City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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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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The Haverford High girls varsity basketball team wasn’t the only one piling up wins last winter.

While the top squad reeled off 27 straight victories during a 27-2 campaign in 2023-23, the Fords’ junior varsity roster refused to lose as well — tallying a 17-1 record.

A couple of the stars from last season’s Central League championship squad are gone for Haverford. Filling their place will be some talented upperclassmen ready to prove themselves at the varsity level for the first time.

“We had a little bit older JV team just because of our depth last year,” seventh-year coach Lauren Pellicane said. “Those kids are now stepping up. It’s like next man up, and they’re all going to have an opportunity. And there’s some good talent. We have some really good role players on this team, and they understand their strengths and what they bring to the table, and that’s why this team has an opportunity I think to still be special in their own way.”

Last year’s Haverford team was led by Caroline Dotsey, an all-state selection now at Maine. Forward Mollie Carpenter (Catholic) and guard Sky Newman were the other senior starters.

The rest of last year’s starting five will guide the Fords this season.

Senior 5-10 guard Aniya Eberhart was the team’s top reserve as a sophomore. She earned second team All-Central League honors in her first season as a starter during her junior campaign. Junior 6-2 wing Rian Dotsey, who recently received a Division I offer from Holy Cross, was another second team All-Central League selection who is back.

Eberhat has been prepared for the new role since open gym’s began in the spring.

“It’s a big step up,” Eberhart said. “I’m the captain of the team, so I have to make sure everybody stays in order, stays locked in, just making sure my team is doing good, everyone is playing their role. I have to play a big role stepping up this year, more shots, just everything falls on me a lot, making sure everything goes the right away.”

The Fords will have nine juniors and seniors with varying experience in the rotation — at least to start the season. Junior wing Natalie Wright will transfer into an expanded role after thriving as the team’s sixth person. Junior guard Mya Foley is a strong point guard who can shoot it.

Senior forward Ashley Wright will provide some size for the Fords with the dominant frontcourt duo of Dotsey and Carpenter gone. Junior guards Amaya Cash and Meg Kelly are two more guards looking to crack the rotation.

“I think that starts with Rian as a junior now and Aniya without a doubt,” Pellicane said. “I think both of them are very capable offensive players. They’re versatile. They can score in a number of ways, and we’re certainly going to look to both of them each given night. 

“But I also think that a couple of other players may surprise. It’s still super early in the season but as we improve and grow I think I won’t be surprised if another players steps up from time to time.”

Eberhart is excited to reunite with some of the teammates she grew up playing with and watch them get their first significant varsity time.

“It’s very cool,” Eberhart said. “I played with them since I was in middle school and even younger than that, continuing to play with them throughout all these years has been great and very fun.”

Haverford claimed the Central League title for the first time since 2012 last winter. The Fords reached the district title game for the first time in program history, falling to Perk Valley in the District 1-6A final for their first loss of the season. A fantastic winter ended with a second straight loss to Lebanon in the first round of the PIAA tournament.

Those two defeats have provided plenty of motivation to this year’s group, looking to capture a second straight league title and advance further into the postseason.

The Conestoga squad Haverford took down in three tight games last season, including the Central League championship, looks like the early favorite in the league. Garnet Valley may have the league’s top players in Haylie Adamski. The rest of the league is a bit of an unknown.

It would be a shock to see Haverford rack up 27 straight wins again to start its season. But it would be much less of a surprise to see the Fords in the mix at the top of the Central League and making a run to districts and states.

“I’ve been taking this role really seriously because I want to do good this year,” Eberhart said. “I want to win and go out with a very good season this year.”