City of Basketball Love

By Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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PHILADELPHIA — The MVP trophies were sometimes as tall as the players on Wednesday night at Imhotep Charter at the 2024 Girls’ All-City Classic, which featured three games that covered classes for 2025, 2026 and 2027. 

Here is a look at three major standouts among a collection of some of the best girls players in the area.

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More Coverage:
Standouts | Notebook (Pt. 1) | Notebook (Pt. 2)

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Jessie Moses (2027 | Westtown School)
She is simply the best. Anything she wanted to do, she did Wednesday night—and had a ton of fun doing it. The 5-foot-10 combo guard, who is being projected to be a point guard, she said, by college coaches, was easily named MVP for the winning squad in the 2027 game. 

She tried out for the USA Basketball Junior National Team in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from May 21-27 and returned home Sunday morning. At 15, she was among the youngest players there. She went out with her Westtown teammate, 6-2 sophomore center Jordyn Palmer, who made the team. Moses did not. But she gained great experience. There were four two-hour sessions stretched out over three days.

“I was never cut in my life, but I knew going into it what my chances were,” Moses said. “They were looking at bigs and I’m happy for Jordyn, who is a talented, special player. I did not take it personally. I needed to be more consistent. The learning experience meant everything to me. I played against Lanie Grant, who is a UNC commit, and a very good guard. I performed well. 

“I’ll be honest, it does sting a little bit not making the team, but overall, it will help me. I just need to be more consistent. Going out there has helped my competitiveness.” 

LSU coach Kim Mulkey recently offered Moses and Palmer during a FaceTime call with LSU commit Bella Hines. “Coach Mulkey offered us on the phone in the beginning of May, and it was really cool. It was special for me, because I never imagined I would get a call from someone like coach Mulkey,” Moses said. “She was really funny and told us we were great players. I could see myself one day in purple and yellow playing with Jordyn. But I feel I could see myself with any school one day playing with Jordyn. We are going to get even more offers. All the offers I have been getting have been great. Going to school with any of my Westtown teammates would be great.” 

Moses still stressed she has more work to do—a trait all great players have. She feels the national team tryout has made her more motivated to break through new thresholds. 

“I have to keep going and getting better, and not making the national team has inspired me to go harder. Now I am trying to make the national team,” she said. “I know what I need to do to be better. And they are still looking for a team, not just a collection of the great players. Skill wise, I need to play faster. I stayed with the best in the country, and I can smile about that. Being in that camp opened my eyes. I know what I need to do.” 

Moses said she would aim to make a college commitment after her AAU season the summer between her junior and senior years. The only problem Moses had Wednesday night was how she was going to fit the 5-foot-tall MVP trophy in her car, and where to put it in her house. “I have no idea where that is going to go,” Moses said, laughing.

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Amaya Stewart (2025 | Wyomissing)
She is very familiar to everyone in the Philadelphia area, especially Neumann-Goretti, which Stewart knocked out the previous two years in the PIAA Class 4A state playoffs.

At 6-foot-1, she is tough to stop inside, and she is coming off a season in which she led the Spartans to an undefeated 25-0 regular-season record and the District 3 Class 4A championship. She averaged 19.5 points a game her junior year, and she has received offers from Temple, Rider, and Maine, with considerable interest from additional schools, she said. 

She needs around 600 more points, something she is surely capable of reaching her senior year, to become Wyomissing’s all-time leading girls’ scorer. In the meantime, she is tuning up her considerable skills this summer in events like the All-City Classic. 

What is immediately appealing about Stewart that every college coach could see is her competitive drive. It was a summer all-star game, where very little defense is played, yet Stewart was defending, being an inside presence and blocking shots. She is very nimble for a big, with a high basketball IQ. That manifested itself in her off-ball defense, able to anticipate when opponents tried driving the baseline. 

On more than a few occasions, Stewart was there to either block the shot, or cause the player to give up the ball. Something else that was interesting is she likes being the Alpha on the court. She was directing her teammates where to be defensively and made them aware of when to switch. 

“I wanted to win, the fight comes from loving the game and when you are playing competitive girls that are on the same level as you are, you have to want to win more,” she said. “We wanted this game more. There is no fear playing defense, regardless of whether you face the best player or the worst player. That’s always been my attitude.”

She said the summer has gone well for her. She has concentrated on her shooting range, and she knows she will need to get stronger to face college bigs, so she has increased the intensity of her strength training. A big goal this summer is to lead her AAU team to the national championship in Kentucky, which is typical of how she plays. 

As a freshman at Wyomissing, the Spartans did not make the state playoffs. In her sophomore year, the Spartans reached the state quarterfinals, beating defending 4A state champion Neumann-Goretti to get there. Last season, Wyomissing made the state semifinals, losing to eventual state champion Blackhawk.

“You see a pattern here?” she said, laughing. “I want a state championship before I graduate. We have three starters back, me, Alexis Hardy and Kacey Maggs. This (senior) year is big for me. I will have to push a little more. I get great support from everyone at home, but it is a matter of how much more that I want it. My biggest thing is communication, and I did that here.” 

Stewart said she would like to make a college commitment sometime this summer, possibly sometime after July. She projects the leadership qualities any college coach would relish.

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Janie Preston (2025 | Conestoga)
She continues to blossom this spring. Paired with Wyomissing’s Amaya Stewart, Conesetoga's 6-foot-1 junior forward was a force inside during her All-City Classic Class of 2025 game Wednesday night.

Last Thursday, Preston just received her first college offers, which came from Albany, West Point and Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her goal this summer will be working on versatility, bringing her game out. She also has the benefit of timing. Another big who is having a good spring is Preston’s AAU Lady Runnin’ Rebels teammate, Lansdale Catholic star 6-2 junior senior Grace McDonough. 

McDonough’s inside presence has allowed Preston to stretch her game out. 

“In the gym, I always worked on my outside shot, and now I’m actually converting into my play in games this summer,” Preston said. “I have done more work being super aggressive on drives. I’m doing more one-dribble pullups working in the post. I feel I have to work that more into my game, where I am going from the outside in.”

Conestoga’s leading scorer, sophomore Ryann Jennings, returns, but the 2024 Conestoga team will look to Preston for senior leadership. She is very aware the last time Conestoga won a Central League championship was in 2008. 

“We are hoping to get done this year,” she said. “I’m excited about my senior year. I have started since my freshman year, and I have been vocal in the past. But it is something that I will continue to work on. I want to win a championship before I leave.” Playing against McDonough every day in AAU practice has been a huge help this spring. She has no one like McDonough to play against at Conestoga.

“Playing against Grace has improved my offense, it has improved my defense, I can’t just go up for a layup,” she said. “I have to show counter moves, and work on those, which is very helpful, because I know I will have to do the same thing in games. It is physical. Grace takes no breaks on anyone. It has helped me become even more physical. Grace has brought that side out of me a little. I think we have really helped each other get better.” 

Some of Preston’s increased aggressiveness around the basket surfaced Wednesday night. She finished with 10 points and six rebounds and was not afraid to attack the rim. Her footwork around the basket has taken another leap, and she showed great body control when she had the ball in her hands inside the lane.

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