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When she tore a knee as a freshman at the now-shuttered Germantown High School, Romeira Tucker feared she might never play basketball again. Her worry proved particularly troubling, as she had been calling on the sport to provide direction for three years. Having never lost her voracity for celebrating victories, the senior guard/forward will look to lead the Universal Audenried Charter High School Rockets, 3301 Tasker St., to distinction in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association tournament, with their first-round tilt set for Saturday.
“We’re going to take it one game at a time, and we’re going to play our best,” the 18-year-old said Monday at her Grays Ferry secondary education site, where she and her teammates prepped for their trip to Dallastown. “This has been a great year, and we can accomplish much more.”
As District 12’s Class AAA fourth seed, the hoopsters will face Greencastle-Antrim, District 3’s top squad. Entering with a 17-8 mark, they will rely heavily on Tucker not only for her scoring touch but also her maturity, the latter endowment something that assistant coach Hanief Robinson finds irrepressible.
“She has brought such intensity to the team,” the overseer said of the fellow Germantown inhabitant. “She’s not the average 18-year-old because of how much responsibility she possesses.”
Last summer, Robinson, who had heard of Tucker for her freshman year feats, which included a 48-point effort, connected with the teenager through a clinic and immediately found her possessive of raw talent. Knowing she needed a push, he helped to orchestrate her transfer from Martin Luther King High School, a move he said has “revived her wave.”
“I love being a part of the winning mentality at Audenried,” Tucker, the Rockets’ leading scorer, averaging 14.8 points, along with 5.8 rebounds and 3.4 steals, said of combining with her colleagues and coach Kevin Slaughter, of the 2400 block of Moore Street, to form a formidable club.
“To be blunt, I think people gave up on Romeira,” the Point Breeze denizen said of the 5-foot-7 sniper. “When many kids face adversity, they give up. She hasn’t and that’s very admirable.”
Along with her knee dilemma, which robbed her of two years, Tucker also had to endure stomach surgery. With the setbacks having decimated her self-esteem, she relished the opportunity to contribute to a young unit and has gradually gained her game back, including an explosive first step that has kept defenses from deeming her only a perimeter powerhouse. Her rejuvenated regard for her skill-set could prove problematic for Saturday’s foe, just as it did for Platinum Division opponents, against whom Audenried registered an 11-2 mark. With the boys’ unit also competing in the state tournament, March could make for a mighty monumental month for the Rockets, with Tucker determined to test her ever-evolving talent against venerable adversaries.
“I hate losing,” she said. “We’re not going there just to compete. We want to win it all.”
Having commenced her
basketball journey as a sixth-grader, Tucker prized her participation as that which removed her from troublesome situations to which she had earlier fallen prey. Constantly crafting her identity as an athlete, she never strayed from the pastime, with her freshman year injury crushing her spirit.
“Basketball means everything to me, so I was very upset when I couldn’t go to play,” Tucker confessed. “I really thought I was done for good, and that hurt.”
Thanks to physical therapy and belief in her abilities, she foresaw being able to offer solid contributions to Audenried, offerings that others doubted she could provide.
“People were a bit low on what we could do for her,” Robinson said of aiding her progression, noting critics had expressed concern over Audenried’s chances of molding her enough to merit college interest. “What they don’t know is that she has fire. This year is proof of that.”
Combatting naysayers with ease, Tucker has tallied 354 points, earned First-Team division honors and bonded with sophomore guard Tatyana Sao, a Second-Team honoree, to form The Splash Sisters, a feminized form of the nickname that Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson have received for their long-range aptitude. The year has unfolded wonderfully for the Rockets, whose ledger includes capturing December’s Lower Merion Holiday Classic, scoring two playoff victories, including a 65-52 triumph over The Academy at Palumbo, 1100 Catharine St., in which Tucker deposited 27 points, and advancing to the AAA Public League final.
“Romeira has been special for us all year long, and I’m proud to have this chance to watch her grow,” Slaughter, who will look to hone more talent this summer through his founder and CEO roles with the South Philadelphia Urban Youth League centered at Smith Playground, 2100 S. 24th St., said. “It’s a testament to her will that she’s come back so strong.”
The beloved baller has indeed garnered enthusiasm from college programs, with Edinboro University the chief pursuer. Looking to raise her SAT score, which she will attempt March 14, she intends to major in sports management, with an eye on becoming an agent. Robinson looks forward to keeping up with her progress no matter where she lands, but before she leaves the environs, he and his charge are hoping for a large local celebration.
“The state tournament is big,” Tucker said. “We want to show who we are, and that’s going to mean being as focused as we’ve been the whole year.”
Contact Managing Editor Joseph Myers at jmyers@southphillyreview.com or ext. 124. Comment at southphillyreview.com/sports/features.
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