Senior forward Chloe Burns, who has committed to the University of Scranton, is team captain for Springside Chestnut Hill Academy this season. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

At the end of the first week of basketball practice for both schools, the girls of Mount St. Joseph Academy made a short trip across Chestnut Hill last Saturday morning for a scrimmage at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. A sizeable crowd of onlookers gathered in Vare Field House to get a first look at the two teams, which have each undergone significant changes in player personnel and, in the Mount's case, the coaching staff.

SCH graduated forward Lindsay Hiner (now playing at Gettysburg College) and guard Essence Walden from last year's ballclub, but those weren't the only players who didn't return from the 2015-'16 line-up.

Sophomore forward Delaney Sweitzer, who began to see varsity action as an eighth grader, won't play due to a knee injury, and opting out of the hoops program were junior Kayla McTamney and sophomore Colebe Oliver, both primarily softball players.

Back to lead the Blue Devils is Matt Paul, a 1994 graduate of the old Chestnut Hill Academy who runs the popular Matt Paul Sports camps and clinics. Paul took over the SCH girls' program in the middle of last season due to the sudden departure of the team's former coach, and after finishing out the school schedule he was able to continue working with many of the Blue Devil players as SCH competed in the summer league at Gwynedd Mercy Academy.

In the 2015-16 school season, Springside Chestnut Hill finished 3-9 in the Inter-Ac League and 8-14 overall, ending the season in the first round of the Pennsylvania Independent Schools tournament with a loss to defending champion Shipley School.

This winter Chloe Burns, a 6'1" forward from Norwood Fontbonne Academy, is the only senior on the Blue Devils' roster. The team captain for the upcoming campaign, Burns has decided to play college ball at the University of Scranton.

If not for some new arrivals at the school, SCH would have had no juniors at all on floor in last weekend's scrimmage, since returning guard Emily McNesby (the Blue Devils' high-scoring soccer star) is temporarily out of action with an ankle injury. As it happened, among the team's starters against the Mount were Burns and three junior transfers, Joelle Bridges (Mastery Charter), Destiny Rogers (Bensalem H.S.), and Nya Seawright (John W. Hallahan).

This fifth starter was sophomore Mo'ne Davis, and another 10th-grader who quickly appeared off of the bench was Norwood grad Kara Kniezewski. Caroline Clark, a returning sophomore starter at forward, was away on a school trip, and another 10th-grader with varsity experience is Delaney Sweitzer's twin sister, Savannah.

Young players who will probably see duty at both the varsity and JV levels include freshman guard Katie Reagan and eighth-grade forward Maya Gerlach.

"We're excited about the new program we've created," Coach Paul stated. "We have new standards for the kids and we have a bunch of new players."

He noted that the new points of emphasis include, "Playing together, helping one another out, and standing up when a teammate comes out of the game - some of the little details that help produce a winning program."

Art Friedman returns as a varsity assistant coach for the Blue Devils, and Antoine Graham is a varsity assistant and the head JV coach. Helping with the JV program are Flo Haigans and Samir Hickson.

Last season Mount St. Joseph Academy was the runner-up in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies and earned the fourth seed going into the PIAA District 1 tournament. The Magic won their opener, then lost the next two contests to end their season with an overall record of 20-7. This also brought to an end Coach John Miller's 10-year tenure at the Mount.

For its new hoops leader, the Mount turned to one of its own, Claire Perry. The 2003 grad was a 1000-point scorer for the Magic and went on to become team captain at Cornell University (see feature story in the 8/18/16 Local).

The Mount graduated a strong senior class of five from its 2015-'16 team.

Playing college ball in NCAA Division I, II and III, respectively, are guards Libby Tacka (West Point) and Caitlyn Cunningham (Philadelphia U.) and forward Sarah Wills (Delaware Valley U.). Also gone with their diplomas are starting forward Kristin Lucas and reserve guard Jenny Murphy.

This year there will once again be five seniors in action for the Mount. Grace Gelone (an NFA grad), Kieran Glowacki, Julie Hoover, Sarah Rothenberg, and Ashley Smith are all varsity veterans and Hoover, a fast, lanky guard, was the lone non-senior starter for the Magic last winter.

Just one more player is back from the 2015-16 full-time varsity roster, junior forward Maddy Getty. This season, though, she'll have five 11th-grade companions. Deirdre Regan is a point guard who can shoot from distance, and both she and fellow guard Grace DiGiovanni performed for the MSJ soccer team this fall. Erin Bethel can be used as a guard or forward, and Liana Alcaro and Megan Dodaro are forwards.

Another crossover player from soccer is Lauren Vesey, the lone ninth-grader to make the varsity team at this stage.

The Mount didn't officially start practice until just last Wednesday, and as of last weekend team captains hadn't been selected.

After the SCH skirmish Coach Perry related, "We started off the scrimmage saying we're kind of starting from scratch. We'd been getting together informally before this, and all the players have bought into the changes we're making. Everyone has a role on this team, from the seniors to the freshmen, and we're all excited about that."

Former Mount player Ryann Gallagher ('08), who had worked with Coach Miller for several seasons, is continuing on under Coach Perry as JV head coach. Another Mountie from days gone by, Rebecca Naab ('03) is varsity assistant coach, and lending a hand with the JV is a product of another Catholic Academies school, Villa Joseph Marie grad Marie Levins ('03).

Opposing the SCH starting line-up mentioned above, the Mount began Saturday's scrimmage with its five seniors all out on the court.

The trial run followed a regular game format with eight-minute quarters, and at the outset Springside Chestnut Hill dashed out to a 9-0 lead. The Magic recovered, but still trailed 14-7 at the end of the first period. In one departure from the norm, the scoreboard was zeroed out at the end of each quarter.

The Mount broke in front early in the second stanza, and midway through the Magic led, 14-3. A pair of three-pointers by Kniezewski helped stabilize SCH, which was only three points down by the end of the frame, 18-15. The Magic ended the third quarter with an 11-9 edge, and in the fourth quarter, in which both teams introduced more varsity/JV swing players, Mount St. Joe outscored its host 16-6.

"We're still figuring out our line-up, so a lot of the things we did well today were effort-based," MSJ's Perry said. "We did a good job with the offensive boards and scoring transition points. We need to be a little more ambitious trying to get to the free throw line.

"We'll also work on our help defense," the new coach continued. "I think we had 15 fouls just in the first half. We need to use our hands and feet correctly so we're not reaching. Overall, though, I'm impressed with the amount of effort everyone gave."

SCH's Paul pointed out that it's early days for the Blue Devils, too.

"We're at the beginning stages of the kids coming together and playing like a team," he remarked. "I think we'll have a lot of options this year; we have some shooters, we have some drivers, we have some post players. We have depth on the team, with a group of younger players coming up, as well. Caroline Clark will be coming back from her trip and Emily McNesby will be back from her injury very soon, so we haven't even seen all of the pieces together yet."