Following a 66-48 loss to Shipley School at home last Thursday, the girls of Springside Chestnut Hill Academy secured their first victory two days later, crossing the Delaware River to defeat Lawrenceville School, 61-49.

That left the Blue Devils with an overall record of 1-2 since they had lost their season opener against Germantown Friends in late November.

Playing under the leadership of a new head coach, the SCH squad is in a rebuilding phase this season. Two seniors graduated from the 2023-24 team, and two talented younger starters transferred to other schools.

The only returning starter is dynamic guard Florence "Flo" Ajunwa, who scored a team-leading 21 points in each of the Blue Devils' games last week.

The Blue Devils' new head coach, Alexis Wright, was an assistant coach for the team for the past two seasons. Originally from Berks County, Wright had a stellar collegiate career at Moravian University, where she ended her career as the school's all-time leading rebounder (1,272). She was second in blocked shots for the Greyhounds and third in total points, with 1,711. After graduating in 2016 she was an assistant coach at Moravian for several seasons.

Assistant coach Rebecca Sheetz is back with the SCH squad for a third season, and Jack Grogan is a new addition to the staff.

Last Thursday against Shipley, Ajunwa was joined in the starting lineup by junior classmate Pia Swamy, sophomores Kendall Schnee and Ella Thomson and freshman Mimi Gallagher.

The visiting Gators came out firing on all cylinders and caused turnovers and transition baskets, along with slick three-point shooting, netting them a 21-4 lead by the end of the first quarter. Shipley was up 10-0 before Ajunwa put in a transition layup to get the Blue Devils on the board three-and-a-half minutes into the contest.

Springside Chestnut Hill's offense perked up a bit in the second quarter as Ajunwa continued to drive to the hoop to finish the half with 10 points. Gallagher added a field goal and Swamy sank two free throws, while 10th-grader Kalyn Freund came off the bench to bag a three-pointer.

The Blue Devils continued to improve during the second half, and they outscored Shipley over the last two quarters, 31-26.

The Gators played many of their reserves after the intermission but sent some starters back in after SCH narrowed the gap to 14 points in the fourth quarter, down from a 24-point deficit at the end of the third round.

Ajunwa's game-high of 21 points was complemented by nine points from Schnee and five from Swamy. Gallagher finished with four points and Freund with three, while two points apiece came from Thomson, her freshman sister Kit, and another ninth grader, Finley Paul.

Two days later at Lawrenceville, the Blue Devils got off to a much stronger start, with five players scoring in the first quarter to fashion a 15-8 lead. After a more balanced second period, SCH engineered a 22-9 surge to lead 52-31 at the three-quarter mark. Although the Lady Larries made up some ground in the fourth frame, the Devils finished with a comfortable double-digit margin of victory.

Led once more by Ajunwa, Springside received 17 points from Schnee, eight from Swamy, seven from Freund, five from Paul and three from Ella Thomson.