City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) +
Andrew Robinson (@adrobinson)
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The 2024-25 edition of the CoBL Girls’ Winter Classic took place this past weekend, with six high-level girls’ games at Ursinus College on Sunday.

Here’s who stood out over the course of the day:

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Results
Germantown Academy 52, Bishop Shanahan 42
Archbishop Carroll 60, Friends' Central 57
Audenried Charter 74, Notre Dame 68
Upper Dublin 50, Cardinal O'Hara 44
Conestoga 61, Neshaminy 22
Spring-Ford 60, Springfield (Delco.) 58 (OT)

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Gabby Bowes (2025 | Germantown Academy)
Bowes had the first sharpshooting effort of the day, the 5-foot-10 Millersville commit coming out bombing away against Bishop Shanahan. Bowes hit her first shot, a 3-pointer from the corner, which started her on a day in which she connected on five-of-11 from downtown, hitting from all over the arc. Bowes has always been a good outside shooter but she’s gotten more confident as her high school career has progressed, no longer needing to think about if she’s going to pull the trigger as soon as she catches. As the game went on, she also put the ball on the floor and attacked the basket as well, and finished with four rebounds and two assists plus her 20 points.

Riley Davis (2027 | Academy of Notre Dame)
Davis was on fire to start Notre Dame’s game against Audenried Charter, knocking down four first-quarter 3-pointers as the Irish tried to keep pace with a Rockets squad that launched off with 27 points in the opening quarter. The 5-foot-10 guard’s shot stopped falling for most of the rest of the way, though she finished with 21 points, but it wasn’t her scoring ability that stood out. Davis stuffed the rest of the stat sheet with seven rebounds, seven assists and six steals, her effort not once waning even as her scoring slowed, and her ability to compete at both ends is a big reason why Notre Dame closed a 22-point halftime gap to put a good score into Audenried down the stretch of a six-point loss.

Tamia Clark (2027 | Upper Dublin)
Clark continues to show up against top-level competition. The athletic sophomore essentially kept the Cardinals in the game early against Cardinal O’Hara, scoring the team’s first 12 points and 14 of their 19 at halftime. Clark didn’t miss much either, shooting 8-of-12, a number that included a short jumper which gave UD the lead for good. The 5-foot-8 wing has continued to show off a much-improved game from a year ago and gives the Cardinals plenty of ways to attack a defense.

Lil DiTrolio (2026 | Springfield Delco.)
Springfield (Delco.) was right there with Spring-Ford all the way through, and DiTrolio was the engine the whole way through. The 5-6 point guard only had five points at halftime but really turned it on in the third and fourth quarters, knocking down a pair of second-half 3-pointers and causing havoc defensively as she worked her way to an 18-point, seven-steal game with two rebounds and two assists as well. DiTrolio isn’t overwhelming athletically but knocks how to pick her spots and use her handle to work free, and her three 3’s along with a mid-range jumper showed she can knock down shots from all over; she also hit two huge foul shots with 18 seconds left in regulation and the Cougars clinging to a one-point lead.

Kayla Eberz (2028 | Archbishop Carroll)
Eberz was electric from the tap, scoring the Patriots’ first five points and finishing the game with an eye-opening 30 points. The 5-foot-10 freshman was an efficient 9-of-14 from the floor and got her points in all sorts of ways from a trio of threes to a sterling 9-of-9 effort at the foul line. Eberz, who also had to guard up a few inches late in the game, filled her stat line with six rebounds and five steals, including a “pick-six” layup late in the fourth quarter for a crucial basket. The freshman scored eight points in the fourth, including the go-ahead putback, after Friends Central had rallied to tie the game.

Emma Kaercher (2027 | Spring-Ford)
Poised and confident for a sophomore guard, Kaercher did a great job in leading Spring-Ford to an overtime win over Springfield (Delco.), finishing with 16 points, four rebounds and two steals. Kaercher was great in the fourth quarter and overtime, coming up with a steal-and-score and another driving layup while also hitting all four of her foul shots in the extra session; she was ultimately 10-of-12 from the line, pacing a Rams side that was 30-of-40 from the stripe to outcast the Cougars in OT. 

