PHOENIXVILLE GIRLS BASKETBALL

Phoenixville’s girls basketball players enjoyed an improved season under second-year head coach Erik Rutchauskas and his assistant coaches, Ashley Dvorak and Brian Tell.
The Phantoms closed with a 4-9 PAC-10 record and 9-13 overall following a 56-38 setback to Pottstown in the first round of the District 1 Class AAA playoffs Thursday night at Pottstown’s Strom Gymnasium.
Phoenixville was the 12th seed in the tournament while Pottstown was the fifth seed. It marked the third time the Trojans defeated the Phantoms in competition this winter.
The Phantoms have a young team and program with just two senior starters in forward Chelsea DiFebbo and guard Janay Winston. DiFebbo will be playing lacrosse and possibly field hockey at Kutztown University while Winston will continue playing basketball at nearby Ursinus College in Collegeville.
It marked the first time in five years that Phoenixville has participated in the district playoffs in girls basketball. The Phantoms gained valuable experience this year with hopes of being even better in the future, including the time spent in the playoffs.
The Phantoms will return three starters next year in guard Liz Jones, the team’s leading scorer; center Arial Keys and point guard Johanna Martens. Also back will be guard Kate Casaday, forward Ellen Dvorak, guard Lexi Lear, guard/forward Heather Parris and forward/center Amber Keys.
The Phantoms must continue to work on their game in the offseason. Plus, the school needs continued growth and depth from play at the elementary and middle school to feed into the senior high school program in order to return to the highly successful level of years gone by.

Posted by
Barry Sankey