City of Basketball Love

By Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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(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.)

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It was such an absurd notion, Ellen Bair had to laugh.

In her first year coaching Shipley’s girls’ basketball team, Bair had one of the youngest teams in the area. Somehow, despite bringing almost everybody back a year older, the Shipley Gators only got younger going into the coming season.

No, the Gators didn’t do what Ponce de Leon couldn’t and find the fabled Fountain of Youth, but they do have a deep and still very young roster brimming with potential.

“It’s exciting, we’re not only building for two days from now or two weeks from now but also two years from now,” Bair said. “Having that long game in mind also is really important for this team. We only have one senior this year but it’s my second year, so I hope we also have more understanding of what we’re trying to do.”

Bair, a graduate of Gettysburg Area High School, came to Shipley after a short but successful run coaching at Linden Hall where she guided the team to three straight District 3 titles in Class 2A. Making the move to Shipley brought quite a few changes, from a shot clock and faster pace, a roster with a bit less size and mainly the fact she could put her skilled middle schoolers into games.

The 2022-23 Gators had an identity. They ran the floor, they played fast and they got up plenty of 3-point attempts. That’s not going to change this year and the 23-24 Gators are quite alright with it.

“It’s so different from even AAU,” guard Ani Prosper said. “I’ve never played with a coach that wanted to shoot as many threes. I think I’d get yelled at for shooting our kind of threes if it were any other team.”

Proper is one of four juniors on the roster, which qualifies them as very experienced when it comes to this group. Anna Pascale, Hailey Murray and Mallory Farr round out the quartet of juniors. Evyn Stone is the sole senior this year.

Having a wealth of options only works if those options are compatible together. There’s still some growing to do in that aspect, but the juniors know they can fit with the sophomores, freshmen and middle schoolers on the roster.

“We have a lot of good players that can also play together,” Farr said. “Over time, we’re going to really be able to merge together and play as one. I think at times right now, we’re still not playing together as we should, but I know we’re going to get there.”

Bair is the first to acknowledge the Friends School League is an uphill climb at this point for her team. Aside from Westtown, the Moose in a bit of a league of their own, Friends’ Central has a strong roster and the George School also finished ahead of Shipley in last year’s standings.

The Gators, 15-8 overall last year with a 6-4 FSL showing, aren’t ducking the competition. They’re in several showcase and premier events this season and will match up with some quality opposition outside of the league. It’s a challenging schedule and sophomore Rikai Williford knows navigating it will be a collective effort.

“It’s trusting our teammates and trusting each other,” Williford said. “If we have an off game or a bad day during school, we’re there to pick each other up.”

Williford is one of the team’s three sophomores expected to play a major role. At 5-foot-10, she’s one of the team’s taller players and is counted on to be a top rebounder but she’s just as good getting up and down the floor as anyone else on the roster.

Guards Sanai Johnson, an honorable mention All-FSL selection last year, and Taylor Lasky are the other pieces to the sophomore trio. Johnson is a blur in the open court, her style fitting right into Bair’s approach of layups and threes whether it be her scoring or finding someone else for a shot.

“Every day at practice, we go at it in our open runs, we love the five-on-five,” Johnson said. “All the young ones, they don’t have the mindset that they are that much younger than us, they just come in and play ball.”

Lasky, who plays as a bit of a combo guard that can do a lot of things, said the Gators will be at their best when they have depth in their scoring. The sophomore figured a given game could see six or seven players around eight to 10 points

“What excites us is that we have such a young team and we’re able to run a lot,” Lasky said. “Even though a lot of us are underclassmen, we’ve been playing for three years. The chemistry of it, it’s just fun.”

Eighth graders Halle Newsome and Cidney Stanfield got good run during the fall, Newsome showing plenty of confidence knocking down shots when the ball comes her way while Stanfield is just starting to tap into her talents. The Gators also see plenty of good things coming for Melody Vaughn, a 2029 wing who already has a well-rounded game and didn’t look out of place at all playing in a couple fall events against varsity upperclassmen.

“We have a really deep bench,” Murray said. “There’s a lot of depth within the players we have. Everyone has a different style of playing, the youth on our team, all those young players are going to be amazing.”

Farr added that something she thinks sets the Gators apart is that they don’t rely on just one or two people. If a certain player is having an off game, or a defense reacts to someone else having a hot stretch, the next person can come along and fill in.

It’s a competitive group too, the idea being if they go at each other in their gym, then it’s easier to take it to a team in a different uniform during the season.

“Practice, sometimes it can get chippy but at the end of the day, we’re still all friends and we love each other,” Pascale said. “We push each other a lot, it makes it more fun.”

Bair is excited about her team’s prospects for the next few years, when the Gators shift to an upperclassmen-led team but she’s not looking past this year either. Shipley may be young, but the pieces are there to keep it interesting as they start to grow together.

“I think we’re fun to watch,” Bair said. “That type of run and gun atmosphere is always fun and I really like that whoever I throw out there, they have the confidence to bang a three from anywhere. We play a very different style, but it’s one I love to watch and one I love to coach.”