City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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Bella Bacani realized she had the deck stacked against her in about seventh grade.

As she started to venture farther and farther outside the area with the Comets’ national team, the Perkiomen Valley 5-foot-7 point guard who was "always super small" figured out she was going to have find a way to stand out.

“I knew it was going to be difficult for me but I also knew that also meant I had a challenge I was going to overcome, which motivated me sometimes more,” Bacani said.

Bacani’s goal was to play college basketball at a high level program. A gritty competitor who brings a bit of everything to the table at the point guard position, she established herself as one of the area’s top floor generals and a proven winner during her high school and AAU careers over the last few seasons.

Her hoop dreams started to come to fruition over the last year or so with college programs checking in. They became officially realized when she announced her commitment to Jefferson University last Friday — making the decision public on Wednesday afternoon via social media.

“Height does play a big part in basketball but I feel like it’s all heart and hard work,,” Bacani told CoBL in a phone call Wednesday. "And for me I know I was always working hard, I knew what I wanted and now that I’ve gotten it — and obviously I’m still going to be working hard, I still have more goals — it feels really good to reach one of my goals."

Bacani kept her recruiting process private, but she had interest from programs at all three levels. The Rams coaches have been in touch for a little over a year since she attended their Elite Camp last August. 

The playing style of the Rams was big selling points along with the ability to take a redshirt year and work toward a master’s career during her college career.

“I just love the school in general, and I’ve been talking to the coaches at Jefferson for quite some time now,” Bacani said. “It’s been about a year since we first connected, so I’ve had a lot of time to really get to know the coaching staff and even get to know some of the players.”

It also helped that the program is less than an hour ride from home.

“I couldn't imagine not having any of my family, but especially my dad, in the stands cheering for me because my dad was the one who came to everything for me, AAU, travel, hotels, everything,” Bacani said.

Bacani will be a fourth-year varsity player at Perkiomen Valley this season. She is on pace to reach the 1,000-point milestone, scoring 726 points thus far in a Vikings uniform. She averaged 10.2 ppg, 1.9 apg, 2.7 rpg and 2.2 spg as a junior.

She’s been part of a lot of winning at PV, helping the Vikings to two Pioneer Athletic Conference championships, two District 1-6A titles and a pair of PIAA quarterfinal appearances during her career, including a 29-2 mark last season.

Bacani has also prided herself with helping run the show at the point guard spot for a talented Comets squad on the Girls Under Armour Association circuit that also included PV teammates Quinn Boettinger, Lena Stein and Grace Galbavy this past summer and also previously classmate Julia Smith.

“I think they (Jefferson) really liked my style of play,” Bacani said. “They obviously watched some of my high school and AAU and I feel like I’m a different player for each team. For high school, I’m more of an all-around player and for AAU I’m more of a pure point guard. I could really do both, be a true point guard, share the ball and know my teammates and also get my shots up. “

Bacani will join a Jefferson program that’s coming off a 32-2 mark (16-0 CAA) that included a CACC championship, a second straight Sweet 16 appearance and the most wins in program history. CACC Player of the Year Sam Yencha returns from that squad to lead the way for what the Rams hope is another banner season in 2024-25

Jefferson had all five scorers average at least 8.9 ppg last season. The Rams were second in Division II in assists per game (19.4 apg), while possessing an offense that ranked 26th in scoring (74.2 ppg).

“For me, at Jefferson they’re not looking to score so many points a game. … They’re getting the right shot up, moving the ball around,” Bacani said. “And also the one thing about them is they can transition the ball and get a shot in 10 seconds instead of waiting until 25 seconds on the shot clock. I think that was really good for me to hear too because I like to play at a faster pace in transition.”

Jefferson graduated the nation’s leader in assists last season Morgan Robinson, who finished her career first on the school's all-time assists list (626).

Up next in line is former St. Basil Academy and Villa Joseph Marie point guard Tori Nigro, who played in 25 games as a freshman in 2023-24. Bacani hopes to patiently wait her turn like Nigro did.

“When I went on one of my visits I got to talk to (Nigro) … and we had a lot of similarities, a lot of the same processes, same mindset,” Bacani said. “So it was really cool to talk to her about that.”

Before she looks to help Jefferson continue its excellence at the next level, Bacani will finish her Perkiomen Valley career with a group she’s known for a long, long time. She became the fourth PV player committed to play at the next level along with Galbavy (Wake Forest), Boettinger (Navy) and Stein (West Chester).

They’re looking to three-peat in the PAC and District 1 before making a deep, deep state playoff run that is the only thing missing from their collective resumes.

“Me and my high school teammates have been playing together since fourth grade,” Bacani said. “The support I have gotten from all of them over the years is amazing. It is really sad that I only get one more year with them, but it is exciting too because most of us are off to play in college. We get to go watch each other and cheer each other on.”

There won’t be any complacency from Bacani, even after her commitment. She was back in the gym soon after the end of her AAU season looking to continue to improve every aspect of her game, knowing things won’t get any easier for her.

“What I really want people to understand is it doesn’t really matter your size,” Bacani said. “It all comes from your heart. It all comes from hard work. It all comes from wanting it more than anyone else. I think that was super big for me. I wanted it. I wanted to make my family, my parents, and my teammates proud.”