City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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PHILADELPHIA >> Two years of pain, setbacks, adversity and untold hours of work melted away in the span of about 30 seconds.

As Taylor Hinkle dribbled out the last seconds of Holy Family’s final possession Sunday afternoon, it was all she and her teammates could do not to start the celebration early. The Tigers had set a goal to win a championship this year, thinking they’d paid their dues the year before, but fate continued to demand a high price.

Holy Family returned to the CACC summit, the Tigers winning their first conference title since 2015 with a 77-68 win over defending champion Jefferson in an outstanding game.

“I don’t really know if there are words to describe it,” Hinkle said on the court at Jefferson’s Gallagher Athletic Center. “We’ve been working for this moment since preseason and even back to the summer, that’s when it all started. 

“We put the work in day in and day out, so these first two weeks of March have been really fun.”

Hinkle brought home tournament MVP honors, the CB South graduate posting her 15th double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Arguably no shot in the game was bigger than the go-ahead three she splashed off an assist from Skyler Searfoss with 2:54 left in the third quarter after Jefferson had rallied to tie the game, Holy Family holding that lead the rest of the way.

Holy Family’s backcourt put together a tremendous performance, Searfoss netting 11 points with seven assists while Kaelah Carter put in 15 points and doled out five assists of her own. Jess Riepe gave the Tigers four double-digit scorers with 11 points, all in the first half.

“Everyone on this team has a brilliant IQ and that functions into everything that we do,” Carter, a junior in her first year with the team, said. “It starts in practice where we rep and we rep and we rep and everyone gets to touch the ball, everyone shares it so everyone really connects with each other.”

Holy Family thought it was ready to contend last year, but two season-ending injuries and what felt like a never-ending run of other setbacks derailed those ambitions. The Tigers hoped this year would be different; they dedicated themselves in the offseason, brought in a group of talented newcomers and figured to have their top players back at full strength to try and end a 10-year title drought.

Early on, they realized they were going to have to fight for it again. Senior Ava Morrow went down with a season-ending injury after just two games, Searfoss missed a month after re-injuring her knee, Hinkle had a bad bout with an illness and on down the line as every player fought through their own knocks and challenges.

Sunday, all the Tigers worried about was putting their best effort on the floor and it’s exactly what they did.

“To watch it go down the way it did, to watch them execute and defend and play together, that’s what it’s all about, to watch that moment,” Holy Family coach Bernadette Laukaitis said. “This group is so fun, they’re so deserving of each and every thing they’ve earned and gotten, they’re so deserving of this championship.”

Searfoss got her team off to a superb start, the 5-foot-8 guard from Jim Thorpe scoring nine first quarter points as the Tigers built a 23-15 lead after 10 minutes. The junior, a third team All-CACC selection this season, only netted two more points in the game but her passing was crucial as she switched to facilitator mode.

Hinkle, who didn’t score in the first quarter, was happy to take the scoring role from her longtime teammate. The 5-foot-10 junior, who repeated as a first team All-CACC selection, netted 10 points in the second quarter with Riepe also putting in a pair of threes, the combining on a 10-0 run after the Rams had closed to within 28-26.

“When we played them the first time on our home floor, we came at them really strong and when we played again, the script kind of flipped,” Hinkle said. “They kind of beat us around and we couldn’t let that happen again. Right now, it’s do-or-die and we couldn’t have any excuses so we all put our best foot forward.”

Cassie Murphy, the CACC Player of the Year, gave the Rams all she could with a 24-point effort in the last game she’d play on her home floor. Senior Emma Kuczynski added 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists for the Rams, CB West grad Emily Spratt added 10 points and senior Sam Yencha had eight for Jefferson.

Jefferson coach Tom Shirley, who registered his 900th career win earlier this season, gave the credit to Laukaitis for having Holy Family prepared and ready to play. While Sunday’s game was a great showcase for local Division II basketball - a packed gym got to watch two strong teams with plenty of local players on the rosters - Shirley felt the difference was one team being a little better than the other for a longer stretch.

“Both teams needed to bring their ‘A’ game and I thought we brought our ‘A’ game for 12 to 15 minutes while they brought theirs for 40,” Shirley said. “They shot the ball very, very well and kudos to them, they deserved to win.”

Carter sank a corner three off a find from fifth-year senior and third team All-CACC pick Carolyn Prevost to start the third quarter, giving Holy Family a 47-35 lead. Jefferson responded in force, the Rams going on a 13-1 run with five different players scoring and came all the way back to tie the game 48-48 on a layup by redshirt freshman Gabby Recinto with 3:21 left in the quarter.

Facing another moment of adversity in a season full of them, the Tigers didn’t flinch. A potential go-ahead three by freshman Amy Ngo was off the mark, but freshman forward Lauren Palangio hustled down the offensive rebound, the ball found its way back to Searfoss and she found Hinkle for the go-ahead three off the left wing.

“Big players step up in big games and that’s what Taylor did today,” Searfoss said. “We keep telling her ‘go at it.’ She was settling for some jumpers in the first quarter and I kept telling her to go at it, she got some o-boards, got herself going and that’s what she does.”

