Kamryn Gallis spent the last two seasons sitting at the end of the Bethlehem Catholic bench filling up water bottles.
Cheering on her future teammates. Watching. Waiting for her opportunity.
That finally came on Monday. Dec. 1 when the Golden Hawks visited Liberty, a PIAA 6A Tournament qualifier last season, in a tremendous season-opening matchup at Memorial Gymnasium.
The freshman daughter of the program’s former all-time leading scorer, Tiffany Bedics-Gallis, took advantage of the spotlight by scoring 25 points to lead all scorers and send a message to the league with a 68-34 victory over the Hurricanes.
“I would say it was all about trusting the work that we put in. We’ve been in the gym for months, so just like coach [Arnold Alleyne] always says, not rising to the occasion but sinking to our preparation,” Gallis said on her breakout game. “That’s really what we focus on.”
Gallis featured a confident perimeter jumper, efficiency at the free-throw line, as well as an ability to get there often, to help the defending District 11 5A champions start the season on a high note.
The official regular season, that is.
“We’ve put the work in. This is probably our 13th game already because our fall schedule has been so heavy,” Alleyne said. “Since you play in the fall so much already, you come in game one and just keep moving forward.”
Returning senior starters Aliyah Brame and Leah Ault looked great as well for the Golden Hawks as they prepare to take on extended leadership roles with almost every other contributing player last season lost to graduation or transfer
Ault drilled a corner 3-pointer on the season’s first possession and racked up 13 points in the process as her role shifts from a defensive stopper into a reliable scorer for Alleyne’s group. Needless to say, she’s enjoying the extra responsibility, as is the rest of the team.
“I’m just grateful that my coach has entrusted me with being that leader and a captain on the team, helping to guide the freshmen,” Ault said. “But, obviously, Kam and Ayva [Radande] are doing amazing with fulfilling that role and I’m just grateful that I have the opportunity to see that and help guide them through this.”
It’s one thing for a young player to catch an opponent by surprise early on in her career with an impactful offensive game, but it’s quite another to step in and not miss a beat defensively against one of the state’s top guards.
Liberty senior Ava Kopetskie is a returning tri-MVP of the EPC, and even though the Golden Hawks had already invoked the mercy rule in the fourth quarter, Gallis kept providing relentless defensive effort against the Loyola Maryland commit.
It led to a five-second violation getting called, declaring the star freshman’s arrival and showing that nothing will be easy against her and Bethlehem Catholic this season.
“The whole game I’m just keeping the mindset of being hungry and being a dog,” Gallis said. “She’s a great player, so I’m just trying my best to keep my hustle 100 percent and trying my best to shut her down.”
Lehighton stuns Notre Dame-Green Pond in Colonial League opener
As the defending Colonial League girls champions with a handful of returning starters, Notre Dame-Green Pond, as it often does, entered the season as the league favorite. The Crusaders are closing in on 1,000 wins in program history for a reason, but a brutal start to the campaign was made worse as they travelled to Lehighton for the league season-opener.
Lehighton received contributions from Ryleigh Trotman (14 points) and Leah Uyvari (nine points) while freshmen Brielle Parliman and Ava Serfass added 15 more to help the Indians knock off the defending champions 42-32 on Thursday night. All four players scored in a massive fourth quarter as coach Nadia Gauronsky’s group pulled away for an early statement victory.
Alexa Davis enjoys a career night for the Blue Eagles
It didn’t take long for someone to deliver the first 30-point game of the season as Nazareth senior Alexa Davis bombarded Freedom with eight 3-pointers on her way to the first 30-point game of her high school career in a lopsided 60-29 win.
After a disappointing 22-point game as a team against Hazleton, the Blue Eagles couldn’t seem to miss in their first league game of the season, which was also their home opener. Sophomore guard Karly Leszcynski added four more treys while Carly Brown added a 13th in Monday night’s rout of the Patriots.
Standout players
Eva Glover, Emmaus: The whole league knows about Gabby DeVita in Emmaus, but a new name is emerging for the defending EPC champions as well. Sophomore Eva Glover appeared in just three games last season without registering a point, but a 20-point effort against Nazareth followed up a previous career-high of 14 points against Allentown Central Catholic on Monday.
Jayla Rosario, Dieruff: In what could be the most anticipated Dieruff season in 20 years, the center of the excitement, senior guard Jayla Rosario, is showing why. She’s already registered a pair of 20-point games for the Huskies who handled all four opponents this week by double digits to start the season 4-0.
Maggie Gorman, Saucon Valley: There wasn’t much to get excited about last season for Saucon Valley and one of those returning players is doing her part to flip the script this year. Maggie Gorman exploded for 20 points in the season-opener against Moravian Academy to kickstart what could be a turnaround season for the Panthers in John Tone’s first season.
