City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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PHILADELPHIA — Aaliyah Solliday smothered the sounds of the sobs. The 5-foot-8 Spring-Ford senior guard was not about to let her parents hear her crying herself to sleep last fall. She had to keep up her steely veneer.

There were doubts, sure, but Solliday vowed to fight through them—and, eventually, conquer them.

She tore the ACL in her left knee last October and can still remember the date of her surgery, October 14, 2022. She carries an inch-long vertical scar and plays with a cumbersome tethered leg brace.   

And she carries a wealth of courage.

Her game is coming back in increments. A nice chunk returned on Sunday in the City of Basketball Love Girls Winter Classic at Jefferson University, when she dropped a season-best 18 points on Neumann-Goretti in the Rams’ very impressive 71-54 victory.

Solliday nailed four three-pointers when the game was still competitive and got the Rams out to a fast start. She does not have to look far to see where her journey began—down at her scarred left knee. The nadir, she said, came when she was sitting in the doctor’s office a year ago clutched by her mother after hearing the news her junior year would be lost.

“I feel like I’m a different person because of this, I learned I can’t fix anything, I just have to work harder to get back to where I want be,” she said. “Mentally, I’m stronger. Physically, I’m getting there. I would say I’m about 75- to 80-percent. But I’m definitely not where I would like to be. There’s no pain, though.

“I began trusting my knee the first time I stepped on the court four weeks after I could walk. It was difficult watching last year. I wanted to help in any way I could, telling my teammates what I was seeing. I think games like this (on Sunday) brings more confidence, trusting myself with the ball and not being nervous.”

Solliday admitted she had been overthinking when she shot the ball. Against Neumann-Goretti, a highly athletic team with two talented junior guards in Amya Scott and Carryn Easley, Solliday could not miss.

She joked that she threw her conscience out the window and let it fly. She scored eight of the Rams’ first 15 points. She exceeded her season-best by halftime, with 15 before settling on 18 in the Rams’ explosive 29-point third quarter that opened a close game.

Solliday’s odyssey initially began playing in an AAU tournament in October 2022. Something did not feel right. It was cause enough for her to send Spring-Ford coach Mickey McDaniel a text telling him she thought she hurt her knee “a little bit, but I’m okay.”

To test it, she ran up and down the hotel hallway the next morning, feeling fine. Later that day, she played and made a sudden stop on the court, tearing the ACL.

“Aaliyah has a passion for the game.” McDaniel said. “She puts in so much effort and when you love the game the way she does, that turns into quality time to get back. She loves the preparation of the game. She’s tough.

“She went through an aggressive rehab. She watched last year and she is not one to accept that. It’s why her work ethic has been unparalleled through this entire process. Her game keeps coming around. You love being around kids like her who work on being the best.”

McDaniel has been to three PIAA state championships, winning the first PIAA state title in Spring-Ford history when he guided the 2013 Rams to a school-record 32-2 finish beating Cumberland Valley for the Class 4A state title. Since then, the Rams have been back to the state finals twice, losing to Cumberland Valley in 2014 and to North Allegheny in 2021.

This team has the makeup to play into March, and with Solliday emerging with Wright State-bound Anna Azzara and St. Bonaventure-bound Mac Pettinelli, the nucleus is there.

Against Neumann-Goretti, Azzara led all scorers with 22, with 12 coming from senior Katie Tiffan. Neumann-Goretti countered with Scott and Easley each scoring 13, while freshman Reginna Baker finished with 12, and Kamora Berry had 11.

The Rams trailed once, 2-0, and after Solliday nailed the first of her four three-pointers, they never trailed again.

With slightly over five minutes left in the second quarter, Spring-Ford had opened a 29-14 lead, but the Saints chiseled that down to 31-29 with :33 left in the half. The Rams then exploded for a 29-point third quarter to take command of the game, shooting 11 of 15 from the floor, hitting five three-pointers.

“I look back and remember there were a couple of nights I did cry myself to sleep. The rock bottom was realizing it was all coming to real life and that I couldn’t play,” Solliday said. “The worst was hearing from the doctor. I was balling my eyes out. It’s not something you want to hear. I got up. It was a struggle. The scar on my knee will fade.”

It seems like it already has.

By Quarter

Spring-Ford (4-1):  23  | 11  |  29  |  8 ||  71

Neumann-Goretti (3-1):  14  | 15  |  5  | 20 ||  54

Scoring

Spring-Ford: Anna Azzara 22, Aaliyah Solliday 18, Katie Tiffan 12, Mac Pettinelli 7, Siena Miller 5, Christine Tiffan 4, Kareena Preuss 3.

Neumann-Goretti: Amya Scott 13, Carryn Easley 13, Reginna Baker 12, Kamora Berry 11, Tori Richardson 3, Ikera Ellison 2.

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.