As the shot dropped, the Holy Family bench went nuts sensing the significance of the response to Jefferson’s big punch back

“It was a great kick-out,” Hinkle said. “I was open, I was feeling it so I just shot it.

“Someone had to do it, they were on their run, we had our runs and they had their runs but that was just a big moment.”

The Rams should be continuing their season in the NCAA Tournament, which would be a well-earned reward for a team that fought through its own bouts of adversity this year. Yencha – last year’s CACC Player of the Year – played the first three games of the season before an injury sidelined her for almost three months, the forward only returning in late February.

Jefferson dropped to 8-6 on January 16, then ran off 15 straight wins prior to Sunday’s loss, giving the Rams a 24-7 mark on the season.

“I think it speaks well to our history and the kind of kids we recruit,” Shirley said. “To get 24 wins with this team I think was a pretty good accomplishment for these kids.

“You take Emma, Sam and Cassie then add Haley (Meinel) and Morgan (Robinson) who graduated last year, they all scored 1,000 points here, Sam got 1,000 rebounds her, that fivesome was really good. When Sam went down, Emma and Cassie really elevated to supplement that.”

Carter came on as the closer in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of her 15 in the final period that included a key hoop to open the frame which gave HFU a five-point edge. The guard, who hails from Watervliet, NY, took a chance transferring to Holy Family but has played like someone who has been with the program for years.

Her teammates trust her plenty too. Searfoss pointed out that the last time they played Jefferson, Carter’s pull-up shots weren’t going down but she encouraged Carter to look for and take those shots again Sunday. This time, they did go down.

“She’s been a great addition to our team,” Searfoss said. “We rely on each other on both sides of the ball, she has my back and I have hers, so we know every time we step on the court, we’re going to be successful together.”

Carter scored off a feed from Searfoss to put the Tigers up 11 with two minutes left. A couple more points, the last two coming on a pair of free throws by Searfoss with 1:14 to play basically put it away and allowed Holy Family to use its last possession as an extended ovation from its fans.

“Everyone here made me feel so comfortable, they were amazing to me and made me feel like family here,” Carter said. “That’s what really gave me a lot of confidence in myself and a lot of confidence in them.”

Laukaitis likes to say “we win or we learn” and while her team won plenty this season with a 24-6 record, it also learned plenty. Challenging games in the nonconference slate, comebacks and late game close-outs put some belief behind their championship aspirations.

“It just seems like this common theme that we keep facing adversity but it just makes us stronger,” Hinkle said. “Anyone can throw anything at us and with this team, we all feel like we’ll still come out on top.”

The Holy Family women's basketball team poses with the CACC championship after defeating Jefferson 77-68 on March 9. It was the Tigers' first CACC title since 2015 and gives them an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. (CoBL Photo/Josh Verlin)

For Skyler Searfoss, it was a risk worth taking.

On New Year’s Eve of 2023, the guard suffered what became a season-ending dislocated kneecap but she also had a choice to make. She could either have a less-invasive surgery, one that carried the risk of another dislocation, or a more involved procedure that would lessen that risk but also carried a much longer recovery time.

It wasn’t really a choice however, Searfoss opting for the lighter recovery time so she’d be ready for the start of her junior season.

On Jan. 22 against Wilmington, Searfoss dislocated her kneecap again and just like the first time, she had a decision to make.

“I came back for a reason,” Searfoss said. “This was the reason. I was just going at them as much as I could and I knew if I gave it my all in the beginning, my teammates would have my back and they did.”

Her teammates had made plenty of sacrifices, so Searfoss was willing to put up with a little pain to make sure they got where they wanted.

Searfoss ended up missing seven games, returning on Feb. 22 and playing in two games to end the regular season including Holy Family’s 75-64 loss at Jefferson on March 1.

“Another freak play, my kneecap came out again and of course I had to see the surgeon,” Searfoss said. “He told me ‘you shouldn’t come back,’ there’s like an 80 percent chance of doing it again and I thought ‘I just want a championship so bad.’

“The pain is a little bit more this time. I obviously rushed the recovery a little bit, last season I sat out the whole second half but this was only a few weeks I ended up sitting out.”

Taylor Hinkle and Searfoss go back past their three years at Holy Family, the two juniors having been travel teammates with the Comets before committing to the Tigers. So to Hinkle, it wasn’t too surprising that Searfoss came out with so much fire to start the game on Sunday.

“She worked her behind off to come back and play and this is what she did,” Hinkle said. “She wanted to come back and win a championship. She rehabbed, I don’t know how she does it but just seeing her out there makes me so happy.

“Even if she’s not producing points, she’s still producing on the defensive end, she’s assisting all of us, she’s just all over the court.”

As a freshman, Searfoss was named the CACC’s Rookie of the Year and making third team all-conference this season despite missing a month showed that value to her team was still there. Beyond the statistics, the junior also played a pivotal role as the leader of Holy Family’s backcourt.

The Tigers’ main reserve guards, Amy Ngo and Lola Ibarrondo, are both freshmen and despite two years at The College of Saint Rose, Carter was still a newcomer to the team this season, so Searfoss was the one they were looking to. 

