City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@dan arkans)
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(Ed. Note: This story is part of CoBL’s “Prepping for Preps” series, which will take a look at many of the top high school programs in the region as part of our 2025-26 season preview coverage. The complete list of schools previewed thus far can be found here.)

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Head coach Jo McClain came in with a mission last season to change the culture of the Agnes Irwin girls basketball team.

The Owls were flying high at the start with a 9-5 record and wins over Pennsbury, Hill School and Penn Charter to name a few. Then, the unthinkable happened. Star player 5-foot-8 junior guard Simone Harvey went down with a dislocated knee cap. Agnes Irwin struggled to stay afloat without her and finished 13-15 with three consecutive losses to end the season.

“Overall we have very high expectations from how we did before Simone’s injury,” McClain said. “We were 3-0 in conference. Her injury was a major blow. Ideally we will pick up where we left off. We have better guards and our bench players mature and understand the task of the physicality of the league.”

Agnes Irwin has never won a league or state title, but that’s where McClain and company want to go. Six-footer freshman Bailey Perkins, who stood out as an eighth grader last season, remembers one of her first meetings with the new head coach.

“When he first came in we were just talking that one of the specific things there isn’t is a basketball banner,” Perkins said. “We have three players who are 1,000 point scorers but no championships. That was a big thing he talked about. By my senior year I want a banner and I want to say we won an Inter-AC title.”

Those are big goals for Perkins and company. It will be challenging this year in the Inter-AC with state powers Notre Dame and Germantown Academy at the top of the league. Still, there’s an opportunity to turn around a 5-7 record in the league and McClain believes third place is a realistic finish.

“The last couple of years we have been around fifth in the league,” McClain said. “GA has a lot of new players. They are a mystery team. They have freshmen. Notre Dame has almost their entire team led by Riley Davis, who can probably play D1 basketball. Between those two they are our biggest task.” 

Likely as far as the Owls go will rest on the health and shoulders of the diminutive Harvey. She is raring to go after averaging 13.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game last season. She is back and ready to create some chaos on the floor.

“I am really excited, especially from what happened last year,” Harvey said. “I am ready to get back. I am feeling a lot better. I have been working out five to six times a week. It was a little difficult seeing everyone manage without me.”

Harvey will be joined in the backcourt by a familiar face – her sister Milan. She is a 5-foot-7 sophomore lead guard, who can score the basketball. Milan averaged seven points per game in limited action. The duo can switch off between point and shooting guard, causing confusion for opponents.

“It’s great playing with her,” said Simone Harvey of her sister. “I feel like we work really well together. Everything flows really well with her.” 

Adding depth in the backcourt will be freshman Hadley Zweiback and sophomore point guard Margo Abboud. Both saw time last year with Zweiback playing as an eighth grader.

“Margo Abboud will have a great year,” McClain said. “She’s a high competitor. She’s going to change our culture. She plays with energy.”

While the backcourt has plenty of experience, the Owls inside game learned on the fly last year. Zweiback wasn’t the only eighth grader playing last year. Perkins made an immediate impact averaging 10.3 points and five rebounds per game with a strong power game.

“For me I thought it would be a lot of pressure,” said Perkins of playing as an eight grader. “As soon as I talked to the team everyone was welcoming. It was welcoming and eye opening. I loved every minute of it.”

Six-foot junior forward Audrey Comly will also see the court after averaging 5.4 points and 2.9 rebounds per game in limited minutes. Comly will be joined in the frontcourt by freshman center 6-2 Abby Mema.

“We return seven of 10 players and added a few new pieces,” McClain said. “Some of our younger players will get more playing time. Our newcomers Abby will make a big presence on the defensive side. Guard play we have so many guards. We are going to ride them all year long. If they play up to expectation we can surprise a lot of teams. Inside play is going to be solid regardless. They are not going to waver.”

Agnes Irwin has a challenging schedule to get them ready for the Inter-AC with games against the Hun School, state finalist Friends Central and Conwell-Egan to start the season. The Owls’ goal is to get better with each game and peak in time for the playoffs.

“This year I think we will surprise a lot of people,” Perkins said. “Every year the goal is to get better and better. I want to come out with a winning season.”