City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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HATBORO >> It’s the 30th  anniversary for the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League, the long-running league offering current non-Division I college players and alumni of any level a competitive setting to fill the summer.

This year’s league features 10 teams, six of them composed mainly of a D-II or D-III roster (Arcadia, Chestnut Hill College, Goldey-Beacom, Holy Family, Jefferson and West Chester), two alumni teams and the final two squads drafted together from the remaining players. The league runs with games on Tuesday and Thursdays at Kelly Bolish Gym (save for a bye week for the 4th of July holiday), all teams then qualifying for a league playoff.

From incoming freshmen getting a first look at their new teams to some local legends still lacing up the sneakers for the fun of it, the league lives by its mantra that all players should be given the opportunity to hone their skills for the upcoming collegiate season, have fun and stay fit.

Here are a few notes from the games played July 16 and 18:

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Katie Yoder (Soph. | Goldey-Beacom)

No matter what she did, Katie Yoder wasn’t getting any better.

Almost from the time she’d returned to campus at Goldey-Beacom after Christmas break in December, the Pennridge grad didn’t feel right. Little could she know, but it was only the start of a harrowing odyssey that would end up in emergency surgery for appendicitis and cost her two months of her freshman season.

Yoder’s back to feeling much more like herself this summer and for that, she’s grateful.

“My physical health was awful, it took some time for me coming back and when I did come back, I had re-learn the speed and how to be physical,” Yoder said. “So far, it’s been fine and I think I’m past it now.”

Yoder, who played her travel basketball with Penn Fever, was a 1,000-point scorer at Pennridge and the youngest of four siblings in one of the most impactful basketball families in school history. Katie, like her older brothers Kyle, Sean and Luke, excelled on the court and like Sean (Navy), she was able to go on and play at the next level.

Despite dealing with an injury she picked up heading into the fall semester, Yoder felt back to 100 percent as preseason got going in earnest. She jumped right in, starting and scoring 10 points in her first game, earned two CACC Player of the Week award honors in November and made the conference’s Weekly Honor Roll three times before Christmas.

By the time she’d returned to school in late December, Yoder had started all 12 games for the Lightning and was averaging 15 points per game. She’d start the next three after the holiday as well and although a 17-point effort in 37 minutes on Jan. 6 at Bloomfield looked good on paper, the reality was that the 5-foot-10 guard was struggling physically.

“I probably should not have played thinking about it now,” Yoder said. “Our first game back was Georgian Court on December 30 and that night, I was super-sick. We were warming up and I could barely run, I hadn’t eaten all day and I don’t think I had anything to drink all game.”

In the game against Bloomfield, Yoder had taken a knock to the head so upon returning to campus, she was tested for a concussion. Yoder and athletic trainers Brandon Straley and Morgan Ohm all believed that’s what it was and treated it that way.

Goldey-Beacom had a week off, then Yoder sat out the next game on January 13 against Post thinking she’d pass a return to play test before the team’s January 17 date with Jefferson. Except, no matter how many attempts she made at it, Yoder couldn’t pass the test, which baffled Ohm and left Yoder sitting out another game.

“That night, I got so sick. I was going to go to practice the next day but by then, my stomach was hurting so I called my parents and took a real big turn real quick,” Yoder said. “I couldn’t stand or anything, so I got taken to the ER and I was there for about 12 hours.”

Yoder spent her stay in the emergency room texting Ohm every test result and update she got, the team’s trainer helping figure out what she was dealing with. Finally, doctors had an answer and it was anything but positive.

“They diagnosed me with appendicitis and said my appendix was perforated, so the next morning, I went into emergency surgery,” Yoder said. “It was worse than they thought and I came home with a JP [Jackson-Pratt surgical] drain in my stomach. I was home for a week, then I had to go get the drain removed.”

Even with all she’d already been through, Yoder’s odyssey wasn’t over yet.

“They found an infection so I was in the hospital for a week getting all kinds of tests done,” Yoder said. “I was finally able to go home, I had to stay home for a week on new meds then I was able to go back to school but I still had the drain in and the only thing I could basically do was walk.”

Thankfully, the medication helped beat back the infection, the drain was able to come out and in time, Yoder finally received clearance to resume light physical activity. Between her illness, surgery, the infection and stays in the hospital, Yoder had lost much of her strength and stamina and with the Lightning on the outside of the CACC playoff picture at the time, the initial thought was to shut her down for the year.

