City of Basketball Love

By Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Kayla Snyder wanted a change of scenery, and she knew where she wanted to go. She just needed to figure out how to get there. 

A Lehigh Valley native, Snyder had met Friends’ Central coach Vinnie Simpson during a workout she attended in middle school; she also played for the Books & Basketball program Simpson coaches for last summer. So after feeling like she’d gotten all she could out of her two years at Emmaus High School, she reached out to Simpson, to see about potentially making the move to the Friends’ Schools League to continue her high school years on the Main Line. 

The only issue: Friends’ Central was more than 50 miles away from her home, an hour-plus drive on a good day. 

“To make that drive every morning for (school),” Snyder said, “would be a little outrageous to do all the time.”

But the Snyder family wasn’t counting the idea out. Snyder’s mom, Cora Snyder, found a job as a school principal in Philadelphia. With the family’s patriarch, Chris, agreeing to stay at the family house in Emmaus, Cora and Kayla found an apartment in Ardmore, and decided to make the move for the remainder of her high school years. 

She began at Friends’ Central this fall as a reclassified sophomore, moving into the 2028 class, with plans to spend three years on City Ave playing for Simpson and the Phoenix.  And her coach couldn’t be happier. 

“She brings a lot,” Simpson told CoBL. “She brings leadership, she brings shooting, she brings passing, she brings everything. She’s a great pickup for us, I’m happy she’s here and she’s got a bright future.”

It was easy to see why Simpson’s excited about his new addition during a 63-41 win over Germantown Academy on Thursday afternoon in the opening game of a boy-girl doubleheader. Snyder looked right at home with her new teammates, contributing 12 points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds as the Phoenix smothered the Patriots for three quarters before coasting to the win. 

A sharp-shooting 5-foot-5 guard, Snyder knocked down two of her three 3-point attempts, showed off her strong handles and ability to handle pressure, get around screens and get downhill. She was making strong passes all game long, easily deserving of a few more assists based on the open looks she created for her squad.

The chemistry Snyder displayed on the court with all her new teammates isn’t by accident. She played for Books & Basketball last summer with current Phoenix teammates Faith Watson, Ki’Yari King, Londyn Mayo and Phoenix Walker; in addition, she’d been middle school travel teammates with another FCS newcomer, junior guard Ryan Carter, now a five-star prospect and high-major recruit. The only parts of the Phoenix rotation she wasn’t familiar with were junior wing Zya Small, another high-major recruit, and a pair of eighth graders joining the varsity roster, Mia Lawson and Ayla Cromedy.

“It made the transition so much easier for me,” she said. “I had a bunch of friends at my old school and coming into a new place where I didn’t really know anybody was really nerve-wracking for the first time, but having four people that I knew well, it helped a lot to help my transition.”

It’s a group that’s collectively hoping to challenge Westtown for both FSL and PAISAA titles, no easy task. 

Thursday’s win saw an impressive overall team defensive effort for Friends’ Central (4-0), which forced 29 turnovers — 20 in the first half — to open up a 56-24 edge by the end of the third quarter; it was 21-6 after one period and 40-18 at halftime. 

“Twenty-nine forced, that’s it?” Simpson said afterwards, then smiled. “No, just messing. I think overall, defensively, we did a good job. We’ve been doing a good job all year, our pressure and getting a lot of hands on loose balls, getting deflections, and just playing the passing lanes and being more aggressive defensively. 

“I think we can get a better offense that way, we can get easy baskets, let’s try to make the game easier for ourselves, get a couple steals, get a couple layups, make the game easier so we don’t have to be in half-court sets all the time.”

Carter and Small paced Friends’ Central with 15 points each; Carter also flirted with a triple-double as she finished with eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. Watson, a 6-1 center, added nine points and six rebounds. The Phoenix also got a strong effort off the bench from King, who came away with steals that resulted in buckets at both the end of the first and second quarters; she finished with four points, four steals, three assists and two rebounds. 

By Quarter
FCS: 21  |  19  |  16  |   7   ||  63
GA:    6   |  12  |   6   |  17  ||  41

Shooting
FCS: 23-50 FG (5-11 3PT), 12-17 FT
GA: 15-42 FG (3-14 3PT), 8-10 FT

Scoring
FCS: Ryan Carter 15, Zya Small 15, Kayla Snyder 12, Faith Watson 9, Londyn Mayo 6, Ki’yari King 4, Ayla Cromedy 2

GA: Emma Seckinger 10, Jo Owens 8, Taylor Williams 7, Anaya Days 7, Claire McKee 4, Sam Kollock 3, Sylvie Harrington 2

~~~

Brenner goes off as Patriots boys pick up first win

The John Cox era at Germantown Academy is off and running.

The Patriots’ second game of the season ended up being the first win for their new head coach, with junior wing James Brenner pacing five teammates in double figures as the Germantown Academy boys beat Friends’ Central 74-61 in the second game of the doubleheader. 

A former Unionville wing, Brenner went for 19 points and 16 rebounds in his second game in a GA uniform. The 6-7, 200-pound forward was super-aggressive around the rim, grabbing four offensive rebounds and attacking every closeout to get to the rack. 

He said he’d gained 10-15 pounds and increased his vertical by five inches since starting at GA, working with Cox — a former Division I ballplayer and longtime pro — and the rest of the Patriots’ staff. And he’s learning how to put it all to best use.

“It’s definitely an effort thing, when it comes down to it,” he said. “It’s about playing hard. You’re not going to shoot the ball every possession so it’s about making differences outside of scoring. Really [that’s] just the mentality of our whole team.”

Junior wing Finn Reckner (13 points, 7 rebounds), sophomore guard Anthony Stuard (11 points, 5 assists), sophomore wing Judah Sterling (11 points, 3 rebounds) and senior wing Mick McKee (10 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) all played well as all five starters got into double figures in a game that Germantown Academy (1-1) trailed 24-18 at first but railed to lead 34-33 at half and 52-46 after three quarters before finishing strong down the stretch. 

Junior guard Patrese Feamster paced Friends’ Central (0-7) with 21 points and six rebounds; junior forward Oben Mokonchu added a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double and senior guard Gabe Moore scored 12 points.

By Quarter
FCS: 24  |   9   |  13  |  15  ||  61
GA:   18  |  16  |  18  |  22  ||  74

Shooting
FCS: 22-55 FG (8-24 3PT), 9-11 FT
GA: 28-56 FG (7-23 3PT), 11-19 FT

Scoring
FCS: Patrese Feamster 21, Oben Mokonchu 13, Gabe Moore 12, Cody Fisher 5, AJ Halliday 3, Vaughn Jones 3, Ari Jograj 2, Carter Bass 2

GA: James Brenner 19, Finn Reckner 13, Judan Sterling 11, Anthony Stuard 11, Mick McKee 10, Stas Krayak 8, Justin Addo-Boateng 2