Girls Basketball Notebook (Results as of 1/19)
Photos: Donna Eckert, Chelby Elam, Ryan Nix Lennie Malmgren & Krystal Williams
By: Marc Narducci
Young Germantown Friends team continues to grow
Michael Lintulahti is enjoying the challenge this season presents at Germantown Friends, but the veteran coach understands he needs to exude more patience than usual.
That’s because on this year’s 10-player varsity roster there are no seniors and five eight graders.
“I know we are the youngest team in the league,” Lintulahti said. “I think we are youngest in Philadelphia, boys and girls.”
Any coach would be hard-pressed to find a younger lineup.
Still, the Tigers won 11 of their first 13 games, including two out of four in the Friends League.
GFS eighth grader Taylor Linton #10 - PSD Photo by Ryan Nix
GFS vs. Shipley - PSD Gallery by Ryan Nix
With so many young players, Lintulahti has had to go over the basics more often.
“It keeps me on my toes,” he said. “There has been a ton of teaching, and I am excited about the kids’ development.”
What helps is that a few of those young players have made sizable contributions.
Two of the eighth graders are starters, 5-8 Taylor Linton and 5-6 Jojo Lintulahti daughter of the head coach. Linton, who already scored 27 points in one game, has been the leading scorer.
Another top scorer has been 5-9 junior Alayah Campbell. Katie Day, a 5-11 junior, is a third-year starter, who played in the Friends League championship game as a freshman.
The fifth starter is 5-5 sophomore Sarah Goldberg, who like Day, is a three-sport athlete.
Many of the players are multi-sport athletes.
Junior guard Fiona Behan, is a major spark plug off the bench.
“She is a program kid who does everything the right way and is a fantastic teammate,” Lintulahti said.
Cianna Cyrus, a 6-0 eighth grader, is usually the first front-court sub off the bench.
Other team members are ninth grader Izzy Ritchie and two eighth grade wing players, Samantha Sims-Pettiford and London Rothmiller.
“Sometimes you forget how young they are, but the energy is all over the place and it’s been a lot of fun coaching this team,” Lintulahti said.
In a defensive game, Germantown Friends lost a 40-29 decision to Shipley. Campbell and Simms-Pettiford each scored six points, while Day had a team-high 12 rebounds.
Trajtenberg sparks first Friends League win for Barrack
Barrack Hebrew Academy, a newcomer to the Friends League this season, earned its first league win with a 52-25 victory over Abington Friends.
Sophomore Mikayla Trajtenberg, who has been the offensive catalyst this season, scored a game-high 19 points. Two other sophomores, Sami Neff and Noa Singer added 13 and eight points respectively. Junior Jordie Yoshor also contributed eight points.
“We knew coming into the Friends League would be a challenge, so this first win was very special to our group,” Barrack coach Sasha Birosik said. “This was a great team win. We have stressed how important it is for everyone to get involved, and each player stepped up whether it was creating pressure on defense, rebounding, or putting the ball in the basket.”
Even in a 67-29 loss to powerhouse Westtown, there were some positive showings.
Trajtenberg led the Cougars with 14 points while Neff added 9 points. Trajtenberg also had a team-high 14 points in a 51-21 non-league loss to the Hill School.
Barrack Hebrew Academy sophomore Mikayla Trajtenberg #20 - PSD Photo by Chelby Elam
Friends Central & George School have game end early
Friends Central held a 50-20 lead over George School with under two minutes left in the third quarter when the game was forfeited. George School had two players foul out.
Friends Central coach Vincent Simpson said that George School still had five players left to play.
However, George School coach La’Keisha Sutton disputed that total.
“I had just seven players total and two fouled out and one was injured in the third quarter,” Sutton said. “I only had four players left and wasn’t about to risk my players’ health.”
Sutton said she has been playing with seven players all season.
When asked whether it would be feasible to put JV players in the game, she said, “You don’t want to put JV players against varsity players. It’s a huge difference and it could be a safety issue, and for me safety is first for player on all levels.”
Logyn Greer, a 6-3 junior, led Friends Central in the abbreviated game, with 12 points.
Before that, Friends Central earned a 58-21 win over Academy of the New Church.
Friends Central vs. George School - PSD Photos by Krystal Williams
Greer led the winning Phoenix with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Nal’La Bennett, a 5-8 junior, had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists and 6-1 junior Kaiya Rain Tucker had a double-double – 12 points and 13 rebounds.
In its next game after the loss to Friends Central, George School lost a nail-bitter, 46-43 to Academy of the New Church as 6-5 Gianna Johnson scored a team-high 13 points.
Westtown keeps rolling
Westtown earned its second Friends League victory with a convincing win over Shipley.
Olivia Jones, a 5-10 junior, led Moose with 29 points, while 6-1 freshman sensation Jordyn Palmer scored 18.
That was followed by a 74-48 win over national power McDonough of Owings Mills, Maryland in York, PA. Palmer led the way with 20 points, while Temple commit Savannah Curry scored 18 and 5-9 freshman Jessie Moses added 15 points.
In a win over Barrack Hebrew Academy, all 11 players scored. Curry and Rahdi Sundararajan each scored 11 points.
Westtown freshman Jordyn Palmer #20 - PSD Photo by Donna Eckert
Shipley youngster leading the way
In a recent 40-29 win over Germantown Friends, Shipley eighth grader Cidney Stanfield led the way with 13 points. She also contributed four rebounds. Sophomore point guard Tay Lasky had nine points, four rebounds and three steals. Rikai Williford, a 5-10 sophomore wing, added six points, nine rebounds and two steals while 5-10 junior Mallory Farr contributed five points, six rebounds, two assists and two charges.
Two wins for ANC
Sophomore point guard Jada Mayo and 5-7 junior Omega Wade each scored 14 points to lead the way for the Academy of New Church’s 61-18 win over Friends Select.
Academy of the New Church sophomore Jada Mayo #4 - PSD Photo by Lennie Malmgren
The 5-6 Mayo contributed three steals. Senior Xola Wade added eight points, three assists, three rebounds and three steals.
The Lions followed that with a 46-43 win over the George School. Xola Wade had her usual strong all-around game with 19 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocked shots. The 5-6 Wade has continued to have these strong performances this season. In addition, fellow senior Arianna Frank had 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and one steal while Mayo added seven points, three steals and one assist.
“The key to the win against the George School was our defense,” ANC coach Rashim Lancit said.
Lancit cited the play of Xola Wade.
“The second half Xola played power forward and she was fronting their big scorer and keeping her from getting the ball,” Lancit said.
He was referring to 6-5 Delaware commit Gianna Johnson, who led the George School with 13 points.