City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
— 

(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.)

~~~

Audenried knows what it wants to be this season.

The Rockets got an up close look last year when Lansdale Catholic tore them apart in the District 12 championship.

LC hoisted league, district and state titles at the end of last season. Audenried thinks it can do the same in 2023-24.

“Last year, we definitely accomplished a lot winning a championship, but we only won one state game, so this year we’re trying to win the whole thing,” junior guard Shayla Smith said. “Trying to get to Hershey and win states.”

Audenried went 22-7 in 2022-23 and made program history with its first Philadelphia Public League championship, dethroning league power Imhotep. The Rockets lost to LC, 85-55, in the District 12-4A title game. They knocked off Berks Catholic in the first round of states for the first PIAA win in program history then fell to Trinity in the second round.

Current St. Joe’s freshman Gabby Casey was last season’s PIAA Class 4A Player of the Year (and PA Gatorade Player of the Year) as she led Lansdale Catholic to state gold. Audenried coach Kevin Slaughter thinks Smith, who holds multiple high-major offers, can do the same for his program this season.

“We want to replace Lansdale Catholic,” Slaughter said. “What Lansdale Catholic did last year, that’s what we want to do. We want to win our district, our public schools, and we want to win the state. I believe Shayla is just as a good as Gabby was last year.”

Smith, a 5-10 guard, was the 2022-23 Public League MVP, averaging 24.8 ppg, 3.0 apg, 15.6 rpg and 4.6 spg. Senior 5-8 forward Aniyah Howard was her partner in crime, averaging 13.9 ppg and 13.4 apg and playing much bigger than her height. Senior 5-3 guard Sakina Nelson and sophomore 5-8 guard Aniyah Cheesboro are the other key returners.

“We’re staying focused and keeping our team pushing and making sure that we got good chemistry on the court together,” Howard said. “Passing the ball, moving the ball, different stuff and not letting them down because at the end of the day now, I’m a captain. I gotta step up and help my team get another Public League championship and try to get states too.”

Smith and Howard have some incoming help this season. 

Junior 5-6 guard Senaya Parker and sophomore 5-9 guard Heaven Reese bring impressive resumes with them. Parker was a first team All-PPL selection alongside Howard and Smith as she averaged 43.1 ppg. Reese averaged 20.1 ppg as a freshman at Prep Charter. They won’t put up the same gaudy stats this season, but they add two more capable ball handlers and proven scorers.

Freshman forward Nasiaah Russell also brings a new dynamic to the Rockets. The young 6-2 center already has the ability to give Audenried a presence on both offense and defense it didn’t have last season.

“I just told somebody the other day, my team last year, they were more cohesive. They knew each other,” Slaughter said. “But talent wise, it’s not even close.”

“At any point at time any one of us could take over the game,” Smith said.

Of course the hope is the group can build some of that cohesiveness as well.

“We’ve got a lot of talent on the team and a lot of help now,” Howard said. “... It’s just working together, building a good bond on the court together and being able to talk to each other. Like even when we make bad plays, ‘OK, I got you. Come on, get back.’ Just encouraging each other on the court and being good teammates together.”

The Rockets will be the favorites in the Public League this season. Imhotep likely presents the biggest challenge and the two seem destined to meet up at Temple in the championship game once again.

It’s still to be determined how realistic their lofty goals outside the league are.

There’s no Casey at LC this season, but the Crusaders are still plenty talented in District 12’s Class 4A division. Neumann-Goretti is no joke either.

A stretch of regular-season games against Friends’ Central, Penn Charter, Cardinal O’Hara, Archbishop Carroll and Germantown Academy in late December and early January will provide a glimpse into what the team’s ceiling might be.

“We got some hard games,” Slaughter said. “I told them, if you guys are really serious about winning a state championship, you gotta lock in.”

It took Slaughter nearly a decade to see his program reach the top of the Public League and just as long to see his team advance out of the first round of states. 

The Rockets have improved in each of Smith’s seasons on campus, so it’s easy to see why there is so much optimism within the program this season. Whether they can achieve their lofty goals or not, Slaughter is excited about the direction his program is headed.

“It’s like you’re seeing it grow right in front of you,” Slaughter said. “You’re seeing the answers happen right in front of you. That’s the great thing about it. It’s like, Wow. … We got an opportunity. We really do. Just sit back and hopefully we’re in store for a good ride.”