City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
––

(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.)

~~~

Thirty-six years in, and Kathy McCartney hasn’t lost a step. 

The longtime Villa Maria coach is deep into her fourth decade guiding the Hurricanes’ hoops program, her only coaching job since she was hired as a 21-year-old La Salle University graduate. In that time she’s won a dozen league championships, most recently in 2022, and even more AACA titles, including the 2023 crown, snapping an 11-year drought.

And it doesn’t sound like she’s anywhere close to stopping.

“That question comes up all the time, and I say the first day that I’m not excited that it’s not basketball season, then I know I’m going to walk away,” she said. “I still get jacked up, like I get excited teaching defensive techniques. I still love it.”

Villa Maria head coach Kathy McCartney, right, prepares her substitutions during a game against Episcopal Academy last season. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

A Bishop Shanahan graduate, McCartney — whose players all call her ‘McCart’ — has been working at Villa her whole career, the former math teacher currently serving as the school’s director of advancement; she’s also been a guidance counselor, director of student activities, and more. She’s become an ingrained member of the community at the all-girls high school of a bit more than 400 students in Malvern, calling it a “home away from home.”

Coaching at a small school means McCartney doesn’t get to do much with her team in the offseason beyond a few shoot-arounds and weightlifting sessions. Most of her team plays field hockey in the fall, a few others scattered on soccer and volleyball squads, playing different sports in the spring. But now it’s her time of year. 

“The basketball season starting is like Christmas Day for us,” she said. “I’m high-fiving kids in the hallway on the 17th of November, like ‘woo-hoo, it’s basketball season!’”

No exaggeration, according to senior Carly Catania.

“Oh my gosh, she’s the most enthusiastic coach I’ve ever met,” Catania said. “She’s the best, I’m so glad I have her as my coach and (have) had her as my coach the last three years.”

McCartney has her work cut out for her this season, with six seniors — including the starting five and a key reserve — all graduated from a team that won 24 games a year ago, capturing the AACA title with a 10-0 league record and finishing as the District 1 5A runner-ups. Elaina Guerzon (Neumann), Marah McHugh (Gettysburg), Claire Cronley (Dickinson) and Ella Iacone (Catholic) are all playing college hoops, a testament to the talent and parity within that 2023 class. 

Catania, a four-year varsity player who started all sophomore year but mostly came off the bench as a junior due to injuries, will be a major piece this season, stepping into a much larger role on and off the court than ever before. She will continue her career at the University of New Hampshire after this season.

“I’m going to have to shoot a little bit more, I get tentative a little bit,” she said. “I’ll find my teammates, and I know I’ll have my teammates’ back and they’ll have mine, just a matter of playing with them and having fun.”

The 5-10 wing guard is one of several returners from last year’s varsity roster, including seniors Elizabeth Sharp and Emma O’Hare plus sophomore Sophia Tray. Alice Nash, a senior who was a top reserve a year ago, is no longer playing as the Syracuse-bound lacrosse standout is focusing on her main sport.

One of the main jobs Catania will have is not just helping her teammates on the court but getting the upperclassmen around her to find their voices, and quickly.

“At times, I will definitely let them be themselves,” she said. “But at other times I’m going to tell them to step up, they need to be big this year because we’re kind of a brand new team. Everybody needs to step up their role.”

With such a short preseason, Villa will enter this season with a number of question marks, the rotation far from determined. Junior point guard Abby Ferry was someone both McCartney and Catania singled out as due for a significant jump into the varsity lineup. Junior guard Sierra Dean and senior Mackenzie Liberatore, a Rhode Island lacrosse commit, as well as sophomore Briella Romeo were three others that McCartney mentioned could earn some valuable minutes for the Hurricanes.

“Right now, Carly is the only kid back with quality varsity minutes last year,” McCartney said. “That piece of the puzzle is ready to go and who I’m going to surround her with…it might change game-to-game.

“It’s a little bit exciting, we don’t know what the year’s going to bring,” she added. “It’s a little easier on the kids because the expectations aren’t quite as high. The beginning of the year we might have some growing pains, but because these kids work so hard, we could surprise some people by the end of the year.”