City of Basketball Love

By CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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CoBL already ran its largest-ever boys’ preseason event this fall. 

Now it’s the girls’ turn. 

The third annual CoBL Girls’ Fall Classic is coming up this weekend at Spring-Ford High School, and once again its an event that continues to grow. After starting with just over 30 girls’ teams in 2022, we’re up to 54 teams from the tri-state area, including many of the top programs from around the area. 

Multiple state champions are participating in the weekend, which will have games running from 9 AM until 5:15 PM on Saturday and 6:10 PM on Sunday. Teams will play both of their games on the same day, with all games open to the public as well as streaming on BallerTV.

Some of the highlights include: 

• The reigning PAISAA state champions, Westtown School, feature Villanova commit Kennedy Henry, Harvard commit Olivia Jones, and star sophomores Jessie Moses and Jordyn Palmer, but Fran Burbidge’s group goes even deeper than that. The Moose have no fewer than seven or eight Division I recruits, and have a chance to play in the Chipotle Nationals (former GEICO Nationals) event come March. 

• Speaking of defending state champs, Archbishop Wood has won four straight PIAA state titles, and Mike McDonald’s group is loaded yet again. Senior Emily Knouse (St. Joe’s) leads the way, and the return of junior Colleen Besachio after a torn ACL and the addition of five-star sophomore Ryan Carter makes an already-deep squad even better. 

• The two-time District 1 6A champs, Perkiomen Valley’s led for one more season by its fantastic senior class: Grace Galbavy (Wake Forest), Quinn Boettinger (Navy), Lena Stein (West Chester), Bella Bacani (Jefferson), Grace Miley and Julia Smith are all back for one more go-around, and they’re the favorites to repeat once again and make a run at the state championship. 

• Audenried Charter has won the last two Public League championships behind the play of star guard Shayla Smith (Penn State), who enters her senior year 111 points shy of 2,000 for her career. And the Rockets are rejuvenated by the return of sophomore Nasiaah Russell from a knee injury that cost her most of her freshman season; the skilled 6-3 forward is a future Division I player in her own right. 

• Other top teams in the mix include Friends’ Central, led by its Division I trio of Logyn Greer, Kaiya Rain Tucker and Nal’la Bennett (Stony Brook); Archbishop Carroll, which features junior guard Alexis Eberz, who’s got a continuously-growing list of D-I offers, and sophomore Abigail McFillin; Notre Dame’s sophomore pair of Riley Davis and Grace Nasr are two to watch and have the Irish among the favorites in the Inter-Ac; Central League contender Conestoga features center Janie Preston (Army) and junior Ryann Jennings, a Division I recruit; Lansdale Catholic features James Madison commit Grace McDonough up front and D-I recruit Sanyiah Littlejohn at point guard; Gloucester Catholic (N.J.) junior Jahzara Green is a talented two-way wing with a list of D-I offers, and there’s so many more.

Admission for the CoBL Girls’ Fall Classic will be $15 for everybody 14 years and older; weekend passes are available for $20. College coaches can purchase roster packets for $35. Proceeds from this event go towards funding CoBL’s continued coverage of area high school and college basketball.

Media who are interested, please send us your name and outlet to cityofbasketballlove@gmail.com.

This whole event will be streamed on BallerTV; CLICK HERE to access the streaming link; purchasing the event stream grants you unlimited access to watch the event whenever you want, not just live.

The full list of participants:

Abington, Agnes Irwin, Archbishop Carroll, Archbishop Wood, Audenried Charter, Bensalem, Bethlehem Catholic, Bishop Eustace (N.J.), Bishop Shanahan, Bonner-Prendergast, Central Bucks South, Central Bucks West, Central Dauphin East, Cherry Hill West (N.J.), Coatesville, Conestoga, Conwell-Egan, Downingtown East, Downingtown West, Friends’ Central, George School, Germantown Academy, Gloucester Catholic (N.J.), Governor Mifflin, Great Valley, Gwynedd Mercy, Harriton, Hazleton Area, Hill School, Imhotep Charter, Lansdale Catholic, Lenape (N.J.), Methacton, Neshaminy, North Penn, Notre Dame, Our Lady of Mercy (N.J.), Parkland, Pennsbury, Perkiomen School, Perkiomen Valley, Phoenixville, Renaissance Academy, Sanford School (Del.), Shipley School, Scranton Prep, Souderton, Spring-Ford, Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland, West Catholic, Westtown School, Wildwood Catholic (N.J.), York Suburban

