City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) +
Joseph Santoliquito (@JSantoliquito)

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 second part of our coverage from the weekend, featuring local student-athletes participating in the event; CLICK HERE for part one:

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Ishana + Radhi Sundararajan (2028 | Comets GUAA 15U)

You lose track quickly that Ishana and Radhi Sundararajan are only 14. 

Ishana is 5-foot-11, and Radhi is 5-10. They each carry an athleticism and sophistication beyond their age (even when it includes pulling pranks on their teachers and coaches). 

The best prank they ever pulled was when the two were in fifth grade at a Comets’ practice. Ishana had been hurt, and was on crutches, so Radhi pretended to be her, running out on the court, convincing everyone Ishana had a miraculous recovery.

Now freshmen at the Westtown school, they are separated by a minute (Radhi is older) and on any other team in Pennsylvania they would be starters and stars. They just happen to play for the Moose, one of the nation’s best high school teams, with two of the nation’s best players, sophomore Jordyn Palmer and freshman Jessie Moses.

So, they are using the summer to improve and show what they can do when their chance for more minutes arrives. They have always played on the same team together and their ultimate goal is to continue that as a package deal for any respective college that wants to recruit them.

This summer, their collective goals are simple: Get better.

Ishana was in the top eight rotation for the Moose this past season, Radhi getting minutes as well. They both suited varsity as eighth graders.

“This year, it is important for me to step into a new role and help the team even more,” Ishana said. “We’re losing five seniors [Aidan Langley to Towson, Kennedy Hall to Boston College, Kennedy Henry to Villanova, Olivia Jones to Harvard, Vianna Kanyamiheto-Watson to Swarthmore]. It’s good I got some experience this past season, and playing against those girls every day in practice makes you better. I definitely want to improve my defense, the defensive principles we work on at Westtown, and the fundamentals this summer.”

Even though she is older by a minute, Radhi points out her sister Ish acts more like the big sister. 

“She does the ordering and does the stuff that older sisters do, but it is really cool to have a twin sister, and even though we fight sometimes (laughs), she is my best friend. I’m excited because I get to play this summer with her, and it is really important to me to establish a connection with Ishana in AAU since we’re going to be on the court together more. 

"I got some time last year (at Westtown), and when I did get in, I made the most of my minutes. I want to work on getting off my shot off the dribble, going to the lane and finishing strong. I want to prove I am someone that my teammates can count on.” — Joseph Santoliquito

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‘Her Time’ has arrived

Will Evans and Jermaine Palmer both have a long, extensive investment in girls’ basketball. Palmer is the father of Westtown’s star Jordyn Palmer, while Evans is the father of former Henderson stars Whitney (who’s transferring to DelVal University) and Shante (playing for the Slovenian national team) Evans. Will and Jermaine wanted to start something new for girls in the Chester County and Pennsylvania-Maryland borderline areas and they feel they have in their AAU program Her Time 17U.

Her Time 17U played for the second time this weekend at the Select Events’ Tune-Up showcase at the Sixth Man Center, battling Germantown Lady Panthers Nat’l before falling, 46-31, on Sunday. But Evans, along with co-coach Dan Rivera, liked what they saw.

Her Time 17U. (Photo: Joseph Santoliquito/CoBL)

“We want to provide something for the girls and we’re just branching out; we want to let people see what we’re about,” Will Evans said. “We also want to show people that if you can play, no matter the age, you can play up. I coached Jordyn when she was in seventh grade and she proved she could play up. We feel when we get there, we will really be bringing something together. 

“I’m about coaching hard and seeing these girls get the best out of themselves. I hold nothing back. I hold the girls to the same accountability as I do when I coach the boys. When Jermaine and I spoke about it, it’s how we came up with the name ‘Her Time.’ It fits the program.”

Her Time 17U consists of five juniors, four sophomores, two freshmen and three eighth graders. It has some talented players like 6-foot-2 junior Sariah Sanon from Northeast High (Cecil County, Md), 5-7 Kennett sophomore Lakia Frazier and 5-5 Solanco sophomore guard Jaelyn Gonzales.

Sanon wanted to improve, and felt playing in the Philadelphia area would help her toward that. She found out about the Her Time program while playing Aberdeen High School in a scrimmage at Oxford High School, catching the eye of one of the Her Time coaches.

“I found out its tough playing girls in this area,” said Sanon, who is the oldest on the team. “I like it. It’s not the soft, prissy kind of ball in my area. It’s more hardcore. I feel like I did okay. I was not at my best. I know I could have done better.”

Frazier and Gonzales are learning about their teammates and embracing this new experience.

“Coach Rivera came to one of my Kennett games and told me about Her Time,” Frazier said. “We’re a very young team playing up. High school is not as high an intensity level at AAU. This was played at a higher intensity level. We’re growing together.”

Gonzales, who provided an energetic spark each time she was in for Her Time, found out about the program through her Solanco teammate Jozlyn Taylor. The pair used to train with Jermaine Palmer. Rivera came to see one of her Solanco games and she liked what she heard.

