City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
—

(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 2024-25 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

~~~

Every preseason is a good time for Liz Potash. The 12th-year Central Bucks East head coach genuinely enjoys the run-up to each season: “Every year is something to look forward to, because every team is made up a little bit different,” she said. 

This year just happens to pack a little extra punch. The Patriots return four of their top six from a group that made the state tournament, including a few guards coming off breakout summers that have their confidence riding high entering the 2024-25 season. 

(L to R) Haley Moran, Jess Lockwood and Natalie Berndt will all be major contributors for East this year. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

“We’re returning a lot of pieces,” she said, “so we’ve got some high expectations. There’s a lot there, there’s a lot to be excited about.”

Three starters come back from last year’s Patriots, who won 20 games and advanced to the PIAA 6A playoffs before falling to Dallastown in the first round. They lose leading scorer Anna Barry as well as defensive specialist Chantal van Dongeren to graduation, so roles will change. 

The returning varsity contributors are ready. All four bring something a little different to the table. 

Jess Lockwood, a 5-foot-10 combo guard, spent the summer playing with the Comets’ top 16U squad after the team had multiple girls suffer injuries. That misfortune turned into a significant growth opportunity for Lockwood, who got a chance to test herself all summer long against the rest of the Under Armour Association 16U circuit and some top prospects from around the country.

“We had a lot of competition, and all the tournaments were super-fun,” she said. “I learned that on-ball defense is a really important thing, and I need to be a lot stronger in the paint, which I’m getting better at  [...] and honestly just passing and moving the ball is going to get us the open shots that we need.”

Natalie Berndt, a 5-9 wing, played with United AAU on the Select Hoops circuit, where her abilities as a stopper and sniper were apparent. Berndt, whose brother Kyle was a key part of East’s program before his graduation in 2023, will be a second-year starter on the wing.

Sydney Ralph is the only returning starter in the senior class, a 5-foot-8 senior wing with good length and shooting ability who played for Heat Hoops this past summer. Ralph isn’t planning on playing college basketball, so this will be her last year of competitive hoops.

“I feel like it’s going to make me personally work so much harder and to cherish everything I can,” she said. “It definitely gives me more motivation to just empty the tank and give everything I can for this last year.”

Though Ralph might be the only senior in the starting lineup, she said the fact that her, Berndt and Lockwood are all in their second year as starters and third year as varsity players, they’re all in similar places in their experience levels.

“I feel like especially because Natalie started freshman year and Jess got a bunch of minutes freshman year,” she said, “this year it feels like we’re on the same page leadership-wise.”

Moving up into the starting lineup will be 5-6 sophomore Haley Moran, a talented and speedy ball-handler and scorer who will immediately be one of East’s offensive focal points. Moran’s on-ball abilities will help create shots for the rest of the Patriots offense, and she’s an increasingly strong outside shooter as well. 

“She’s got a super-quick step, and she’s done a nice job in the offseason of recognizing when she’s drawing defenders, where to kick out to the open players, which is huge,” Potash said. “She can certainly generate a lot of offense. And I think with her, the defensive side gets overlooked a little bit, she’s an unbelievable defender she will just put pressure, pressure.”

After the top four, senior Savannah Hayes, junior Emma Penecale and sophomore Delaney Long will all be involved in the rotation, though Potash said she’s still figuring out the rest of her rotation. 

She’ll certainly have it locked in by the time’s first home game — thanks to a quirk in the Suburban One League schedule along with tournaments at Germantown Academy and the Boardwalk Classic, East won’t play its first home game until January 3 against CB West. Six of the last eight are at home.

The first goal for East is to go after a Suburban One Continental title. The Patriots finished in second last year with an 11-5 record, four games back of Caleigh Sperling (Jefferson) and North Penn and two ahead of Central Bucks South. 

After that, return trips to the District 1 6A and PIAA tournaments are a minimum. Sticking around for a little bit longer is the plan. 

“The goal was last year to get there,” Potash said. “But now that they’ve been there, we don’t want to just get there anymore.”