Getting a redshirt was a bit of a longshot and applying for one would mean Yoder wouldn’t be able to play again that season but she wanted to return if she could get cleared in time. The guard said head coach Bethann Burke and the rest of the staff, along with the trainers, were very flexible in making sure she got workouts in, even running an extra session after the rest of the team had practiced.

As she started getting back on the court, advancing from shooting around and conditioning to non-contact and eventually contact work, the Lightning got hot with a four-game win streak in February that moved them into a playoff spot.

A loss to Jefferson on February 28 wasn’t enough to knock Goldey-Beacom out of that spot so as the calendar turned to March, Yoder returned. There was a risk involved with coming back, but Yoder knew Burke wasn’t going to push her and she trusted all the work Straley and Ohm had done with her, so on March 2, she played 12 minutes off the bench against Wilmington in the regular season finale.

“By the time we got to postseason, I felt pretty much back to normal,” Yoder said. “The big thing was gaining my strength back, just because I’d lost so much of it from being out.”

She was able to play in both postseason games, scoring 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench in the CACC quarterfinals against Post, then going 22 minutes as a reserve in a semifinal loss to Chestnut Hill. With no health hindrances, Yoder has been working on her game since the end of the season.

Despite losing two months, enduring an emergency surgery and resulting complications, she played in 18 games as a freshman and absorbed plenty of lessons about what it took to be a contributor at the college level. Goldey-Beacom is slated to return most of its roster and add to it with some talented freshmen and transfer Julie Kulesza, so Yoder is eager for the upcoming season, one that hopefully sees her free of any major setbacks.

“I think we have a group of intelligent players with a wide variety of skills,” Yoder said. “We should have a well put-together team, we haven’t gotten to see it all this summer but some of us at least are getting a feel for playing together.”

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More PSWSBL Coverage:
July 9: Anna McTamney (West Chester), Delaney Finn & Ava Gumienny (Arcadia)
July 11: Rachel Saxton (Muhlenberg) & Reagan Chrencik (Gettysburg), Annie Aspesi (Tufts)
July 18: Skyler Searfoss (Holy Family), Molly Masciantonio (La Salle)

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Miranda Cantor (Fr | Marywood)

About this time last year, Miranda Cantor wasn’t sure if college basketball was in her future.

The 5-foot-3 guard was about to head into her senior season at Council Rock South with barely any varsity experience and despite playing on a competitive Philly Heat North club team, she didn’t see herself playing at the next level. A lot can change in a year however, and Cantor found herself playing in the summer league this year with a spot at the next level ahead of her.

Cantor found her confidence and a role with CR South as a senior, turning into an opportunity to play at Marywood.

“It was really rewarding,” Cantor said. “I really didn’t get any time until my senior year and I guess that’s what took me up a little bit. That’s what was rewarding, having coaches looking at me.”

Cantor announced her commitment to the Pacers and then-head coach Jennifer Carleton on January 23. In March, Marywood made a coaching change and a few weeks later announced that Tara Macciocco, the program’s all-time wins leader, would be returning for a second stint.

Although Wilkes and Penn State-Berks had also been strong contenders for Cantor, she felt a strong connection to Marywood and wasn’t going to change her mind.

Marywood finished 8-16 last season, placing sixth in the Atlantic East Conference table before losing in the first round of the league tournament.

“Every time I went there, the campus was the one for me, I really liked it there,” Cantor said. “I just met (Macciocco), I like her a lot so I’m happy with my decision.”

This summer, Cantor was on the same team as Golden Hawks classmate Katie Purpura and got to compete against her teammate at CR South and with Philly Heat North Cam Gregory and another club teammate Daniella MacDonald in the league. 

One of a few proficient outside shooters on CR South’s roster last year, Cantor carved out a role as a trusted reserve for first-year coach Jesse Krasna. In turn, Cantor used her first real opportunity to play consistent minutes to show some more facets of her game.

Purpura (St Thomas Acquinas), Gregory (Holy Family), Lily Bross (Rowan) and Cantor gave the 2024 CR South class four college players.

“You have to stay focused, I couldn’t have any plays off or any practices off,” Cantor said. “Even if you’re not getting the time you want, you always have to stay in it.

“Jesse put a lot of confidence in me. A lot of it comes from him, he gave me a big shot of confidence.”

Last July, college basketball wasn’t something Cantor expected in her future. This July, she’s already looking forward to what her next four years are going to bring.

“I didn’t want to play coming out of my junior year, I didn’t even start talking to coaches until last July,” Cantor said. “Now, I’m excited about the friendships I’m going to make. This team seems really close, that’s a big thing for me, having teammates I know I can go to.”