by “The best chance you have if you want to rise to the top, is to give yourself up to loneliness. Fear nothing, and work hard. One thing you’ll discover is that life is based less than you think on what you’ve learned, and much more than you think on what you have inside you right from the beginning.” – Mark Helprin
The Magnificat Blue Streaks will compete for a chance at an OHSAA Division 1 Regional Championship this week in Medina. They take on the loaded Brush Arc’s this coming Tuesday night in the Regional Semi Final. Brush comes in playing tremendous basketball and the best they have looked in years. The Arc’s come in at 22-3, with 6 straight wins. The first of the 6 against a terrific St. Vincent-St. Mary team and the most recent this past Friday against a hungry and well coached Rocky River team. This will be no easy task for the Blue Streaks.
But that is how they like it as Coach Danny Gallagher made sure his squad played one of the toughest schedules in the country this past season. After an exit in this same round last year, the Blue Streaks came out even hungrier this season, and battled tested! They may be 19-6 but those loses came against programs such as Purcell Marian, Pickerington Central and Antony Wayne just to name a few. They have ducked no one and came after the best.
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. 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.
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 5 years they have gone a total of 85 – 36 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 is those values that Gallagher preaches that have this team and program where it is today. It is those same values that helped their freshman team coached by younger sister Shannon and her assistant the fiery Maura Hagan go undefeated this year. They coach with heart, passion and the will to win in any situation. That is a recipe for success seven days a week, and twice on Sunday!
But let’s face it, it takes more than coaching to win, you need talent and players willing to buy in and listen. The Blue Streaks have that from top to bottom this season and perhaps have the best roster in the area. Let’s take a deeper dive, shall we?
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. 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. She is only a junior, and I can just imagine how good she will be next year with another year of growth and development. I could watch Hall play basketball all day, she is that good!
Sophia Wilson is one of the most unselfish players I’ve seen. A prototypical point guard who doesn’t get rattled and who has shown this year, and last year, she can make a big shot when needed. Going back to her 10th grade year last year, she hit some huge shots and had stretches of being red hot. When she is firing away and nailing them, the Blue Steaks are nearly impossible to beat.
Wilson doesn’t crack under the pressure and as the games get bigger the defensive pressure on her will mount, it will be up to Wilson to keep control of the ball, continue to find the open teammate, and keep the Blue Steaks values in place. She is also one heck of a defender and can find the right position to be in to make sure no one is driving on her.
Gemma Wichmann would start on any other team in the state, without question. She is a sophomore with the skill level and composure of a senior. She dives for balls, she ties up anyone in her path and is one of the most vicious defenders I have ever seen. This young woman fears no one and nothing in her path. If you need a stop down low, Wichmann is going to get you that stop.
As good as Wichmann is on defense, her offensive game just keeps getting better. This is a “kid” that I watched as a freshman last year and knew she had “it”. This year, she has made a giant leap and has gotten that much better. She can drive and score, she can post up, she hit the outside shot, she follows her own shot, she is just so darn good.
She was our “sixth woman of the year” this season, and it was the easiest choice I think I have ever made. She plays with such heart, I cannot even begin to explain. She truly reminds me of a Charles Barkley in so many ways. The difference being, she is in shape, tremendous shape and is just a pure athlete!
How about the sisters Roggenburk? This is a dynamic duo if I have ever seen one. Senior Brynn is that calming senior leader presence that you need on the court in crucial times. She can score and has a heck of an outside shot. Above all else, she is great making that extra pass to find someone else open if she isn’t. Often times, that open player is Katie Maryo who is no stranger to dropping threes.
Younger sister Reese Roggenburk has been the ultimate closer this season. She was a major factor in the Blue Steaks closing out a game earlier this season against Solon and then again this past weekend in the District Championship against Mentor. She just knows how to get open. It can be a fast break on a press break, or for whatever reason while all attention is focused on stopping Maryo from the outside, Hall driving or Wilson working her magic around the perimeter, Reese just has this innate skill to get open and cut at the perfect time. Each team has an X factor, trust me when I tell you, Reese Roggenburk is that X factor.
I’ve mentioned the shooting prowess of Katie Maryo a few times now, and that is with good reason. I cannot help but sound a bit hyperbolic but I don’t care. When Maryo is on fire from deep, it is a thing of beauty as she has one of the purest shots from long range I have ever seen. There have been times I have seen her drain them so smoothly, the net makes that perfect ”swoosh” sound because it is so much on the money, it barely moves. When Maryo gets going early, it will be a long night for the opposition.
As talented as they are, every team needs that one player who defines their heart and soul, and that young ladies name is Elizabeth Spicer. They call her “Spice” and the nickname fits the player perfectly. When she checks in, she is an instant lift for this squad. No one gets louder cheers with a made bucket or a big play then Spice. There is just something about her that her teammates simply gravitate towards this senior. Spice plays with a smile on her face constantly and is that player you want to go to war with.
In the end, it goes back to values, those same values that have this team where they are today. These values are not just carried by the players I’ve named, but also the entire roster with names such as Sophia and Lilian Kuhlman, Sophia LaPorte, Madeline Kowalski, Abigail Norman and Charlotte Pap. It takes a village, and everyone is the reason for success. You’re not good in the games unless you practice hard and against the best, those girls I just mentioned have a lot to do with that!
In the end, win or lose, Tuesday night versus Brush, you will see a team with values compete. Win or lose, those Blue Streaks will stick to their values, and that is something no one can argue or ever take from them.
As for them being an “underdog” in this one, well, so was David……
“1 Samuel 17:49 – And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang [it], and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.”
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***ABOUT THE AUTHOR ***
Vince McKee is a 13x published author, several of which spent a considerable amount of time on the Amazons best seller list. Vince has interviewed everyone from Kenny Lofton, Mike Hargrove and Jim Thome, to Larry Nance, Craig Ehlo, Joe Tait and Bill Belichick for his books. Vince enjoys spending time with his wife Emily along with his daughters Maggie and Madelyn. If given the choice for a final meal, he would choose the Concession Stand Hot Dogs at Magnificat.
A FULL PHOTO GALLERY CAN BE FOUND ON THE NEXT PAGE.
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