Editor’s note: This story of friendship is so unusual that it became the talk of reporters, coaches and even fans. Five senior captains from five different schools – teammates on Montgomery Fusion 18U AAU – became each other’s biggest supporters and best friends. The article below is sponsored on behalf of Montgomery Fusion by B&T Landscape and Patio Design. (Photos provided by the Skwad)
By Mary Jane Souder
They call themselves the ‘Skwad.’
It’s a simple enough name, this semi-intentional misspelling of squad, but it encompasses a most unique and remarkable group of friends.
Theirs is, in many ways, an improbable friendship. A friendship that was forged during their AAU playing days for Montgomery Fusion U18, a friendship that tore down walls between archrivals and created an unbreakable bond.
Roll back the calendar to March 15, 2016.
North Penn’s Mikaela Giuliani - the lone player in her team’s locker room after the Knights’ season-ending loss to Cardinal O’Hara in a PIAA Class AAAA semifinal contest - is languishing through a postgame interview. Suddenly and without warning, the door to the locker room bursts open and the team’s only senior disappears in the middle of a group hug.
Friends comforting friends is hardly unusual. Players from opposing teams the first to arrive on the scene – that’s highly unlikely in the competitive world of high school sports. Yet, it was Erica DeCandido (Gwynedd Mercy), Kyra Scaliti (Central Bucks East), Jordan Vitelli (Central Bucks South) and Abby Ward (Lansdale Catholic) who were the first to offer support and comfort to Giuliani.
“After that loss – obviously, my last high school game ever, it’s a really emotional time, and they were the only people I wanted to see, before I saw my parents, before I saw anybody else,” the Knights’ senior captain said. “The fact that they came and rushed into the locker room - I just couldn’t have been happier to see them.
“Even though I was crying, I couldn’t stop smiling when they came in.”
For members of the Skwad, being there for Giuliani felt like the most natural thing in the world.
“We all sprinted down the steps into the locker room,” Ward said.
“We couldn’t wait,” Vitelli said. “We knew it was such a hard loss, and we wanted to make sure she was okay.”
It’s been more than three months since their final high school basketball seasons ended, and the five seniors – captains of their respective high school teams - are all but inseparable. If it sounds like an unlikely story, it is.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire. “It’s very unique, and it’s kind of special.”
More than just basketball
Montgomery Fusion might not be a big name on the AAU basketball circuit, and the 18U team coached by Brian Duross has a decidedly different approach, practicing just twice a week for 90 minutes.
“(Our coach) brought in different elements to make sure it wasn’t just basketball all the time,” Vitelli said.
The CB South senior goes on to recount the story of a young girl battling cancer named Noelle Weinhold whose grandfather grew up with Duross.
“She grew up in Lancaster where Spooky Nook has these big tournaments,” the CB South senior said. “When we would go to Lancaster, we became close to her - we have shirts that say ‘Team Noelle.’
“It was fun because she would sit on our bench. When you would come off – I know I would go down and sit next to her and have a conversation with her during games. We would hang out with her, get food after the games.”
Noelle attended this year’s Coaches vs. Cancer game at CB East, pitting the Patriots against CB South. Her mother, Sara Weinhold, was the keynote speaker at the event.
“She’s like an extension of our Fusion family,” Scaliti said.
After the Coaches vs. Cancer game, Noelle and her family went back to the Scaliti’s home where they were joined by the Fusion squad.
“One time when we were in Lancaster, her mom invited us to her house,” Giuliani said. “Our entire team went to her house and had pizza and hung out with her and her family.
“We gave her a uniform that was signed by all of us. When we won Spooky Nook, we got a big trophy and we sent it to her family. That’s just one example of things our coach did to make sure it wasn’t basketball all the time and just proved that it’s about the relationships you have with people. It’s not just what you do on the court.”
Sharing those off-the-court experiences created a special bond.
“Our coaches Brian and Whit (Laura Whitney) also made us really close,” Scaliti said. “I feel like they taught us a lot of life lessons. It wasn’t just about basketball.
“We did this one thing – what’s your story, and you had to get up for a minute and explain yourself a little bit,”
“Along with that, we didn’t play basketball every practice,” Ward said. “Some days we stopped 45 minutes early and we just played kickball and whiffle ball or ping pong.”
During the summer months, the Fusion practiced outside with practices often followed by getting something to eat – as a team.
“Most AAU teams separate after the games, but we go back to one room and eat,” Ward said. “We all went to the zoo together, we all went to the Washington Monument together.”
“Our coach would always say it wasn’t about wins and losses,” DeCandido said. “He said – especially for girls’ basketball, it’s about the memories off the court, so he definitely tried to emphasize that.”
“One thing he also did – before and after every game, there was a person assigned to speak,” Vitelli said. “Before the game, a player would have to pick us up and motivate us.
“After the game, they would talk about what we did good and what we did wrong, and I think that helped us to be more comfortable, and it helped us grow up and mature.”
“I learned a lot about basketball,” Scaliti said. “But I think I honestly learned more about life than basketball.”
A water balloon fight after the team’s final practice of the season underscored that fun is definitely a huge part of the equation for this team. The players bought white t-shirts and added food coloring to the water in the balloons.
“Then there was a downpour,” Giuliani said. “None of us wanted to leave and we went mud sliding.
