City of Basketball Love

By Matthew Allibone (@bad2theallibone) +
Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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PITMAN, N.J. — The Hoop Group circuit visited South Jersey this weekend with the two-day Mid-Atlantic Showcase, a good local contingent amongst the 50-some teams playing four games each at the five-court Total Turf Experience over the course of Saturday and Sunday.

Here’s a notebook featuring interviews with several local players from throughout the weekend; CLICK HERE for our standouts from the weekend:

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Ella Stinger and Ava Wolf (2028 | Lady Runnin’ Rebels U15) 

Throughout her breakout freshman season, Ella Stinger learned to have a short memory. 

Stinger led Delco Christian to the District 1 Class 1A title game and state quarterfinals. She was selected as the Bicentennial Athletic League MVP. 

It would be easy for her to get complacent. Instead, Stinger said she realized she couldn’t be satisfied with a good performance if she wanted to keep improving. 

“I did receive awards, but it’s not all about me,” Stinger said. “I have to put that in the past. Other girls also got awards. I need to be able to take what I was good at and put it into my AAU team. I’m not going to be able to do everything I did in high school here because this team is different.” 

Stinger is playing for a loaded Lady Runnin’ Rebels team this spring, but she is still the same lights-out shooter she was during the high school season. The 5-foot-7 freshman had nine points on a trio of 3-pointers in a 47-33 win over EEP basketball Sunday morning. 

But Stnger and her Rebels teammates got a stern post-game conversation from their coaches following the victory. They led by nearly 20 points at halftime but took their foot off the game early in the second half. 

For Stinger, it was just another lesson to take in stride. 

“Playing really good competition helps you strive to be better,” she said. “That’s what I take away from these tournaments.” 

Stronger was light out from the corner Sunday, to the point that one opposing fan yelled “They just don’t miss” after one of her 3-pointers. But she also displayed a well-rounded skillset. 

On one possession, she pump faked a defender from the corner and drove the baseline before finding Methacton’s Ava Wolf for an easy bucket. She also generated a steal on defense, dribbled out of traffic and hit Camden Catholic’s Maddie Brennan with a full-court bounce pass that led to a basket. 

Stinger said her biggest focus this offseason has been improving her consistency, especially on the days her shot isn’t falling. 

“I need to get stronger so I can guard bigger girls,” she said. “I want to get more shots up today on the shooting machine so my shot is more consistent.” 

The 6-foot-1 Wolf was another standout for the Lady Runnin’ Rebels. She finished with five points Sunday afternoon but controlled the boards and played stifling defense. 

This offseason has been a bit of a transition for Wolf. In the winter, she played alongside 5-foot-11 senior Methacton senior Jenna Kaufman, who helped take some pressure off her in the paint. Wolf finished second on the team in scoring behind Kaufman at just under 8 points per game and often took shots from mid-range and behind the arc. 

Now she’s fully tasked with handling all the tough tasks that come with playing the 5. That has often involved taking more putbacks and attempting less shots overall. 

She’s embraced her new role because she knows doing the dirty work will help any of her teams in the future win. 

“In high school I played all over the place,” Wolf said. “Here it’s like, box out, get rebounds, convert those putbacks. I’m trying to work on being strong and going through contact so when I get to next high school season I can just (shoot) the second I get the ball so it’s always an easy layup or an and-1.” — Matthew Allibone

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Alyssa Thomas (2028 | Mid-Atlantic Magic 15U)

With less than 10 seconds on the clock in a tie game against a quality United NJ squad that plays on the Select Events’ P24 15U circuit, Thomas grabbed the rebound, pushed the ball upcourt, and didn’t stop. 

The Pennsbury freshman went coast-to-coast, slipping between a couple defenders and not letting a little contact throw her off as her layup snuck over the rim and dropped through ahead of the buzzer, delivering the Magic a 30-28 win on Sunday morning. 

“I just knew we had to get the ball up as quickly as possible and I saw the girls weren’t really up on me so I just knew okay, I was going to have to take this one,” Thomas said, “and I’m glad I did.”

Thomas said she’d hit buzzer-beaters before, but “not as exciting as that one.”

It’s been a good run for Thomas, the 5-foot-6 guard coming off a year where she started all season long for the Falcons, who went 15-11 (7-3 SOL Patriot) with a number of underclassmen in the rotation and in the starting lineup. She had to step up after sophomore guard Joley Hohman, a talented guard primed for a breakthrough season, suffered a summer ACL injury, costing her the entire season. 

Thomas said that Hohman was constantly in her ear during timeouts and practices, 

“She just told me to stay confident, because sometimes it’s really easy to get down on yourself, especially when you’re a freshman, you’re not as strong as everybody else,” she said. “Her motivating me just really helped me get through this season.

“Joley’s one of my closest friends and I’ve been playing with her for a while, I played with her in middle school [...] I can’t wait to play with her next year,” she added. 

Thomas has been with the Magic since “3rd or 4th” grade,” she said, with Wood freshman Casey Thompson along with her the whole way and most of the rest of the group joining up quite a few years back. It’s a roster full of talented freshmen, most of whom played junior varsity hoops or were down near the end of the varsity rotation for their first season of high school hoops; she’s by far the most experienced member of the group, and it showed in Sunday’s big moment. 

