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 My Site News: Lady Marauders pass on tradition |
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Friday, March 9
Lady Marauders pass on tradition
By Scott Franco, sfranco@altoonamirror.com
There’s been a pretty good tradition of fathers and sons when it comes to Bishop Guilfoyle basketball. There was Paul and Jonny Hasson, Eddie Miller and his sons, Ryan and Patrick, along with Jerry and Brent Milliron. And now, girls’ basketball has been around at BG long enough that it’s developing its own two-generation stories.
“It’s just remarkable how long the tradition is with our program when you talk about mothers and daughters,” BG coach Mark Moschella said, referring to four girls on his team — Dani and Alli Williams, Chelsey Neugebauer and Kaylee Keagy — and their moms — Nancy (Coen) Williams, Tammy (Craig) Neugebauer and Denise (Shea) Keagy, who played in the BG program.
Moschella, who has been coaching BG for the last 15 years, hasn’t coached any of his former players’ offspring yet, but he knows that time is coming.
“When you talk about mothers and daughters, it’s almost like we are dating ourselves, but for example, Kelly (Adams) Morris has a little girl now in instructional basketball, and we can use that as a generation story,” Moschella said.
Moschella, who will guide that new generation of Lady Marauders into Central Cambria High School Saturday against Rockwood in the first round of the PIAA Class AA state playoffs at 3 p.m., knows there’s a special relationship between some of his girls and their ex-Lady Marauder moms.
“With everyone of their kids, they can relate and know how special it is to play here,” he said.
Denise (Shea) Keagy, a forward in her days, was on the very first Lady Marauder team in 1974-1975 that was coached by Loren Imler. She can remember when the Lady Marauders played just eight games in a season. Their games were also played in the afternoon. Having her daughter be a part of this program is something Denise has wanted for a long time.
“It’s something that I have been looking forward to since I got married and had a kid...to watch her play ball,” Denise said. “We basically handed her a basketball when she was born.”
Kaylee, a junior forward, appreciates the fact that her mom is a trailblazer when it comes to Lady Marauder basketball.
“I love it because I know that she was one of the first Lady Marauders,” she said. “I always thought it was real interesting to know that. I would see pictures of my mom when she played and you can look and see how the program has changed.”
Nancy (Coen) Williams starred on the late 1970s Lady Marauder teams under Dave Adams just as girls’ basketball began to gain notoriety.
“(Dani and Alli) are so much better than when we played,” Nancy said.
Nancy was a center when she played, calling herself “the box-out queen using the big hips.” Her daughters are both swingmen.
“We never really went the cheerleading or dance route,” Dani said of her upbringing by her mom and dad, Daryl. “We played soccer or we played 2-on-2 with my mom and dad in the driveway.”
Alli loves the fact that her mom knows exactly what she and her sister are going through each time they return home from a game.
“She went through the program. She knows what it’s like,” Alli said. “If I am struggling with something, I will ask her about it. Before each game, she will inspire me and tell me what I need to do in a game.”
Dani Williams recently passed her mom on the all-time rebounding list, and then replaced Chelsey Neugebauer’s mom Tammy, who was number 14 on the all-time leader list.
“It’s been really cool playing on the same team that has the same traditions as my mom did,” Dani said.
Tammy Craig-Neugebauer, who played under John Frederick at BG, always knew her daughter would gravitate towards Lady Marauder basketball, coming from a family where all the Craigs played ball, and her dad, Don, coached and officiated.
“(Former Lady Marauder) Krissy Bumann’s dad goes to the games and he tells me (Chelsey) is the spitting image of me, and I can see a lot of her in me when she plays,” said Tammy, who was a forward in the early 1980s. “I would love to see Chelsey break my rebounding record some day. I would love that.”
At an early age, because of the photos her grandfather collected over the years, Chelsey, also a forward like her mom, knew about the tradition of Lady Marauder basketball.
“My pap always tells me about my mom’s rebounding,” Chelsey said. “I knew about my mom playing, and my brothers and sisters played. I saw them playing and that is where my love for it grew.”
Moschella believes BG isn’t the only place in Pennsylvania where second generations of girls’ basketball players are popping up on rosters.
“You can seen throughout the entire state that no matter who you play, all the programs are good now because of it,” he said. “Before, 15 years ago, you could pencil in 10 or 12 wins but those days are gone.”
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