City of Basketball Love

Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)

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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 [cityofbasketballlove.com].)

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Greta Neff has been through this before. She is entering her 11th season as head coach of West Chester Henderson and through time has become quite versed about transition from one year to the next.

The Warriors did some special things last year. They were considered a team on the periphery of the Ches-Mont League National Division, yet rose to share the regular-season National title with West Chester East and won the Ches-Mont League championship for the first time since 2018.

Henderson finished its season with a 23-8 overall record and 9-3 in the Ches-Mont National. The Warriors won their opening-round PIAA District 1 Class 6A tournament game, before getting knocked out of the district playoffs by Garnet Valley (60-31), then earned a state playoff berth in the playback round. There, Henderson’s season ended abruptly against eventual state quarterfinalist Archbishop Carroll (58-37) in the first round.

Now, Neff is working toward another successful season. She stresses that there will not be any defined expectations this year. All she expects is for her team to give their maximum effort each time on the court, play smart and encourage their teammates. Wherever that lands the Warriors is fine. No pressure. No anxiety.

Neff is grading effort. She has a track record to back it up. It has been good math, since strong determination has resulted in victories—and league titles.

Henderson will start its league title defense with the returning backcourt of 5-foot-5 senior guard Ari Rivera, a two-year starter, and three-year starting 5-5 senior guard Lilli Bertrando.

Joining them will be 5-4 junior guard Bailey Schalleur, 5-6 junior guard Mary Cate Killoran, and 5-5 sophomore guard Grace O’Loughlin. Freshman Brooke Forcine, a 5-7 guard, Susan Agbokah, a 6-foot senior center, and Milly Roeber, a 5-10 freshman forward, will be big contributors.

Henderson has won two Ches-Mont League championships, 2018 and 2024. No one is predicting a third. Although not much was expected from last year’s team, either. The 2024 Warriors took some time to come together, but once they did, the Warriors were tough to stop. This year’s version of the Warriors will need to replace two major losses to graduation in Whitney Evans and Jackie Shea, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.

This team will be small and inexperienced. It poses a matchup problem for Henderson, though it will also be a matchup problem for teams facing the Warriors, having to deal with their speed and quickness.

Neff feels her team’s aggressiveness on both ends of the court will be a positive. It also helps in having Rivera and Bertrando back. The duo, along with Evans, caused trouble for opposing teams.

Rivera and Bertrando will be the foundational pieces to this team.

“I feel really good about a lot of things with this team, but what I feel really certain about is that I’m going to get a great effort from these girls every time they step unto the court,” Neff said. “They are great listeners. They are students of the game. Every time we step on the court, you are going to see kids who like each other, and play for each other. That is something that is special. They are great teammates and they are great athletes. Three of our girls are going Division I.”

Bertrando is headed to St. Bonaventure, Schalleur to Navy and Killoran is headed to Florida State—all for lacrosse.

Though they may not be Division I basketball players, one certainty Neff points out, they are still D-I athletes with singular athletic abilities that cannot be taught.

If there is a glaring concern, it is height—or lack of height in the Warriors’ case.

“Height is something that you can’t teach, but this is a guard’s game now a day, so we’ll see,” Neff said. “We have athleticism on our side, which I’m excited about. I want to see growth on this team. I want to see them face the uphill battle and show the characteristics we have had here in the past.”

Rivera knows what it was like being on the court in last year’s pressure zones. She knows what it takes to win a league title and play in the crucible of the district and state playoffs.

She is looking to take on a greater leadership role this season and dispense some of her wisdom on her younger teammates.

“I’m going to stress working hard and putting an effort in,” she said. “I think what helps us is everyone likes each other, and letting everyone know to keep playing your role, even if you are not scoring as much, or shooting as much. On and off the court, we need to support each other. It will be a change for me this year in new roles (like rebounding and interior defense). I’m ready for that.”

Rivera and Bertrando feel they are being underestimated by other Ches-Mont teams and they like that.

Bertrando will also be dealing with something she experienced late last season, when she suffered a debilitating injury that she has been rehabbing.

“Some days I feel 100-percent, and some days I feel 80-percent, so I never really know how I will feel,” Bertrando said. “I am learning to trust my body again. I feel that if I can rebuild myself physically, I can rebuild myself mentally.

“I’m working as hard as I can towards being 100-percent physically. But I’m ready to speak up. My time on the sideline last year has helped me see things that I can implement. I learned that saying stuff off the court is just as important as saying stuff on the court.”

Neff will be preaching the team concept, counting on collaborative scoring, possibly getting around eight or 10 points from three or four different players, playing solid team defense.

“If we can get that, hustle around and play smart, we’ll see,” she said. “We have some pieces to the puzzle here. It’s just a matter of how fast we can put them together.”

Neff has come off championship seasons before. She has a history of making the pieces fit.

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Joseph Santoliquito is an 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 BlueSky here.