Scranton Prep’s dominance of local girls basketball could be put to the test this season.
The Classic graduated an all-senior starting lineup that made major contributions to the last half of an eight-year run that has seen Scranton Prep go 104-1 while winning every Lackawanna League Division 1 title and go 20-1 in District 2 Class 4A playoff games with seven titles and a one-point championship game loss. Scranton Prep has won state tournament games in seven of those eight seasons, with 10 wins coming in the last four years, including a 2024 state championship game appearance.
While Scranton Prep technically does not have a returning starter, it does have 6-foot-1 Chloe Mamera, a sophomore who played starter-type minutes last season and is already in possession of National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I offers from Bucknell, Rider, LeMoyne and St. Bonaventure.
Mamera gives the Classics strength inside, but could also help Ava Fenton, who is positioned to take over as the new point guard.
“Mamera is going to handle the ball some,” Scranton Prep coach Bob Beviglia said. “She has the ability to do that. I’m trying to turn her into Cecelia Collins if a can. That’s kind of the model we want to build for her, somebody you can run the offense through whether she’s in the post or on the perimeter. She’s developing into that role.
“We’re hoping that if times decide they want to guard her with a big that she can maybe bring the ball up and we can defeat some pressure that way.”
Fenton and Eva Kaszuba, who doubles in the winter as an outstanding swimmer, both move up from the rotation to the starting lineup.
Kamyl Lynady, a 5-10 forward who gained some varsity experience while being primarily a junior varsity player a year ago, is set to join them.
“We’re really happy with her in terms of how she stepped up on the defensive end and rebounding,” Beviglia said. “We think she’s going to be one of the bigger surprises.”
Shannon Bestrycki, a 5-9 sophomore who could be the team’s best perimeter shooter, was likely to start the opener, but two players trying to overcome injury also could be considered there as the season progresses.
“She played high-level AAU over the summer and we feel like she has taken a pretty big leap forward to be ready to play,” Beviglia said.
Maeve Haggerty, the team’s only senior, is in concussion protocol. McKenna Toolan is expected to be ready early in the season.
Bestrycki, Haggerty and Toolan all saw some playing last season when Scranton Prep often had games in control early.
The Classics went 14-0 in the division and 25-2 overall, losing in the quarterfinals to eventual state champion Neumann-Goretti.