Here’s the current schedule for the weekend: 

Saturday, October 5
9:00 AM
Court 1: Abington vs. Parkland
Court 2: Pennsbury vs. Agnes Irwin
Court 3: Central Bucks West vs. Coatesville

9:55 AM
Court 1: Archbishop Carroll vs. Imhotep Charter
Court 2: Lansdale Catholic vs. Spring-Ford Blue
Court 3: Perkiomen School vs. Sanford School (Del.)

10:50 AM
Court 1: Central Bucks West vs. Agnes Irwin
Court 2: Parkland vs. Pennsbury
Court 3: Abington vs. Coatesville

11:45 AM
Court 1: Lansdale Catholic vs. Westtown School
Court 2: Archbishop Carroll vs. Perkiomen School
Court 3: Friends’ Central vs. Gloucester Catholic (N.J.)

12:40 PM
Court 1: Westtown School vs. Gloucester Catholic (N.J.)
Court 2: Sanford School (Del.) vs. Imhotep Charter
Court 3: Spring-Ford Blue vs. Delco All-Stars

1:35 PM
Court 1: Notre Dame vs. Wildwood Catholic (N.J.)
Court 2: Council Rock South vs. Friends’ Central
Court 3: Renaissance Academy vs. Central Bucks South

2:30 PM
Court 1: George School vs. Spring-Ford White
Court 2: Great Valley vs. Our Lady of Mercy (N.J.)
Court 3: Neshaminy vs. West Catholic

3:25 PM
Court 1: Neshaminy vs. Friends’ Central
Court 2: Notre Dame vs. Council Rock South
Court 3: Wildwood Catholic (N.J.) vs. Central Bucks South

4:20 PM
Court 1: Our Lady of Mercy (N.J.) vs. George School
Court 2: Great Valley vs. West Catholic
Court 3: Spring-Ford White vs. Renaissance Academy

Sunday, October 6
9:00 AM
Court 1: Hill School vs. Methacton
Court 2: Bonner-Prendergast vs. Gwynedd Mercy
Court 3: Phoenixville vs. Bensalem

9:55 AM
Court 1: Harriton vs. Central Dauphin East
Court 2: Upper Moreland vs. Governor Mifflin
Court 3: Hazleton Area vs. Downingtown West

10:50 AM
Court 1: Bonner-Prendergast vs. Bensalem
Court 2: Phoenixville vs. Hill School
Court 3: Methacton vs. Gwynedd Mercy

11:45 AM
Court 1: Hazleton Area vs. Upper Moreland
Court 2: Downingtown West vs. Central Dauphin East
Court 3: Governor Mifflin vs. Harriton

12:40 PM
Court 1: Archbishop Wood vs. Audenried Charter
Court 2: Bethlehem Catholic vs. Perkiomen Valley
Court 3: Downingtown East vs. Germantown Academy

1:35 PM
Court 1: Conestoga vs. Upper Dublin
Court 2: Shipley School vs. Archbishop Wood
Court 3: Cherry Hill West (N.J.) vs. York Suburban

2:30 PM
Court 1: Audenried Charter vs. Perkiomen Valley
Court 2: Archbishop Wood vs. Germantown Academy
Court 3: Bethlehem Catholic vs. Downingtown East

3:25 PM
Court 1: Cherry Hill West (N.J.) vs. Conestoga
Court 2: Upper Dublin vs. Shipley
Court 3: York Suburban vs. Archbishop Wood

4:20 PM
Court 1: Bishop Eustace (N.J.) vs. Bishop Shanahan
Court 2: Conwell-Egan vs. Souderton
Court 3: Germantown Friends vs. Lenape (N.J.)

5:15 PM
Court 1: Bishop Eustace (N.J.) vs. Conwell-Egan
Court 2: Germantown Friends vs. Souderton
Court 3: Bishop Shanahan vs. Lenape (N.J.)