City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) +
Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)
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The 2025 summer of grassroots basketball is just getting underway, starting a four-month stretch that will see tournaments and showcases taking place all over the Delaware Valley (and around the country). Select Events held its first local showcase, the Tune-Up, at the Sixth Man Center this weekend, with all six courts in the facility’s main gymnasium hosting 15U through 17U action (and some younger age groups) from Saturday morning through late Sunday afternoon.

Here’s the first part of our coverage from the weekend, featuring local student-athletes participating in the event: 

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Ali Kaltenbacher (2027 | PA Royals 17U)

Kaltenbacher’s first year at Lansdale Catholic didn’t go as expected. 

The sophomore forward transferred to LC from Gwynedd Mercy just a week before the school year began, expecting to have to familiarize herself with a new social environment as well as new coaches and teammates on her various athletics endeavors. Instead, when LC basketball coach Eric Gidney resigned in the fall, the school brought aboard a familiar face in Tom Lonergan, who had been Kaltenbacher’s coach at GMA just a few months before. 

“When I heard (Gidney) wasn’t going to be there, my mom called (Lonergan) immediately and was like ‘you have to come,’” Kaltenbacher said. “And I was really thankful that he got the job, too, so it was a little less of a transition for me, because I knew him and I knew his coaching style.”

Instead of having to figure out a new coach and a new system in the winter, Kaltenbacher was the one who was already familiar with what Lonergan wanted to do, having started for him as a freshman at GMA. Knowing the coach helped integrate her with her new teammates, and in return her presence helped him connect with his new players. 

“It was really helpful for him that I could talk to the girls and almost translate what he was trying to say,” she said. “I think it was helpful for him and me.”

The pair’s arrival worked well, as Lansdale Catholic made it back to the PIAA Class 4A state championship game, though the Crusaders fell short to Catholic League foe Neumann-Goretti. After averaging double-digit rebounds as a freshman at GMA, she was more of a role player at Lansdale, along with seniors Grace McDonough (James Madison), Sanyiah Littlejohn (George Mason) and Nadia Yemola (Kutztown) leading the way. 

Playing with the 6-2 McDonough was a new experience for Kaltenbacher, who no longer had to be the ‘5’ for the first time in her high school career.

“It was definitely different having Grace there because she got more rebounds than I did,” Kaltenbacher said, “but it was definitely helpful. [...] We did a lot of high-low and a lot of post work between us and I think that really helped us, especially against shorter teams.”

Kaltenbacher showed her rebounding chops on Sunday with a 14-point, 14-rebound effort in a win for the PA Royals over WeR1 Lady Sharks. She grabbed eight of those boards on the offensive end, a mix of knowing where to be to get her hands on the ball, and the hustle to make sure she got it out of opponents’ hands. 

This summer, Kaltenbacher’s time will be split between the Royals and her other sport, flag football. A rising star in the fast-rising sport, Kaltenbacher is a member of the USA U-17 girls squad which will compete at the 2025 Junior International Cup in Los Angeles, after a training camp next month. 

Flag football is just starting to catch on at the collegiate level, with the D-III Atlantic East Conference the first to add the sport; she has a roster offer from Marymount (Va.), one school in the AEast, and is hoping more schools add the sport before long. 

As for what she considers her main sport, Kaltenbacher said, “it depends on the season.” — Josh Verlin

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Carly Wakefield (2027 | Glue Girl Hoopers 17U)

Carly Wakefield was a little hard to miss for the first-year program Glue Girls Hoopers 17U in its 38-20 victory over Philly Roots Blue on Sunday. All the 5-foot-11 Cardinal O’Hara sophomore wing did was score 10 points, pick up nine steals and grab five rebounds. She was easily the best all-around player on the court. This is a big summer for Wakefield, who was in O’Hara’s top eight rotation and is aiming to start her junior year for the Lions.

She said her goals this summer are to work on her outside shot, finishing, using her left hand more, and getting stronger. She will and should have a greater role for O’Hara next season.

“I’m ready for that,” said Wakefield, who is getting early attention from Catholic University. “I need to step up a lot more. That comes with not taking plays off, improving cardio, and not dwelling on mistakes. I did that a lot my freshman year. I improved on that my sophomore year. I did take myself out of games my freshman year. I dealt with it better last year. It is something that still needs work. With Molly Rullo (Drexel) graduating, we will need someone to step up. I have a chance to make an impact and I’m starting to realize that.”

Wakefield said wants to get in the weight room more often. “I want get stronger, and my cardio is better, but that could improve.”

