, something visceral that neither of the gifted duo ever experienced before. It was so biting that they each made an early vow that it is a reaction that they do not want to relive.

Scott and Easley have been pals since the fourth grade. They share that unspoken code of eye contact on the court, and the uncanny sense of where the other is without looking. They are also the fastest, interchangeable backcourt combination in the Catholic League and arguably the best for what will again be a tiny Saints team that should contend for the trifecta of Catholic League, PIAA District 12 (city championship) and PIAA Class 4A state titles.

Saints’ coach Andrea Peterson, one of the best — and one of the area’s most underrated — returns for her 10th season. The Saints finished 12-14 last year and 5-5 in the Catholic League, but this was a case where their record did not exactly define them. As Wyomissing head coach Aaron Anders said after his team knocked out the Saints, 40-33, in last season’s state playoffs, “That’s the best 12-14 team I’ve ever seen.”

Peterson, the 2015 Naismith National Coach of the Year who has won five state titles in her previous nine years (one at Class 2A and four at Class 3A), knows the firepower she has in her young team, which also returns 5-7 sophomore guards Kamora Berry and Zion Coston.

“I like how energetic this team is,” she said. “We have a lot back, and they also remember the moment when they lost that state playoff game. I remember the moment looking at my players’ faces in the locker room after the game. They remember. We are going to be small again, but I like to say heart over height, and we have great leaders in Amya and Carryn. They carry that memory of what it was like to walk off the court crying. They do not want to go through that again.

“We are going to play fast and I have a team that is eager to get back to the state finals. The key will be scoring more and controlling the pace of the game. Our tallest player is 5-8. I hear it all the time, ‘How can our little guards cover someone who is 6-1?’ The advantage we have is how is someone 6-foot-1 going to cover our super fast, super athletic guards? They are all fast. They can all shoot. And they can all handle the ball. I feel I have the best backcourt in the country. I’m not taking that back. I have no problem saying that. They can do it all. I would take them over anyone.”

This will be Scott and Easley’s team these next two years. They have matured physically through off-season weight training, and they have a secret weapon joining them who will not be a secret for long in 5-8 freshman guard Reginna Baker, a very good athlete who is a lefty that can shoot with both hands and already has an offer from Delaware. Baker will be joined by 5-8 junior forward Ikera Ellison, 5-6 sophomore guard Gianna Meeks and 5-7 freshman guard Tori Richardson.

“I was afraid last year, but I’ve grown up a lot and I had to get comfortable playing at the varsity level,” admitted Berry, who grew two inches since last year and hit some big shots as a freshman, including scoring a team-high nine points in the state playoff loss. “I learned last year I could do more than I did. I am more confident. I also will be playing a new role, guarding some of the bigger girls and doing what I can defensively. I was definitely crying after that state playoff loss. I felt bad for the seniors. I felt bad for my two guards, Carryn and Amya. We’re going to win it this year.”

As freshmen, Scott and Easley deferred to senior star Mihjae Hayes, now at Virginia State. As sophomores they were getting adjusted to being leaders. The pair realize this is the year that they have to speak up. Peterson openly tells them she is giving them the keys to the team. It will be up to them to run it.

“Losing that playoff game was the worst feeling I ever had playing basketball, it was like a funeral,” Easley said. “I was hurt. I just want to win. That feeling has made us work harder. We can be the best team in the Catholic League. We have a good group that can be the fastest team in the Catholic League that can go a long way. I feel more confident, and I feel stronger and faster. I am ready to speak up. I gained a lot of confidence in that area. And we have someone no one knows about: Reginna can do everything. No one will expect that from a freshman. The pressure is on me as a leader and I am ready for it.”

There is also something else that motivates the Neumann-Goretti team, an innate chip on their collective shoulders, because “We are underestimated. No one likes us because we are a small, aggressive team,” Scott said. “I believe in this team. We like to get the ball out fast. I remember losing that state playoff game. I remember being in the car crying on the drive home. It has made me real motivated to put in extra work, shooting, lifting, and working with Clutch (Easley). In March, I see us being back in Hershey for the state championship.”

Possibly shedding tears of a different kind.

~~~

Joseph Santoliquito is a hall of fame, award-winning sportswriter based in the Philadelphia area who began writing for CoBL in 2021 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on Twitter here.