The long ride to happiness

Jasmine Daniels disliked Cheltenham High enough to take on the 45-minute morning commute to Ss. John Neumann and Maria Goretti.

Though she hops a ride to 10th and Moore with her parents, Martin and Elise Daniels, who work at University of Pennsylvania Hospital, the move doesn’t come without sacrifice — like leaving at 6:45 a.m. and sometimes skipping breakfast.

But, so far, the 15-year-old sophomore has no regrets.

"I feel more at home around these players," Daniels said as her teammates warmed up for last Thursday’s game against Archbishop Prendergast. "At Cheltenham, I just talked to my teammates at school. With these teammates I go to other games and we are like a family."

After seeing limited playing time as a Cheltenham freshman, the Saints’ starting point guard is making an immediate impact on the Philadelphia Catholic League scene, averaging nine points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals a game. Coach Chip Reitano is especially impressed with the way the newcomer has stepped up as a team leader.

"If you watch her play, it’s amazing to see how much of a leader she is for a 15-year-old," said the coach, who met Daniels at a summer Amateur Athletic Union event. "She is not afraid to take control of the team."

It’s a variation from her quiet and subdued off-the-court personality, but the straight-A student said she likes to talk a lot on the floor.

"I can be loud and yell a lot," Daniels said.

The team’s December trip to Fort Lauderdale for the Rock Holiday Classic only solidified the players’ family-like bond. When the athletes weren’t competing against teams from Florida and Kentucky, they were busy throwing each other into the hotel pool or having pillow fights in their rooms.

"We were with each other all the time, and got real close as a team," said Daniels.

But the most memorable part of the whole trip was the Saints advancing to the tournament semifinals and finishing third overall.

Daniels now starts every game, and has developed the winning attitude that has eluded the former Goretti Lambs for close to two decades. Their last trip to the Catholic League playoffs was in 1986; their last Southern Division crown came in 1982. This could be the season Neumann-Goretti fills the postseason void.

Despite losing 47-44 to Prendergast at the buzzer last Thursday, the 4-6 Saints are holding on to the fourth and final Southern Division playoff spot. Neumann-Goretti closes the regular season at Hallahan on Tuesday and a home game against Little Flower on Feb. 17.

The squad heads into today’s non-league contest against Friends Select with an overall record of 15-7, and is on pace to top last year’s 16-win mark — the most wins for a Lambs basketball team in at least 20 years.

The achievement just happens to be coinciding with the team’s first year as the consolidated Neumann-Goretti Saints.

"It’s like a fresh start for us," Daniels said.

The point guard is equally excited about how well the Neumann-Goretti boys are playing. The team — currently 17th in the USA Today top-25 poll — is a popular topic of conversation on the rides to school. Last Thursday, for instance, Daniels and her parents talked about how the squad squeaked out a 74-69 overtime win against Roman Catholic the night before.

The guard is so impressed with the boys’ 19-1 record that she is trying to get the girls’ team ranked — a strong but challenging goal, especially with powerhouse programs Archbishop Carroll and Cardinal O’Hara in the way. Carroll, who defeated Neumann-Goretti 57-45 Tuesday night, was ranked 16th in USA Today, while O’Hara was ranked 19th nationally last week.

For now, the focus is on claiming the coveted postseason nod. It’s the first step toward recapturing the glory days of the 1976 and ’78 seasons — when Goretti won its only two Catholic League titles. The championship banner is still hanging in the new gymnasium, and plenty of space remains for Daniels and her teammates to add more.

With his point guard and several other key players expected to return next season, Reitano remains equally optimistic about the future.

"Jasmine is going to be a cornerstone to the program for the next two-plus years," the coach said.

Thus, Daniels isn’t the only one benefiting from her decision to leave Cheltenham — and she’s hoping for an even bigger pay-off in the form of a college basketball scholarship.

"Getting a college scholarship would be a dream so my parents don’t have to pay for me to go to college," she said. "They sacrifice a lot for me, and it would be great to repay them."