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Springside School’s 45-16 victory over Mount St. Joseph in last Thursday’s Lou Cappiello League contest seems surprising unless one is aware that the Mount employs no varsity veterans at the summer hoops sessions in Roxborough.

Only incoming freshmen and members of last winter’s JV squad participate for the Magic, while the more experienced MSJ players see action in another league at Hatboro Horsham High School. The younger Mounties have been competitive in some Cappiello league games, but last week they were overwhelmed by an older and larger Springside squad that boasts a number of new recruits.

Six of the nine players who scored for the Lions have never seen the inside of a Springside classroom, except on a visitors’ tour. Three transfers from Cardinal Dougherty, rising senior Brenna Coll and juniors Michelle Boggs and Elana Roadcloud, posted 11, eight, and two points, respectively for the winners.

Three points came from 6’3” incoming freshman Erin Garner, whose older brother Malik is a standout at Chestnut Hill Academy. The Lions also got one field goal apiece from two other new ninth graders, guards Julia Schumaker (Colonial Middle School) and Madi Sehn (Norwood Fontbonne Academy).

The scoring in Thursday’s contest was rounded out by three players who entered Springside last year, juniors Sydni Epps (six points) and Ashlee Hale (three), and sophomore Gianna Pownall (eight).

With seven points on the night, MSJ sophomore and Norwood alum Anne Burgoyne shared high-scorer honors with Carly Monzo, who has just finished her eighth-grade year at Penn Charter and is now moving over to the Mount. A versatile forward, Monzo played together with Springside’s Schumacher on the CYO team at St. Philip Neri. The other two points for Mount St. Joe’s came from Regan Gallagher, whose older sister Ryann was a senior starter on the school’s 2008 state championship team.

Also taking the court for the Magic were two other incoming freshmen with family ties to the program. Gen Hagedorn’s older sister Elle was the Catholic Academies MVP as a senior in 2009, and Jenny Geatens’ sister Meg is currently a sophomore on the Mount’s varsity team. Sophomore guard Kiki Saraceni played for the Magic last Thursday, as well.

Monzo hit a lay-up and a free throw in the early going, but even though Springside missed a number of lay-ups, the Lions were up 13-3 midway through the first half. The Magic had no one taller than 5’9”, and were trying to contend with Garner, the 6’1” Boggs, and Epps, Coll, and Roadcloud, who are all in the 5’10” – 5’11” range.

Enjoying a 24-5 advantage at the intermission, Springside went on to ring up the first 10 points of the second half, getting lay-ups from five different players. Late in the game, the young Mounties did a better job of protecting the basketball and passing it around on offense to get better looks at the hoop, more than doubling their output from the first half.