by “We don’t talk about the next step until you climb the one in front of you. I’m sure going to the state finals is beyond your wildest dreams, so let’s leave it right there. Forget about the crowds, the size of the school, the fancy jerseys and remember what got you here. Focus on the fundamentals that we have gone over time and time again. Most important, don’t get caught up in winning and losing this game. If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be. I don’t care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book, you’re going to be winners.” ( Coach Norman Dale in Hoosiers )
ROCKY RIVER, OH – 3 years ago I took my daughter Maggie to a Magnificat Blue Streaks game because it was on a school night, and I needed a close school distance wise so I could get my then 3rd grader, home at a decent time for bed. Magnificat was a natural choice and after one night of watching them, she was hooked!
Since then, I have been asked time and time again, why I cover so many Blue Steak games? The answer is simple, role models for your daughter don’t always live right around the corner. So when they do, take advantage. While I must always be 100% Non-Bias, you cannot tell an 11 year old the same thing and she has soaked in every moment. Rarely goes by a day when she isn’t sporting her Blue Streaks hoodie and scroungy. And yes, she may even have a Barbie doll she named Gemma.
So then the question is why? Why did she fall in love with this team? Well, I will bring you back to a quote from the late Nick Gilbert so many years ago, “What’s not to like?”
It’s simple really, Magnificat is a story of perseverance and heart overcoming anything in it’s path, and setting the example for how basketball should be played. It starts with their head coach Danny Gallagher who not only values family, but also the passion of the game and what it takes to get keep getting better.
It’s been no easy task, but again, that is nothing new for Danny Gallagher who took this program over in 2017 and has built it into a contender. After arriving in 2017-2018, the Blue Streaks went a combined 12 – 35 under Gallagher in his first two seasons as head coach.
Carl Jung once said, “I’m not what has happened to me, I am what I chose to become.”
The Blue Streaks chose to become contenders and a team to be taken seriously. In the last 6 years they have gone a total of 104 – 41 to turn into a team others fear. Gallagher has not had it easy, no private school does quite frankly. They do not have the luxury of training the players from 2nd grade on in youth programs and having those same kids learn a system they repeat year in and year out for nearly a decade. The tired and lazy narrative of “private schools have it easier” is about as played out and false as it comes.
Private school coaches in any sport have to hope talented and more importantly, coachable players choose to attend their school. Then, hope that they buy in right away and learn the system, the “values” that Gallagher preaches in every single post-game interview, and the same values his players often reference as well.
It would have been easy to give up, instead, they just kept pushing and hard work with determination helped them turn the corner into the program they are today as this weekend they play Jackson for a chance to secure their second straight Regional Championship, and final four bid.
He has this squad battle tested as steel tempers steel, iron tempers iron and if you want to be the best, you play the best. That is exactly what Magnificat did this season, they played the hardest schedule in Ohio, if not the country. They feared no one and they ducked no one, that is how winning is done.
This has led to a 17-5 regular season record, and now 19-5 overall with playoff wins over Normandy and Strongsville. A Mustang team that was promoted by many, including this sight, as one of the best in the state. Again, the Blue Streaks played their game, stuck to their values, their fundamentals and walked away winners.
Reese Roggenburk is one of the best players in the state of Ohio. It is time to shoot straight and flat out say it. Inside, outside, spot up or drive in, she is going to score. But you know what? The best thing about Reese on offense is when a teammate misses and she is instantly there to get the put back. Getting put backs on a team trying to come back on you, are killers!
Roggenburk is unselfish because this team screams being unselfish. If you need further proof of that, go back and watch last nights game against Strongsville. It doesn’t matter who scores, it doesn’t matter who gets the glory as team ball equals winning ball. Values over anything else, are going to work every time. Two superstars playing on the same team only mean something if they are playing as a team, in unison like a well oiled machine, and that is what Reese Roggenburk and her CO Kee On Sports MVP Julia Hall do together. In unison, as a team.
