Germantown Academy's 2024-25 girls' basketball team has a good deal of talent, but it may take a little while for it to gel into a smoothly functioning unit. The Patriots are blending some young talent in with their returning veterans after losing a strong Class of '24.

Of the five basketball seniors who graduated from the GA last spring, three are now playing in college; Izzy Casey (Bucknell University) and the Aponik twins, Jenna (Neumann) and Jessica (Kutztown). A fourth, Samantha Wade, is a postgraduate student and player at the Perkiomen School. All four were fixtures in the Patriots' program since they were freshmen.

Only two seniors are on the roster this season, guard/forward Gabby Bowes, and Jessica Kolecki, who can play either guard spot. Both are now

fourth-year varsity players.

Two current juniors return from last year's varsity, guards Jennifer Fox and Anna Weber, and they're joined by two classmates who are new to the GA varsity. One is guard/forward Sylvie Harrington, a transfer from the George School. Her older sister, Basha, played for the Patriots for several seasons and is now a freshman at the University of Richmond.

Rounding out the 11th-grad contingent is guard Aubrey Daniel, who's been a member of GA's varsity softball squad since she was a freshman.

The two sophomores on the squad are both varsity veterans, forward Claire McKee and forward/center Jo Owens. Owens is the tallest Patriot at 6'1", but the team also has four other players in the 5'10" to 5'11" range.

One of these is a freshman transfer from Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. Taylor Williams, a 5'11" power forward, started for the SCH Blue Devils last winter as an eighth-grader. Her current classmates at GA are fellow newcomers Molly Beggs (from Neshaminy's Maple Point Middle School) and Lucia Bibro (from Pennington, N.J.), as well as Julianna Rush, who has come up from GA's own middle school.

A new eighth-grade student from the Colonial School District also appears on the varsity roster. This is speedy guard Azzure O'Connor, the daughter of St. Joseph's University star and Big Five Hall of Fame member Marvin O'Connor.

For a scrimmage at Archbishop Wood over the Thanksgiving weekend the Patriots started Bowes, Kolecki, Harrington, Williams, and O'Connor.

During their visit to Wood, the Pats encountered former Penn Charter standout Ryan Carter, a sophomore guard who started for the Quakers as an eighth and ninth-grader. Her mother, Andrea, played for Chestnut Hill College and later coached at another Inter-Ac school, Agnes Irwin.

At GA, Lauren Power is entering her second season as head coach. Last season the Patriots were part of a three-way tie for the 2023-24 Inter-Ac League championship along with Penn Charter and the Academy of Notre Dame.

Andre Strothers, an assistant coach who has seen generations of players go through the GA program, is back on the staff once more. A more recent addition, GA alumna Alexa Naessens (Colgate University '22), returns for her second season on the bench.