“She has the heart of a lion,” HFU coach Bernadette Laukaitis said. “Her whole want and willingness to be with them to cut that net down, it’s all you want for players like that because she’s such the heart and soul of our team.

“She sets the tone and sets the poise. Whether she’s 80 percent or 100 percent, Skyler Searfoss is a winner.”

Carter, who has fit in tremendously while starting every game, highlighted the impact her backcourt running mate has on the rest of the team.

“It’s just perseverance and determination,” Carter said. “She’s been dealing with a lot with her injuries so just having her come back after having that scare gave me the determination to push through the rest of the season.”

When she got hurt in January, Searfoss initially feared the worst. Like last year, she had to get the battery of imaging and tests done, then met with a surgeon to discuss next steps. Understandably, the doctors suggested shutting things down and getting the knee fixed up. All Searfoss could think about were her teammates like Carolyn Prevost, who took a fifth year with the intention of winning a title, or Ava Morrow, who was out for the year injured, and Hinkle, who would have to shoulder even more responsibility with her out.

So, Searfoss decided she was going to do all she could to come back, even with the risk it carried.

“We have something special here,” Searfoss said. “Missing last year, it killed me to watch them lose in the semis, that was awful. 

“Carolyn Prevost came back for her fifth year, one of her main reasons was to play with me, so I wasn’t letting her down. Our connection on the court has been pretty good this year and Taylor has been a staple for us and I didn’t want her to put all the weight on her back again.”

Searfoss recorded three of her seven helpers in the fourth quarter, one of them going to Prevost with a crisp last-second find under the rim, one going to Hinkle and the last going to Carter, that one putting the Tigers ahead 73-62 with 2:07 to play.

“If she starts hot, then we know we’re going to have a good game,” Carter said. “We definitely had a good game today.”

Searfoss won some titles playing at Jim Thorpe but the junior was emphatic that this one was on its own tier, especially given what she had to get through just to play for it. The reward was worth the risk and not to worry, she’s getting that knee looked at in due time as well.

“I’ve got a surgery coming up at the end of March but I got my championship,” Searfoss said. “That’s what I wanted.”

The Holy Family bench celebrates a score in the CACC championship game. Senior Ava Morrow (far right) played just two games before a season-ending knee injury but has remained an integral part of the team's success this season. (CoBL Photo/Josh Verlin)

Ava Morrow and Holy Family just go together.

The senior is a second-generation Tiger, her parents Mark and Jennifer not only both attended HFU, they also played basketball there. Mark was Ava’s coach in high school at Twin Valley and Ava is following her mom’s path into nursing, so it’s truly been a full circle career for her.

An ACL injury cost the senior all but two games this year, but she stayed an integral part of the program’s first CACC title in 10 years.

“I was at an all-time low and this team really pulled me through,” Morrow said. “There’s nothing like this team, it’s not even a team, it’s a family at this point.”

Prior to her injury, the 5-foot-10 guard from Morgantown, PA was a fixture in the lineup. As a freshman, she made four starts in 26 appearances, then started all 60 games the Tigers played the last two years.

Morrow played alongside Peyton McDaniel at Twin Valley, the James Madison star who was just named the 2025 Sun Belt Player of the Year, so she developed an excellent complimentary game. While Morrow could certainly stand on her own, scoring 1,000 points of her own playing for her dad, that ability to fit into a team structure translated well to Holy Family.

Her injury was a major blow early in the season but with her team still aiming to compete for a championship, Morrow knew she’d have to find other ways to contribute.

“I didn’t know personally how tough it is mentally, so I tapped into some of them last year who were hurt, and they’ve been so supportive,” Morrow said. “I thought I could bring some energy to the team, even though I’m not on the floor, by being vocal and being the best leader I could be.” 

There’s a collective mental toughness about this Tigers team and one of its toughest players on the floor in guard Skyler Searfoss didn’t hesitate to point out where it comes from.

“She was the rock last year and she still is the rock,” Searfoss said of Morrow. “She shows up mentally strong for us every day and it starts with her.”

Even with her connections to Holy Family, it was still Morrow’s decision to commit there and the senior couldn’t have asked for a better place to spend her college career.

“It really is amazing, it’s a once in a lifetime experience,” Morrow said. “My mom was my coach in middle school, my dad was my coach in high school, they just give me the best advice and then coming here, it’s just like a family of its own, I can’t explain it any better than that.”

The senior said she would have the option to return to Holy Family next year on a medical redshirt but isn’t sure if she’ll take it. Mostly, it will depend on her postgraduate opportunities and if a good job is there, it’s not something that would be easy to pass on.

Morrow has already logged plenty of practical hours – it was a common occurrence for her to rush in wearing scrubs then change into shorts and a t-shirt to play in the team’s summer league games – and she’s doing two days of clinicals per week on top of her obligations to the team during the season.

“It’s extremely challenging, a lot of late-night studying then waking up to go to clinicals but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Morrow said. “Basketball is a release. Just the energy this team has, the love and care we all have for each other, it’s an extremely hard thing to walk away from because not every team is like this.

“We’re lucky.”