City of Basketball Love

Matt Allibone (@bad2theallibone)

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Two days after his team won its fourth straight state title, Westtown head coach Fran Burbidge came to his players with a proposal. 

He knew they were worn down after a grueling, injury-plagued season that featured plenty of adversity. But they had been presented with the opportunity to play for a national championship — something that would involve quickly getting back to work instead of simply celebrating their latest accomplishment.

There was an immediate and easy answer. 

“We were like,’Yeah, duh,’” junior Atlee Vanesko said. “(Burbidge) didn’t tell us until after we won states, but I think most of us were already asking: ‘Are we getting invited?’” 

Westtown will compete at the 2025 Chipotle Nationals this week at Hamilton Southeastern High School in Fishers, Indiana. The second-seeded Moose will face No. 3 IMG Academy (Florida) in the girls’ semifinals at 12:30 p.m. Friday. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. 

The championship game will be at 10 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2. If it advances, Westtown will face the winner of Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy (Texas) vs Montverde Academy (Florida).

“This is not something we talk about needing to have as one of our goals to have a successful season, but getting an invite here is definitely in the kids’ thought process,” Burbidge said. “Our kids have proven they can play on this stage. We’ve lost some games and have been banged up with injuries, but we have the type of kids who aren’t going to blink no matter who they play.” 

Teams are chosen for the tournament based on performance and rankings in national polls including MaxPreps and ESPN SC Top 25. Westtown participated in the tournament (then called the Geico National Championships) two years ago, but lost to Montverde Academy by seven points in the semifinals. 

It’s a game the Moose still haven’t forgotten about. 

“We came up short my freshmen year, but we have an even more loaded roster now,” Vanesko said. “The girls that were on that team want to do better this time. I don’t think there’s a team in the country that has been through what we have. Even though we’re ranked higher, I kind of think we’re the underdog and I love that.” 

Westtown just capped a 27-3 campaign by winning another Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association championship, this time with a 71-47 win over Friends Central. The Moose won their three state playoff games by an average score of 78-36. 

But the Moose faced a litany of serious injuries to their star-studded lineup throughout the season. Harvard commit Olivia Jones missed nearly the entire regular season with a broken tibia. Returning Pa. Gatorade Player of the Year Jordyn Palmer missed three weeks with a tailbone injury. 

Division I commits Aidan Langley (Towson) and Kennedy Hall (Boston College) missed the state playoffs with injuries. Burbidge and Vanesko both said Westtown will not have a fully healthy roster in Indiana this week. 

The Moose lost consecutive games in December, a normal occurrence for most teams but not for them. Burbidge said he and his players no longer speak about their defeats. 

“Going from a full roster to not knowing who was going to play nearly all season long was definitely tough,” sophomore guard Jessie Moses said. “To work through that and play our best basketball at the end of the season shows how hard we work.” 

After the state title game on March 2, Burbidge gave his players two days off before they returned to practice. They had a week off for spring break starting March 14 before getting back on the court last week. 

Moses and Vanesko both said it wasn’t difficult to ramp up their schedule so soon after the end of the season. Westtown’s players all play AAU and are accustomed to having few breaks from basketball. 

“The biggest thing is that Fran trusts us to get in the gym,” Moses said. “Nobody was sluggish. Our season has lasted for what feels like forever and it's challenging but everyone wants to be there and is engaged. We’re doing this for each other.” 

IMG features its own collection of highly-recruited talent, including 5-foot-9 senior guard Kelis Fisher (UConn), 6-foot-3 senior forward Manuella Alves (Illinois) and 6-4 junior forward Kelsi Andrews, a former member of the USA Basketball Women’s U17 team. 

Burbidge said Westtown will need to rebound by committee to combat IMG’s size advantage, but he likes how his squad matches up due to its speed and quickness. 

He said if IMG tries to play zone he’ll have “five kids who can knock down a shot” on the floor.

“It’s not going to be easy, but we’ve accepted every challenge all year,” he continued. “It’s a game we’re excited for, and if we shoot at a normal clip we’ll be OK. These kids don’t dwell on success. After winning the state title, they’re like, ‘That’s over with. Let’s put that trophy away and play for the next one.’” 

Regardless, Westtown’s players and coaches are excited for the experience of traveling and competing on a high-profile stage together. They will fly out Thursday morning and partake in some Chipotle and Gatorade-sponsored publicity events that day while getting one more practice in. 

The Moose want to win another championship, but they won’t define this weekend by whether or not they win. 

“I think for our seniors it’s important to compete, but just have a good time,” Moses said. “At the end of the day, we trust the work we put in. A championship would be great, but the journey has already been great.”