From winless to dominant: How St. Joseph’s girls basketball turned its program around

Just two years ago, low participation numbers due to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy from holding an official girls basketball season.

For most programs, even one canceled season is a potentially massive blow. Not only does it prevent current players from competing against other schools’ competition — it holds back the development of younger players.

The path back to success for St. Joe’s wasn’t easy after a winless 2022-23 season, but despite it all, the Wolfpack is currently one of Pennsylvania’s best girls basketball teams.

After Wednesday’s 63-51 win over Millersburg High School, the team is an unscathed 14-0 this season behind veteran coach Bethany Irwin, who came out of retirement after more than two decades coaching in State College to join the Wolfpack last year.

“They took ownership. They trusted the process. And they work really, really hard,” Irwin said of her team’s turnaround.

Make no mistake, though: the 180-degree flip in record has been no accident. Since taking over, Irwin has instilled toughness, accountability and basketball fundamentals into a program and its players that needed them after fighting through some tough seasons.

Canceled season

When SJCA canceled its girls basketball season for 2021-22, then-seniors Kate Youngmark and Sophia LaPorta led the way by bringing the team together to continue practices, play scrimmages against other schools and recruit more students to play.

Even though it would be their last season with St. Joe’s, Youngmark and LaPorta paved the way for the next season’s players to maintain their skills and conditioning.

Katie Sosnoskie, the team’s head coach during the canceled season, said at the time that the pair of seniors’ commitment to bringing everybody together for basketball was “a testament to their work ethic in continuing their legacy at Saint Joe’s.”

Scrimmages and practices were the best, and only, option for the program’s girls basketball players for a full school year.

Kelsey Prospero, a senior this season that’s been around “through the misery” according to Irwin, said she didn’t want to see her basketball program sink.

“St. Joe’s girls sports have struggled the past four years after COVID and everything,” Prospero said. “I (would have hated) to see basketball be a struggle as a result.”

The SJCA program was a successful one before its canceled season. From 2018-2021, the Wolfpack girls basketball team accumulated a 59-30 record and made it to both district and state playoffs.

All of a sudden though, there was no next season to look forward to despite that success.

Without Youngmark and LaPorta’s leadership in organizing competition for their team, the SJCA girls basketball program may have struggled even more to get back on track.

In 2022-23, St. Joe’s got just enough players to put a team together and brought in a new head coach that had a challenge ahead of her: leading the program back to its pre-2021-22 success.

‘Establish a team and survive it’

After 23 years and 399 wins as the head coach at State College Area High School, Irwin retired from coaching in 2016 to spend more time with her family and watch her kids in their own athletic journeys.

She and her husband, Rob, who’s also her assistant coach that knows her system “inside and out,” spent time away from coaching basketball.

After six years, though, the Penn State women’s basketball alum told him that she wanted to get back into it — not because she needed to, but because she wanted to.

“I’ve been involved in (basketball) for my entire life,” Irwin said. “I also love this game enough to coach it, and I know how to coach it.”

By chance, St. Joe’s was looking for a coach. It was undoubtedly a challenging job, but not one that Irwin was going to shy away from.

“When this position opened up, I thought, ‘Oh, what the heck, let’s go give it a whirl,’” Irwin said. “I’m so thankful that I had this opportunity.“

After rounding up nine players, two of which hadn’t played basketball before and three of which were starting as freshmen, the new St. Joe’s coach’s goal was just to “establish a team and survive it,” without focusing on scores or the team’s record.

Playing a varsity schedule with a young team that was mostly new to the sport, Irwin had to be a basketball teacher just as much as she was a coach. She brought in officials to talk about rules of the game, taught fundamental skills and emphasized learning the game while enjoying it.

Even through that 0-17 season, Irwin’s players stayed focused.

“The commitment that they had to have last year was outstanding,” Irwin said.

From the start, Prospero, who was one of the few players rejoining the team from before, knew her new coach would make a significant impact.

“I knew she was going to turn this team around. She’s passionate for the sport and knows how to push people to do their best,” Prospero said. “She decided when she took this job that she was going to turn this program around, and that’s exactly what she did.”

The team stayed positive, even through a rough season.

“Lacking motivation after several losses was hard, but it made each and every one of us stronger,” Prospero said. “That particular team will always be special because we stuck together. There was no negativity of blaming someone for a bad game or negative words about losses.”

Going from worst to first

Almost as soon as the Wolfpack’s winless 2022-23 season ended, Irwin started open gyms for the current season. They weren’t for just for coming to shoot around — they were for drills and learning basketball concepts.

She still had a strong turnout from the team.

“I’ve seen each girl push themselves to their full potential on and off the court to make this program possible,” Prospero said.

There are a few on-the-court differences between last season and this season. Aubrey Yartz, a sophomore, shouldered a large responsibility on last year’s team as a ball handler, post player and rebounder. Now, she’s been able to focus on post play with a few new guards added into the mix.

One of those additions was Naomi Crispin, a sophomore that moved to the area when her father, Joe, was brought onto Penn State men’s basketball’s coaching staff.

“I knew their record wasn’t great (last season) ... but I knew (Irwin) was gonna be a good coach for me,” Crispin said. “I wanted to be part of a program where I could help the program grow.”

Crispin’s shooting and playmaking ability with Yartz’ height in the paint has created a well-balanced St. Joe’s offensive attack. On Wednesday, the pair played a significant role in the team’s win over Millersburg.

Compared to last season, Irwin has upped the expectations for her squad. Practices are intense. After going over their performance in their last game and reviewing how they managed their set goals, the Wolfpack practice just as hard as they play.

Irwin has brought a toughness and discipline to the program that isn’t easy to find. She’s direct with her players and wants them to all be “strong and demanding.”

Yartz said she feels like she can take strong criticism from her coach and it helps her learn.

“I’ve never really had a coach that’s really yelled at me like she has,” Yartz said.

This year, SJCA has 14 players on its girls basketball roster. The team is young, with 11 of them either a freshman or sophomore, but is handling opponents with ease through 14 games.

With a group of players that Crispin called “really good friends” and a head coach that Prospero said “knows the game inside and out” and knows how to “improve each individual as a player and person,” St. Joe’s has established a winning environment once again.

As she continues to lead her team through its dominant season, Irwin wants her players, and any girls basketball player, to watch and learn from the women’s athletes at the pinnacle of the sport.

“You don’t have to watch men’s basketball. Watch women play and understand what’s happening,” Irwin said. “Look at all these strong females in front of them. They need to see that.”