After remaining undefeated throughout the year and besting William Fleming High School by 42 points in the state final, there is no question that the PA girls basketball team has made one of their best seasons yet look easy. Despite this, the girls put in no shortage of hard work and kept up their drive to lead PA to their first shot at competing on the national level in The Throne National Championship. According to star sophomore Micah Ojo and others on the team, participating in the tournament was incredibly valuable to challenge their skills, and an opportunity they hope to continue in the future.
With four years of experience on the team, captain and senior Abby Sabatino said she believes the team was particularly close this year, something that contributed to the incredibly successful season. “That influenced us on the court, because we work together, we work off of each other, and we help each other,” she explained. With the loss of six seniors, Ojo explains that the team was especially young this year, but this fresh start allowed for some new faces like freshman Ellery Giddens and junior Tristan Rickenbacker to join, and for the team to develop their strong chemistry.
Although it was Rickenbacker’s first year on the team, this did not stop her from any success, averaging 12.3 points per game and scoring 16 points with 15 rebounds in the state championship. Knowing the reputation of PA’s girls basketball team, Rickenbacker explains she was both nervous and excited to play for the Cavaliers: “this is a big program and I had heard so many good things about it, so I was kind of nervous at the beginning.”
After a very strong regular season with dominant wins like their Dec. 20 game against First Colonial (97-9) and later win against Bayside on Feb. 6 (92-7), the Cavaliers continued their winning streak while facing off against teams from around the region. In advancing through the state tournament, the team faced arguably their toughest competition from Kellam and Menchville, especially after trailing against the latter going into the second half of the state semifinal.
Ojo and Rickenbacker explained that it was both Coach Darnell Dozier’s pep talk during halftime and a revival of their determination that helped them push through for a win against Menchville. “I felt like we had each other’s backs,” Rickenbacker explained while describing the team’s mentality. “We will pick each other up, uplift each other, and keep our heads up. Even though we were down, the game was not over.” The team’s persistence scored them their 17th appearance in a state championship.
But to make the championship game their 15th state title win, Sabatino shared a lot of preparation, even off the court, was put in leading up to the game. “We spent a lot of time looking over film,” she explained. “A lot of times in practice our coaches will help us with that because they understand the game very well and can watch film and accurately tell us what to do.” The coaches’ ability to break down other teams, along with all the time the girls spent practicing, prepared them to meet the expectations that Sabatino said they faced and to “finish the job.”
Ojo shares that their success in sweeping William Fleming 70-28 also came from their experience across the entire year. “Obviously we’ve been working the whole season,” she said. “We got to go out and travel, play in North Carolina, see more competition, and the games against Kellam and Menchville . . . prepared us to go into that championship game with the mindset that “we’re going to go out here and give it our all’ because it’s the last game of the season.”
Besides defending PA’s girls basketball’s legacy and earning the 12th state title in 15 years, the team’s win also propelled them for the first time to an even bigger stage: nationals.
The Throne National Championship is a four day tournament in East Rutherford, New Jersey, at the American Dream Mall, and sponsored in part by the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). The tournament began in 2023 and according to the NBPA, it is designed as a “platform for elite high school basketball players to compete on a high-level and develop important life skills off the court.” This year, PA was one of eight women’s teams that competed and was seeded fifth amongst schools from California, Florida, and New York, and Ojo was named one of eight “players to watch” in the tournament.
The Cavaliers played a very close game against the Lady Mustangs of Bishop McNamara High School from Maryland, but ended up being eliminated from the tournament after losing their first game all season. “We went in there knowing that it was going to be very hard competition,” said Sabatino. “But I think that we all put in the necessary work that we could’ve.”
Although the team lost, Ojo still believes the tournament was a valuable experience. “I think that [game] led us to learn more about us as a team, us as individuals, and what to do when we’re faced with a top ten ESPN-ranked team like that. That was really good for us,” she explained. Ojo scored 29 points with seven blocks in their game against McNamara and was named part of the “All-Throne” team across the whole tournament.
Besides the actual games, the tournament included workshops, panels, and speakers, along with opportunities to meet famous players and coaches in the industry. Along with meeting former NBA players like Danny Green and Andre Iguodala, Sabatino shared they received instruction on financial literacy and other ways to better their future. Ojo explained that the experience was amazing just by being surrounded by so much talent: “there were a lot of stars there just giving us insightful knowledge and giving us advice to help us on our game . . . and we were in a room with so many stars at our age too, both boys and girls, so that was a blessing.”
To take another shot at playing on the national stage again, the team must of course win another state title. Rickenbacker says that winning states is again their goal for next year and they hope to return to nationals. “I feel like we still have some stuff to work on, but the motto is always to get better,” she said. With the entire lineup returning except the sole senior Sabatino, the girls most certainly could have a shot at repeating and building on their success of the last year.
Although the Cavaliers were a fairly young team this year, Rickenbacker and Ojo acknowledge the growing responsibilities that they and others as new upperclassmen on the team will have to share in the coming years. “We definitely know that there will be freshmen that are planning on coming here with the success we had so we want to make sure we are good role models,” said Ojo. “At the end of the day it’s not going to be just us. By encouraging the whole team to talk, that’s always how we’re going to get better.”
After being named state player of the year for the second time already, Ojo shared that a specific goal she is hoping for in the coming years is earning the Gatorade Player of the Year Award, which recognizes one girls basketball athlete from the entire state. “For the last two years there’s obviously girls who have been showing out and proving why they deserve it too so hopefully next year I’m able to do enough to get that achievement.” But with Ojo’s unprecedented skill, she may be very likely to follow in the footsteps of PA alumni and current WNBA player Elizabeth Williams. In her time at PA, Williams won the Gatorade award in 2010 and 2011 for her junior and senior year.
But no matter who finds success on the team in the next coming years, there can be no doubt that PA’s girls basketball team as a whole made this season one for the books. Sabatino believes that their success from this year will help them continue to defend the dynasty: “with the team that they have and the determination and the bonds that they all share, I think it all looks very good for the future.”