“My biggest goal is to build up my intensity, because I’m trying to get Solanco to the district playoffs,” said Gonzales, a two-year starter for the Golden Mules. “A lot of teams we faced were bigger and older than us, but I like the competition. It will make me a better ballhandler and make me make better decisions. It’s all about improving.” — Joseph Santoliquito     

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Alexis Eberz (2026 | Comets GUAA 17U)

In the Comets GUAA 17U’s 38-28 victory over Germantown Lady Panthers U17 on Sunday, Archbishop Carroll junior Alexis Eberz dropped in eight, but played a very well-rounded game offensively, defensively and rebounding. Eberz, the daughter of former Bonner-Prendie star Michele Thornton and former Villanova star Eric Eberz, has narrowed her college list down to two among Villanova, Marquette, Fairfield, St. Joe’s, La Salle, Buffalo and Drexel.    

“I am down to my top two and I want to hold off right now before announcing that, but we’ll see,” Alexis said. “I would like to make a decision in a month or two. I would like to know where I’m going heading into my senior year. There are things I want to work on like playing better defense, ballhandling and getting my shot off quicker, and in general, being more consistent.”

For the first time, Alexis is weight training consistently in the offseason. She won a PIAA Class 6A state championship her freshman year with the Wilson sisters, Taylor and Brooke, now together at Army, though she has never won a Catholic League championship, being denied her sophomore year by Archbishop Wood and this past season by Neumann-Goretti.

“That’s a big priority for me,” she said. “We haven’t won at the Palestra and been there the last two years and lost twice. I want the trifecta (the Catholic League, District 12 and state championship) before I graduate. I think making a college choice, knowing where I am going will allow to relax and enjoy my senior years with my sisters (freshmen twins Kayla and Kelsey). I have to be a leader and winning is a priority.” — Joseph Santoliquito

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Brigidanne Donohue (2027 | Comets GUAA 16U)

The last two years at Cardinal O’Hara have been the Molly Rullo experience, the Drexel-bound wing the centerpiece of the Lions since her sophomore year. Donohue was the clear No. 2 for O’Hara this past season, the sophomore building on a strong freshman season and emerging as a Division I prospect in her own right. 

But with Rullo off to Drexel, it’s on the O’Hara sophomore class, led by Donohue, to step up and take the reins this summer and for the next two years. That includes her Comets teammate Leah Hudak as well as wing Carly Coleman and others. 

“I’m just going to work hard,” Donohue said. “Put in the work, and hopefully our AAU season helps me gain even more confidence and help our team, [help] me and Leah carry O’Hara.”

Donohue said she’s looking forward to this offseason, eager to show college coaches not just some improvements to her game, but some physical changes too. Though she was about 5-8 last summer, Donohue now stands 5-10, with potentially another inch to come, which means she now has good size for the combo guard position. 

A strong outside shooter who was knocking down 3-pointers all weekend, Donohue also worked at her point guard skills this year, with junior guard Megan Rullo — Molly’s younger sister — missing the year due to a knee injury. 

She enters the offseason with one college offer, from La Salle, with interest from Lafayette, Lehigh and Drexel thus far. There will no doubt be plenty of coaches courtside in a couple weekends when the Comets open up the April live periods at the first Under Armour stop in Ohio, with only a couple months to go until the June date when players can start hearing directly from the coaches instead of having to go through an intermediary. 

“Our coach [O’Hara assistant and Comets 16U coach Matt Githens] definitely told us in the beginning of the season, how it’s like a whole different level and we need to really start working and focusing,” she said. “I feel like this is a big year for us, big summer for us. I’m just excited because the competitiveness and the competition definitely gets to another level, and I think our team’s ready for that.” — Josh Verlin

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Jess Lockwood (2026 | Comets GUAA 17U)

The Comets GUAA 17U’s Sunday game against a star-studded Germantown Lady Panthers U17 team got off to a sluggish start for both teams, until Central Bucks East’s Jess Lockwood started nailing threes—and hitting them from distance. The 5-foot-10 junior combo guard finished with nine points on 3-of-6 shooting in the Comets’ 38-28 victory.

Lockwood is getting Division I attention from Army, Colgate, Penn and Albany. She may have helped her cause, and she felt it will prepare her for the Under Armour Association circuit and level of competition she and her Comets teammates will see there.

“This reminds me about hard I need to play at all times and how I need to take care of the ball, work on the defensive end and rebounding,” said Lockwood, who led the Patriots to a Suburban One Colonial Conference championship, another 20-win season (22-8), before losing to Upper Dublin in the SOL Tournament championship and to Cardinal O’Hara in the first round of the PIAA Class 6A state playoffs. “We only lost one starter, and I will have more responsibility. I need to be more of a leader and I will have to find ways to score better in the second half, because that’s where we struggled. I will need to be more vocal.” — Joseph Santoliquito