That experience will help next year with a Falcons team that’s returning Hohman and Thomas along with rising senior Emily Panaro, rising juniors Sammie Haws and Shea Quenzer, and a deep 2028 class that also includes Grace Schaffer, Adriana Oberto, Bella Stewart, Keira Socha and Marley Davis. 

Thomas gave a lot of credit to her trainer, former Millersville hooper Tom Townsend, for helping her be a strong finisher through contact, and plans on putting in a lot of time in the gym this offseason to be ready to help the Falcons challenge for an SOL Patriot title this winter. 

“That’s definitely been one of my biggest strengths and I’ve been working on it even more, I think I just really improved around the basket,” she said. “I’m trying to get better at my shooting and finding my teammates more, and also just on the defensive end, getting better steals, not reaching as much.” — Josh Verlin

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Mackenzie Klatsky (2028 | Coastline Hoops 16U) 

Mackenzie Klatsky is used to people recognizing her name. 

Her uncle is Dave Klatsky, the former Penn men’s basketball player who took a job as an assistant coach at Florida after leading NYU into the Division III title game this winter. Another uncle, former Unionville standout Kevin Hovde, just left Florida’s staff to become head coach at Columbia. 

Both of her parents, Mike and Marie, played Division I basketball for Penn and Marist, respectively. 

So Klatsky has grown up with big expectations. But the Marlboro (N.J.) freshman has learned to embrace the benefits of coming from a basketball family while focusing on her own path. 

“It’s really fun because I know a lot of local coaches and I kind of feel like I know everyone,” she said. “It’s a little pressure, but my family is good at taking that pressure off of me.”

Also a standout soccer player, Klatsky led Marlboro in scoring at just over 14 points per game this past season. She nailed 87 3-pointers and nabbed 76 steals (2.9 per game) over 26 games. 

She showed that shooting prowess in a game against United NJ P24 on Sunday morning, connecting on her first five shots from deep in a 17-point outing. She hit a couple pull-up 3s from the left wing and one from straightaway, all within the first 10 minutes of the game, then added a floater before one final triple from the wing.

The 5-foot-6 Klatsky said she’s working on becoming an all-around scorer instead of just a shooter this offseason. 

“I’m trying to work on going to the basket and finishing more,” she said. “I’ve definitely learned a good mindset from my family. I don’t get too hard on myself and can handle the highs and lows.” — Matthew Allibone

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Lily Brown (2027 | Lady Runnin’ Rebels HGSL)

Brown’s adjusted well to new digs this offseason. The North Penn wing previously played with K-Low Elite, but K-Low discounted its girls program this offseason, leaving her in need of a new team. She ended up with a good group in the Rebels’ 16s, who were missing a few pieces this weekend but still went 2-2 and only lost to the United P24s by a point on Saturday night. 

Brown’s one of several versatile wings in the group along with Germantown Academy’s Claire McKee, Lansdale Catholic’s Allie Esposito who can all play various frontcourt spots, with an equally-deep group of guards from high schools all over the Philadelphia suburbs. 

“We’ve been winning and obviously we’ve been losing to some tough teams but overall we’ve been playing really good,” Brown said. “I think these kids are really good, altogether everyone’s a well-rounded player so it’s a really good team.”

Though Esposito and Emma Seckinger (Archbishop Wood) started on state runner-up teams this season while McKee, Kendall Chivella (Downingtown East) and others played major roles for their respective squads, Brown has perhaps the most on-court experience of any of them as a two-year starter for North Penn. 

As a freshman, she shared the court with Jefferson wing Caleigh Sperling but more than held her own as a secondary offensive option; with Sperling off to college this season, Brown took on more of a featured role along with senior guard Cam Crowley. The Knights went 13-13 this year, including an 8-2 mark in the SOL Colonial, finishing a game behind CB East for the division title. 

With Crowley now graduating, Brown’s going to have to be not just a scorer but a leader, filling all sorts of roles for the Knights. She said she’s only just starting to hear from colleges, but plans on popping around to campuses this summer to participate in different schools’ elite camps to get her name more on the radar and prepare herself for the next level. 

“I’ve signed up for so many camps,” she said, “so I’m looking forward to seeing what (coaches) are looking for.” — Josh Verlin

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Grace Hodges (2026 | Lady Runnin’ Rebels 17U) 

Despite a tough day for her team with two losses, Downingtown East junior Grace Hodges showed off her shooting skills Sunday. 

Hodges finished with 11 points and nailed three 3-pointers in the Runnin Rebels afternoon defeat to United NJ P24. Phoenixville’s Kayden Baratta added 12 points and made a pair of 3s during the contest. 

Hodge said she isn’t focused on her college recruiting right now, but is trying to expand her skill set heading into her senior season. 

Conestoga’s Libby Brown and Gwynedd Mercy’s Bailey Balkir also showed off impressive skills Sunday. Brown was active defensively and got to the basket after swiping steals, and Balkir ran the offense and displayed impressive quickness. — Matthew Allibone

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