City of Basketball Love

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

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Alena Cofield tried out for the basketball team because she thought it would look good on her college application.

Four years later, she is the unquestioned leader of the Neshaminy girls basketball team. It’s not a position she takes lightly after having watched the best player in school history, Reese Zemitis (Bucknell), lead the way for the past three seasons. Not to mention Zemitis had partners in crime in the form of Lola Ibarrondo and Ava Irizarry. All three are playing collegiately currently.

“The workouts have been way different,” Cofield said. “It’s different not having their energy. Reese brought a lot of energy. It’s hard to pick up where she left off because she was so bubbly. I think we are doing a good job of getting it back. Before tryouts I hope we are pretty locked in.”

It will not be easy to replace Zemitis (Bucknell) on the court after setting the school record of 1,428 career points. When you add third-team all-state selection Ibarrondo (Holy Family) and Irizarry (Delaware Valley) a lot of scoring will be missing.

All eyes will be on Cofield this season.

“Last two years she has led us in rebounding. Her turnovers came down last year,” Neshaminy coach John Gallagher said of Cofield. “They have dropped even further so far in fall. Her ability has improved greatly. Her outside shot looks like it’s going in every time. Her knowledge of offense far exceeds anyone else on the team.” 

While experience might not be on its side, Neshaminy has plenty of depth to come at the entire SOL Patriot. Sophomore Grace Weyler will have the ball in her hands as the point guard and be joined by other sophomores Hayley Kolk, Ashlyn Duffy and Mia Ravitch. Senior Megan Gonzalez will provide some senior leadership.

“I would rather come in as an underdog than being amazing,” Cofield said. “It’s like how I came in. Nobody expected me to be a role player last year. I like being known as an underdog team. I think we will shock a lot of people. We are going to be better than a lot of people think.”

While Neshaminy admittedly lost a great deal of talent and leadership, the roles are already established after a busy fall where the entire team was committed. Duffy and Ravitch split time on the court last season at both the perimeter and post.

“I am hoping everyone learns their roles and figures out what we need to do for the team,” Duffy said. “Last year I was more setting screens or making the pass. I am still doing those things, some of those shots will be for me this year. We were more focused on a couple of core players. This year more players are involved and I am a part of it.”

Kolk was on her way to getting significant minutes last year before an injury cut her season short in a preseason scrimmage. She is being looked at by teammates as the defensive stopper this season.

“Our expectations each year are to win our division, advance to the SOL championship and advance to states,” Gallagher said. “We expect to be a much better team in late January due to having four sophomores. That is a big step up as a varsity player. Last year they played auxiliary roles. This year they need to step up and contribute on offense and defense.”

One thing Neshaminy has going for them is its commitment to excellence. Neshaminy played several tournaments against the likes of West Catholic, Friends Central, Emmaus and Perk Valley in the fall.

The Neshaminy players also began a strength training program over the summer that has continued in the fall with 100 percent commitment.

“I think people are using the excuse of how young we are,” Cofield said. “Another thing people don’t realize is a lot of teams lost their seniors. We are not as far behind as everyone thinks we are. I think the sophomores that are going to play a lot of minutes are young and people aren’t expecting a lot from us. In the summer I worked out with a bunch of them. I know what they can do.”

While Gallagher and Neshaminy will not downplay what the team has lost, his focus is getting them to improve one possession at a time. The goals are the same, just getting there will be different.

“We are using last year as motivation to keep winning, we all want to move forward and grow up and learn from our seniors and hope to become as good as them,” Duffy said. “We have already seen a lot of progress. I definitely see potential.”

The chemistry that the sophomore class has is a difficult one to measure. They have been playing together for years and while nothing beats experience a new chapter in Neshaminy basketball will begin on Tuesday, December 2 against CB South with four sophs starting.

“Coach is doing an amazing job,” Cofield said. “He’s preparing the girls for when we leave. I think we will be really good in the future. They got to watch three college players develop. They know the work. I hope I show them the work they need to put in. That’s not to say this season won’t be good. I hope we will shock a lot of people.”

Council Rock South has the most returning starters back in the SOL Patriot. Certainly, the Neshaminy girls aren’t counting themselves out with Pennsbury and Bensalem always dangerous.

“Everyone says how much we lost, everyone lost just as much,” Gallagher said. “I am hoping people take us lightly. Teams in our division won’t. Teams know what we have.”