Julia Hall is one of the most dynamic players in the state. Hall, has athleticism in her blood. Her father has coached some of the top football programs in Ohio, including Massillon and has recently completely rebuilt Westlake before leaving to take over as AD at North Royalton. Her older sister Emma was a star at Westlake on the court, and now is a tremendous asset to the Ohio State rowing team. Hall has all the qualities of a winner.
Not only does she have size, but she has speed and knows what to do with her power. Hall is so agile it is crazy to watch at times. She is the total package as she can hit from the outside, post up in the middle, or drive the lane with ease. She gets back on defense and clogs the middle when she has too. Hall is a workhorse who is impossible to defend at times.
Hall gets fouled all game long on the inside and may get 2 or 3 calls. She is so strong, a lot of times the fouls get missed because she isn’t flopping all over the place.
Sofia Wilson is everything a point guard on a super team should be, making sure everyone gets her touches and straight up cold blooded with that running jumper. If you want to watch someone make a picture perfect running jumper, have that person watch Sofia Wilson play for 10 minutes. She plays her heart out and is often tasked along with teammate Sophia LaPorte as having one of the toughest assignments each game. Wilson truly is the Heart and Soul of the Blue Steak attack.
Speaking of Sophia LaPorte, I don’t give away an “Under rated Player of the Year”, however if I did, it would be hers without question. Time in and time out, postseason awards skip her and that is ridiculous. Every team needs a player like Sophia who puts scoring third and passing and defense first. You want to talk team player? Talk Sophia LaPorte! Awards means nothing, values and being a good teammate mean everything! Again, THAT IS HOW WINNING IS DONE!
That brings me to the only non-senior in the starting lineup, the one and only Gemma Wichmann. I’ve said it before and I will say it again, every team needs that warrior that never gives up, that never backs down, that dives for every ball and that one player that other teams fear, that player is Gemma Wichmann. I’ve been covering this game for a decade and have never covered a kid like Gemma. She reminds me of Dennis Rodman, except without the flamboyance, but all of the dominance on the boards and in the middle. She is what I call a quiet chaos, she does her damage before anyone knows what even happened.
I talked about the bench last week and I feel that it deserves another go around. From the feisty freshmen’s Avery Maslar and Lizzie Godlewski to the senior leaders Abigail Norman, Maddie Kowalski and Charlotte Pap, they are loaded. I didn’t even mention the sharp shooting sophomore Elle Lakios. Izzy Wilson has shown she can check in and play some quality defensive minutes, as has Lily Kuhlman, Elise LaPorte and Erin Rosfelder, They’re deep because they are engaged every minute of every game. Just watch them, they make a difference when they check in, and that means everything.
My bottom line to all of this is this, we are in a time right now of AAU player hype controlling a narrative, individual awards and too much concern over who is going Division One and who isn’t. Right now, none of those things matter. Win or lose, what values are they going to take out of this season? What lessons are they going to take with them to teach their own children or perhaps their own players if they coach one day?
I’ll end this the same way I started it, values mean everything and you want to surround yourself with those who not only preach them, but live them. Do I feel Magnificat is going to win on Saturday and advance to the Final Four in Columbus and then the Championship in Dayton the following weekend, yes, yes I do. But, even if they get hiccupped and lose, they are still that same team my daughter fell in love rooting for and that makes them winners in my book. You take a score with you for a few weeks, you take values and legacy with you for an entire lifetime.
Have a lot of respect for Coach Gallagher, think he is a fantastic guy and a great coach, and does get the girls to buy into his philosophies.
However. the part stating that private schools do not have the luxury of training players, that’s incorrect. They do also host camps, clinics, just like all other schools. However, the advantage that they do have is the ability to recruit from all over and to take girls away from their home schools, a recruitment advantage that public schools do not have. If you gave public schools the ability to recruit then I would agree with your statement. However your statement is completely false.
Public schools only have the luxury of working with players within a certain radius, unlike private schools who can recruit all over the state.