O’Hara coach Chrissie Doogan has expectations for Wakefield, too.

“Carly is an awesome kid, and someone who brightens every room she steps into,” Doogan said. “She earned her time last year and she had to play against Molly every day in practice. She had to get better. Carly doesn’t even know how good she could be. She has a lot of work do to, and she is willing to do it. We tell her all the time she does not just have to score to be effective. She likes to be in the gym. She has a great future ahead of her.” —Joseph Santoliquito 

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Hannah Evans (2028 | Comets GUAA 15U)

Evans arrived at Perkiomen Valley as a freshman at just the right time. The 5-foot-8 guard was along for the ride (and then some) as the most talented senior class in Vikings history led the way to the school’s first basketball state championship, beating Upper St. Clair convincingly just a couple weekends ago. 

Though six seniors — Bella Bacani, Lena Stein, Grace Miley, Julia Smith, Quinn Boettinger and Grace Galbavy — played the majority of the minutes, Evans was the next up off the bench, getting some quality time throughout the year, including five minutes on the court at the GIANT Center at Hershey Park. 

“It was very exciting to be a freshman, to win a state championship [...] to see (the seniors) finally get what they were trying to reach,” she said. “It was so fun, to be able to play with them.

“I was really glad that (head coach John Russo) had the trust in me, to put me on the floor with them and do my part with defense.”

Evans picked up a little bit of bragging rights over her coach on Sunday, as her Comets beat the Lady Runnin' Rebels 16U team he coaches along with Downingtown East head coach Darren Domsohn.

With the 2025 class finally at the end of their run, much to the relief of the rest of the Pioneer Athletic Conference, it’s up to the next group of Vikings to carry the torch. Evans was one of six underclassmen to see the floor at the end of the Perk Valley win, a group that will be responsible for doing much of the heavy lifting next year, including sophomores Kate Nemic and Megan King.

There’s no doubt that Evans will have her share of looks, as she’s a strong outside shooter and quality ball-handler who can play both guard spots. She’s also immediately the most experienced guard they have, thanks to playing double-digit minutes in quite a few blowouts this past season. 

The PAC will likely be wide-open next year after three seasons of Perk Valley dominance, but the Vikings don’t want to be counted out from making it a four-peat.

That’s why Evans said she’s spending this summer working on “working hard and scoring a lot [...] because I’ll be the one that they’ll look for me to score next season, because the seniors aren’t going to be there.

“It’s a big responsibility,” she added, “but I think I can take it on.” — Josh Verlin

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Kirsten Gibson (2027 | Comets GUAA 16U)

Gibson’s entering this offseason with a whole new burst of confidence. 

That’s what tends to happen after making history. 

The 5-foot-8 guard was the leading scorer for Cherry Hill West at just shy of 18 points per game as the Lions won a state championship for the first time in program history. Not just that, they’re the first basketball team, boys or girls, from either Cherry Hill school to do so. 

“It was crazy,” Gibson said. “We knew that we could do it at the beginning of the year and we just put our minds to it and we accomplished our goal.”

Cherry Hill West, which returned all five starters from a team that made the South Jersey Group 3 semifinals the year before, won its final nine games of the season including all six in the playoffs, holding Chatham to just 19 points in the state title win (34-19). 

“It still hasn’t fully set in that we won the state championship,” Gibson said. “It was crazy [back at school], we had a parade at the end of the day, the whole school was going crazy. It felt surreal.”

The daughter of former Drexel guard Katie (McGovern) Gibson, Kirsten is a talented combo guard with a smooth outside shot and ability to attack and finish around the rim. She showed all of that in a Sunday win over the Lady Runnin’ Rebels 16s, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block as she knocked down two 3-pointers, attacked the rim and defended with aplomb. 

Gibson said she’s looking forward to a big summer with the Comets’ 16s, a group full of burgeoning scholarship-level players from around the Delaware Valley. Like most of her teammates, Gibson’s hoping this summer also means the beginning of her college recruitment; so far, things have been quiet for her on that front, but there’s no doubt she’ll have a list of scholarship-level suitors before long. 

A combo guard who can play the ‘1’ or the ‘2,’ Gibson played more off the ball this season than on it, but a number of similar combo guards on the Comets means she’ll have her chance to showcase both this summer. 

She said she’s also working on “getting stronger, playing better defense, and just getting my shot back. It was off the first three games this weekend, and then I found it the last game, so it felt good.” — Josh Verlin

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