Ryann Jennings (2026 | Conestoga)
Jennings came out on fire and never cooled. The junior, who scored her 1,000th point earlier in the week, scorched Neshaminy for 27 points on 11-of-14 shooting including a 17-point first quarter. It was all working too, Jennings nailing five three-point looks and hitting from pretty much everywhere inside the arc too. She was solid defensively and even finished with a double-double adding 10 rebounds.

Megan Ngo (2026 | Upper Dublin)
The later in a game it gets, the better Ngo seems to play. For the first two quarters and even early in the third, the Cardinals junior couldn’t quite seem to find her rhythm offensively with just two points and some uncharacteristic turnovers. Ngo turned all that around quickly, scoring six third quarter points then putting together an outstanding fourth with nine points, two assists and three steals as UD rallied in the frame to top Cardinal O’Hara.

Kareena Preuss (2025 | Spring-Ford)
Preuss came out against a Springfield (Delco.) squad that was full of guards and took advantage, the 5-foot-11 wing having her way inside for the Rams en route to a 17-point, 17-rebound double-double, grabbing more boards than anybody else at Ursinus on Sunday. Preuss grabbed nine of those boards on the offensive end, turning a number of them into second-chance buckets (including a 3-point play), and stepped out to knock down a wing trey in the third quarter to show her shooting ability. 

Molly Rullo (2025 | Cardinal O’Hara)
Rullo’s versatility was on display for O’Hara against Upper Dublin, as the 5-foot-11 wing and Drexel commit did a little bit of everything. Rullo scored from outside, hitting four 3-pointers, and while she didn’t hit any layups, she did get to the foul line three times (5-6 FT) to get her to 17 points as the Lions’ attack stayed mostly perimeter-oriented against a tough Cardinals squad. Rullo put the ball on the floor efficiently, rebounded well (seven boards) and also dished out three assists, leading her team in all three major statistical categories. 

Nasiaah Russell (2027 | Audenried Charter)
The 6-foot-3 sophomore center had the best game of her high school career on Sunday, going for 25 points, six rebounds and four blocks, as she’s still just about a year removed from last year’s ACL tear that cost her most of her freshman season. Russell was unstoppable out of the gates, going 7-for-7 from the floor in the first quarter along with a pair of foul shots for 16 points; Notre Dame stopped her from getting the ball nearly as much thereafter, but she still finished 11-of-16 from the floor, including a fourth-quarter 3-pointer that put the cap on an impressive outing. Russell has great hands and footwork, and she’s an impressive athlete with good leaping ability who runs the floor hard.

Shayla Smith (2025 | Audenried Charter)
While Russell had it going early, Smith heated up as the game went on, the Penn State commit finishing with 25 points of her own as she continues to chase the Philadelphia Public League girls’ scoring title. Smith’s usual variety of impressive shot-making was on display as she was 11-of-22 from the floor; she only hit one 3-pointer but her mid-range game was on point, hitting several pull-up jumpers off the bounce with a hand in her face, and she also had some impressive takes to the rim, while also finishing with 12 rebounds, three steals, an assist and a block. 

Faith Watson (2028 | Friends’ Central)
Watson was called into action early with the FCS starting frontcourt in foul trouble and the freshman delivered right away. The 6-foot Watson showed plenty of strength and tenacity in the low post, tallying a solid double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds, the bulk of her boards coming on the offensive end. Watson established herself well on the block and made it easy for her guards to get the ball to her. She made at least two baskets in every quarter and drew plenty of extra defensive attention in the second half.

Honorable Mention
Emma Anthony (2026 | Notre Dame), Molly Clifford (2025 | Springfield Delco.), Kayla Decker (2027 | Bishop Shanahan), Brigidanne Donohue (2027 | Cardinal O’Hara), Alexis Eberz (2026 | Archbishop Carroll), Abby Garrity (2027 | Bishop Shanahan), Grace Nasr (2027 | Notre Dame), Janie Preston (2025 | Conestoga), Zya Small (2027 | Friends’ Central), Taylor Williams (2028 | Germantown Academy)