Penn Charter girls aren’t worried about roster turnover and anticipate another run for Inter-Ac title

There are going to be some new faces in the mix for Penn Charter’s girls’ basketball team.

The Quakers are coming off back-to-back Inter-Academic League championships, as well as back-to-back appearances in the independent schools state title game. Aleah Snead (St. Joseph’s) and Bella Toomey (Fairleigh Dickinson) are starting their Division I hoops careers, while Gracie Shoup is at Ohio State, now a full-time lacrosse player.

But don’t mistake the turnover for a rebuilding year. Head coach Joe Maguire’s group is coming into this season with the goal to win it all.

“It’s still kind of weird,” said junior guard Kaylinn Bethea. “Everyone’s like, ‘Yo, Kay, what’s up with the team?’ and I’m like, ‘Jeez, we lost three starters.’ I feel good about this upcoming season.”

The Quakers had an unbeaten 12-0 league record last season, but it won’t be as easy this time around. Germantown Academy has a strong group under new head coach Lauren Power, who knows the league well from her time at Academy of Notre Dame.

Bethea and freshman guard Ryan Carter certainly could be the main reason for similar success on School House Lane. The pair of Division I prospects are Maguire’s two returning starters, and they’re a great duo to build around.

Bethea is a 5-foot-9 combo guard with a scoring touch. She’s coming off a summer when she won a Nike Nationals (EYBL) 16U championship with her Philly Rise squad, played at Rucker Park, and reeled in a few more Division I offers, including Temple, George Washington, and Lafayette, while already holding offers from Penn, St. Joe’s, and half the Ivy League.

Carter, a 5-11 guard, is one of the nation’s top freshmen with high-major offers pouring in from Maryland, Virginia, Michigan, Arizona, Pitt, Georgia, Florida, Harvard, Penn State, and more — in addition to multiple Big 5 programs.

“When you have guards like Ryan and Kay, you’ll be in a lot of games,” Maguire said. “Those two have been in big moments already. ... They both have had the spotlight on them with AAU and stuff like that, they’ve played under every circumstance already. Having them when we need a big shot or need a play, having them able to have the basketball in their hands, can’t ask for a better thing as a coach.”

» READ MORE: Penn Charter boys’ basketball ready to bring its ‘A’ game behind influx of new talent

Beyond that pair, Maguire has some returning experience in senior guard Aditi Foster, a defensive specialist who’s committed to Northwestern for lacrosse, and sophomore guard Liv Vieira. Sophomore guards Marleigh Jackson and Molly Dougherty saw some varsity action last year, while seniors Ashlie Johnson and Ava Egan, juniors Ava Dibenedetto and Kendall Small, and sophomore Natalia Modzelewski will all be in the mix for minutes.

The multisport composite roster was clear at an open gym in late September, when Bethea and Vieira were the only two available for a shootaround — Carter is still working her way back from an offseason injury.

But his players’ lack of availability in the fall isn’t a concern for Maguire, who’s been around Penn Charter long enough to know that his team will mostly be made up of multisport athletes. He knows that he’ll have a few weeks in November to get everybody on the same page and then a dozen or so nonleague games to get ready for the Inter-Ac, whose regular season determines a league champion.

A loaded nonconference schedule with the likes of Perkiomen Valley, Good Counsel (Md.), Bishop McNamara (Md.), and more will be a test for the young squad, but Maguire noted it doesn’t matter if his team is 2-10 or 10-2 as long as it is ready for the league.

“With our schedule, things are going to be tough and we’re going to lose games,” he added. “How we handle that stuff is stuff we need to [do] as a younger team, be able to work through together.”

This story was produced as part of a partnership between The Inquirer and City of Basketball Love, a nonprofit news organization that covers high school and college basketball in the Philadelphia area while also helping mentor the next generation of sportswriters. This collaboration will help boost coverage of the city’s vibrant amateur basketball scene, from the high school ranks up through the Big 5 and beyond.