City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
––

Tom Lonergan’s never had a team quite like this.

In a 40-plus year career with more than 700 wins and stops at Bishop McDevitt, Council Rock North, Central Bucks East, Gwynedd Mercy Academy and now Lansdale Catholic, Lonergan couldn’t think of a team as young as this year’s Crusaders group. It’s about as far in the other direction as last year’s veteran team that reached the PIAA Class 4A title game in terms of experience, but that’s not dampening Lonergan’s outlook.

It’s a team unlike any other he’s had, but Lonergan can’t wait to see what it turns into by the end of the season.

“I don’t think I’ve had a team this young,” Lonergan said. “As a coach, I’m loving it. They are like sponges and they’re out there locked in and just absorbing everything. We keep saying, ‘you’re going to make mistakes out there,’ but the thing I keep telling them is not to think about it and move on.

“It’s a group that’s locked in, listening, confident, believes in themselves and believes we’re going to do something special.”

This time last year, Lonergan was still settling in at LC after being hired just a few weeks before the season and taking over a group still reeling from an unexpected coaching change. There was an expected and extended period as both sides got to know each other but a Crusaders group led by Sanyiah Littlejohn (George Mason), Grace McDonough (James Madison) and Nadia Yemola (Kutztown) came on strong late and was playing its best basketball at the end of the season.

Naturally a team with that kind of veteran experience - Littlejohn and Yemola were four-year starters who played in three state finals while McDonough was an all-state selection in her two years at LC - was going to have serious turnover. Unfortunately, the Crusaders’ returning experience took another major hit this fall when senior Aubrey Mobley tore her ACL and sidelined her for the season.

So, outside of juniors Ali Kaltenbacher and Allie Esposito, it’s a group short on varsity experience but one that’s also got plenty of talent.

“We have to be patient with them because we know they’re going to figure it out,” Kaltenbacher said. “With more work, they’re going to figure it out but they’re very mature and are always listening.”

Esposito and Kaltenbacher have been named team captains for this year, a role Mobley will also fill while she also acts as an assistant coach on the bench. Kaltenbacher, who is also one of the best flag football players in the country as part of the USA U18 team, is actually in her third year playing for Lonergan after spending her freshman year at Gwynedd Mercy Academy.

Esposito, who will be a third-year starter, is coming off a terrific summer playing with the Lady Runnin’ Rebels that earned her her first Division I offer from UMBC. 

Lonergan has been extremely pleased with the way the junior captains are leading the team. He’s also set a bar for them on an individual basis this year that if they meet, it will also mean the team is doing pretty well.

“I gave them specific goals we feel are fully achievable,” Lonergan said. “We fully expect to get a first team All-Catholic, now with the talent in our league, it’s going to be hard but we expect to get at least one on the first team and there’s no reason why we can’t.”

Mobley, who committed to play both basketball and flag football at Albright earlier this month, will still have a significant role on the team. TJ Lonergan joked they’ve almost had to rein her in a little bit as she adjusts to a bench role, the senior’s fire and competitive edge not at all dampened by having to sit out and Mobley is still holding her teammates to a high standard.

Nobody wants to see any player, much less a senior, lose a season to injury but if there’s anyone equipped to handle it the best way possible, it’ll be Mobley. LC will lose her energy, hustle, defense and experience on the floor, but not her voice and that’s something that still carries plenty of weight.
“She’s going to be a very good coach someday,” TJ Lonergan said. “She has her standard, that toughness. That’s what she instills, ‘we’re tough,’ because she is and the younger kids understand that.”

Lansdale Catholic will tilt heavily toward its sophomore and freshman classes this season

Sophomore Lily Clair was often the team’s second player off the bench last season so she’s got the most varsity playing experience of the numerous underclassmen but even she still doesn’t have all that many minutes to her name. Clair put in the work this summer, her shooting has gotten more consistent and she’s been working to get stronger and more prepared to play a larger role, something her coaches picked up on right away.

Helena Larsen spent her freshman year at Archbishop Wood playing JV for the Vikings and played well for the team this fall. Celynn Picard is another member of the LC sophomore class that came back after a summer of improvement and figures to find a role in the team’s rotation.

“We have a lot of fun together,” Esposito said. “Everyone really likes each other, we’ve got a really good environment, we’re always high-fiving and encouraging each other in whatever we’re doing.”

The future will arrive early in the backcourt for the Crusaders this season. At point guard, freshman Jade Fretz will take the controls with the full support of the coaching staff behind her. Fretz has already earned plaudits from her coaches and the team’s captains for her poised play during the fall.

“Jade, it doesn’t faze her,” Lonergan said. “That’s where Aubrey has helped her a lot, Aubrey’s done a good job of keeping her relaxed and she’s not going to look like a freshman for long.”

Another freshman who will play a major role in the backcourt is Sadie Coleman. She can play on or off the ball, so she’ll get time as the second point guard backing up Fretz but Lonergan said they’ll also play minutes together.

Esposito and Kaltenbacher are embracing the fact that they are the on-court leaders this year. While they may have to help their underclassmen teammates work through an offensive read or defensive set early on, the two junior captains have already seen strides.

“Definitely in their confidence,” Kaltenbacher said. “They’re looking to take their shots. At times they would pass the shot away but now, if they’re open, they’re not afraid to take the shot and they know they can make it.”

There’s another key addition to the Crusaders bench this year. Alum Lauren Crim, a 1,000-point scorer at LC and again in college at Chestnut Hill College, has joined the coaching staff as an assistant coach and she jumped right in this summer helping run open sessions for players to come in and shoot that were consistently well-attended.

Having a full offseason has been hugely beneficial. Not only did the Crusaders have most of their players out competing with AAU teams over the summer, but they were coming in for team workouts and could start learning some of the principles on both ends of the floor that last year’s team had to learn during the course of the season.

That can work when it’s a roster with three college-bound seniors leading the way but this new group needed the extra structure early on and it’s already taking root.

“They’re running really well with the offensive and defensive systems we’ve been able to put in so far,” Lonergan said. “With being such a young team, that was a big concern of ours, that we thought it would take so much repetition to just know a little bit that we wouldn’t be progressing as quickly as we’d want.

“I think, as a coaching staff, we feel pretty good that even within just one week, we’re already progressing really well.”

The PCL is as deep as ever, with the top of the league brimming with talent and even a few teams that finished either at the end of the playoff bracket or just outside the cutoff looking very improved. LC’s put together a solid nonleague slate in preparation starting with their opener against Notre Dame Green Pond, local matchups with Neshaminy, Mount Saint Joseph, Germantown Academy and Garnet Valley and a few She Got Game event matchups.

“I’m really excited for our schedule,” Esposito said. “We have some pretty important games early and some of our bigger games are at home so there’s a lot to look forward to.”

Both Esposito and Kaltenbacher see a high ceiling for this group and they were confident the Crusaders can be a team contending to extend its calendar into the postseason. Their coaches would agree.

“They’ve been extremely fun to coach because they work extremely hard,” Lonergan said. “Experience will come over time but our goal is obviously to be playing a lot better in February and ideally March than we are in November or December. I feel confident that we will get to that point.”