Player of the Week
Kamryn Gallis, Bethlehem Catholic: Gallis wasn’t just a one-game wonder against Liberty as the breakout star engineered another team-high 16 points against William Allen to help the Golden Hawks outscore league opponents by 76 points in just two games. She proceeded to make all 11 of her free throws against South Bronx Prep to close out a 64-62 and cap off a 24-point night.
Coach Alleyne’s new playmaker shouldn’t just have her sights on the area’s freshman of the year because it appears player of the year is potentially in the cards for the Lehigh Valley’s newest superstar.
Other notes
Easton is off to a scintillating start as a balanced attack of Nat Amato, Melina Cole, Gabby Wismer, Elena Brunetti, Ava Muhammad and others sparked two blowout wins against Northampton and Allentown Central Catholic to open the season … Stroudsburg’s new look big three of Teagan Strunk, Jorai Hunter and Adriana Borzio all averaged double figures in a 3-1 start for the Mounties … Natalie Conner’s 22 points were enough for Northwestern Lehigh to hold off Northern Lehigh 58-44 in an exciting league opener … Juliana Bonham erupted for 24 points in a 61-33 win over Jim Thorpe to begin her highly anticipated sophomore season … Cheryllana Cunningham contributed a pair of double-digit performances to lead Parkland to a 2-0 start to the season … Kendra Morgan and Roxana Cardenas combined for 37 points to help Salisbury start with a win over Lehigh Valley Academy … Jodi Bowen added another 20-point performance to a terrific week for local players with a 22-point effort to pace Pocono Mountain West against ES North.
Standings (through 12/7)
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
(overall and division record)
Northampton Division
Becahi; 3-0; 1-0
Easton; 2-1; 1-0
Nazareth; 2-2; 1-0
Liberty; 1-2; 0-1
Freedom; 1-2; 0-1
Northampton; 1-2; 0-1
Lehigh Division
Dieruff; 4-0; 1-0
Parkland; 2-0; 1-0
Emmaus; 2-1; 1-0
Whitehall; 1-3; 0-1
ACCHS; 0-4; 0-1
William Allen; 0-3; 0-2
Monroe Division
Stroudsburg; 3-1; 2-0
PM West; 2-1; 2-0
PM East; 1-1; 1-1
Pleasant Valley; 1-2; 1-1
ES South; 0-3; 0-2
ES North; 0-5; 0-2
Colonial League
(overall and division record)
East Division
Wilson Area; 3-0; 1-0
Pen Argyl; 2-0; 1-0
Bangor; 0-3; 0-0
Notre Dame-GP; 0-3; 0-0
Moravian Academy; 0-3; 0-2
West Division
NW Lehigh; 2-1; 1-0
Palmerton; 1-0; 1-0
Lehighton; 1-0; 0-0
Jim Thorpe; 0-1; 0-0
Northern Lehigh; 0-2; 0-2
South Division
Catasauqua; 2-0; 1-0
Saucon Valley; 2-0; 0-0
Salisbury; 1-0; 0-0
Palisades; 0-2; 0-0
Southern Lehigh; 0-3; 0-1
Rankings
1. Becahi 3-0
2. Parkland 2-0
3. Emmaus 2-1
4. Easton 2-1
5. Dieruff 4-0
6. Nazareth 2-2
7. NW Lehigh 2-1
8. Palmerton 1-0
9. Wilson 3-0
10. Lehighton 1-0
Just missed: Stroudsburg (3-1), Catasauqua (2-0), Executive Education (1-1)
Top scorers (through 12/7)
(Name, school, average)
Juliana Bonham; Wilson Area; 24.0
Jodi Bowen; PM West; 22.0
Natalie Conner; NW Lehigh; 22.0
Kamryn Gallis; Becahi; 21.7
Jayla Rosario; Dieruff; 19.3
Roxana Cardenas; Salisbury; 19.0
Ava Kopetskie; Liberty; 18.0
Kendra Morgan; Salisbury; 18.0
Courtney Connell; Palmerton; 17.0
Hailey Jenkins; Catasauqua; 16.5
Aliyah Brame; Becahi; 14.3
Ryleigh Trotman; Lehighton; 14.0
Kaylin Stewart; Catasauqua; 14.0
Leah Ault; Becahi; 13.7
Teagan Strunk; Stroudsburg; 13.3
Maggie Gorman; Saucon Valley; 13.0
Zyarriah Lanier; PM West; 13.0
Gabby DeVita; Emmaus; 12.7
Aniya Holder; Dieruff; 12.7
Cheryllana Cunningham; Parkland; 12.5
Kendall Medina; Executive Education; 12.5
Eva Glover; Emmaus; 12.3
Eliana Marques; Southern Lehigh; 12.0