“I think that’s why our AAU team was so good. No one really knew about us. We’re not really a big AAU brand name, but we won so many games, and it’s just because of how close we were with each other and how much we enjoy basketball and being with each other. It really showed on the court.”
Back to the beginning
Giuliani, Ward and DeCandido have known each other for a lifetime. All three grew up just houses apart.
“They’ve always been friends and played on teams together growing up,” coach Brian Duross said. “The Giulianis, the DeCandidos and the Wards - they have the kind of houses where kids can hang out all day and feel comfortable. All three of those parents are like that, and it fosters that environment.”
When the three neighbors were in seventh grade, Giuliani’s mother – Laura Giuliani – started an AAU team with members of Mikaela’s Montgomery travel team. The squad included DeCandido, Ward and Archbishop Wood standout Bailey Greenberg and was coached by two of the fathers, Chip Greenberg and Mike Giuliani. Pennridge junior Ashley George and Mount St. Joseph senior Sarah Wills were also part of the team from the outset.
Scaliti and Vitelli entered the picture a few years later. Scaliti, who had played for several AAU teams, found out about Montgomery Fusion from her mother.
“Somehow Mr. Greenberg and my mom were talking, and I went and tried out,” Scaliti said.
Vitelli first heard about Montgomery Fusion while at a tryout for another AAU team, thanks to a text from her father, Joe Vitelli, who went to school with Mike Giuliani at Bishop McDevitt. A selling point was the fact that Scaliti – friends of several of Vitelli’s CB South teammates - was on the team.
“I knew she was going to try out, so I texted her about the team and decided to try out,” Vitelli said. “Kyra and I got really close.”
It wasn’t long before Scaliti and Vitelli began spending time at the Giuliani’s house where they were joined by Ward and DeCandido.
“When we weren’t playing basketball, we were just always there,” DeCandido said.
The summer prior to their junior year, they spent time together at the Scaliti’s shore house, and the following winter, it was not uncommon to see them at each other’s games.
“Since Jordan and Kyra were close and they got close to Mikaela and were always at her house and Abby and I always go to Mikaela’s house – when we weren’t playing basketball, we were just always there,” DeCandido said.
“We were together every weekend for tournaments,” Giuliani said. “When that stopped, we still kept hanging out every weekend. We mesh really well together.
“We’re all the same type of person,” Vitelli said. “We have different qualities, but we all enjoy most of the same things. We’re kind of different, but we laugh about the same things.
“We all have such a love for basketball. I think people who love the sport gravitate together.”
Still, there’s no mistaking the friendship they forged is hardly the norm.
“AAU kids – they get together, they’re competitive and they bond during the spring and summer, but November rolls around, and it’s back to your high school basketball team,” deMarteleire said. “You reconnect with them and you don’t see each other again until March when the season ends, but these girls definitely have a bond that is forged beyond that.”
Hitting the game circuit
Remarkably, there were three 1,000-point scorers in the Skwad – DeCandido, Giuliani and Vitelli.
“Jordan made it when it Mikaela scored her 1,000th point,” deMarteleire said. “Unfortunately, for Mikaela (who also was playing a game that night), it didn’t work out that she could do the same in return.
“It was pretty neat to see all the girls from the different schools supporting each other.”
DeCandido had a game at Episcopal Academy the same day Giuliani reached the 1,000-point milestone.
“I asked Mr. Lonergan – ‘Am I allowed to leave?’” DeCandido recalled. “He said, ‘Go,’ so I was there afterwards.”
Vitelli reached the 1,000-point milestone in her team’s district win at Upper Dublin.
“I got back to South, and Abby, Kyra and Erica were at my car,” she said. “They painted my car and had balloons in it with a gift for me. We went to Mikaela’s afterwards.”
When the postseason rolled around, they became each other’s biggest – and most vocal - supporters.
“We sit together and you know we’re there,” Vitelli said. “We’re the loudest people in the gym.
“Every time North Penn scored, we’d be up or if a foul was called we didn’t agree with, we were loud. In a dead silent gym, one of us would get up and yell, ‘Go Mikaela.’”
“Mr. Lonergan walked into the O’Hara/North Penn game, and I talked to him at halftime,” DeCandido said of Gwynedd coach Tom Lonergan. “He said, ‘Oh, I wonder where Erica is,’ and all of a sudden Mikaela gets called for a foul, and you see one lone person rise in the stands and start screaming, and he said, ‘Oh, there she is.’ We lose our voices every game.”
Road trips were not uncommon. Ward, Giuliani, Scaliti and Vitelli made the trip to Harriton for Gwynedd’s district game against Bonner-Prendergast. The Monarchs led 23-5 after one quarter and took a 38-10 lead into halftime when DeCandido – before exiting the locker room for the second half – sent a hasty text to her friends telling them they should leave. They stayed until the final horn.
“You could how close they are because to stay to the end of that game took a lot,” Lonergan said.
Duross recalls attending one of DeCandido’s district games that also was a rout.
“Mikaela said, ‘Coach, how do you do this?’ because she was bored out of her mind,” Duross recalled. “I said, ‘It isn’t easy.’
“I started laughing and said, ‘You should thank me a lot more now because I’m paying five bucks to watch this.’”
Sometimes the trips weren’t easy either, but that didn’t deter members of the Skwad.
Connections, lots of connections
Scaliti, Vitelli and Upper Dublin senior Allison Chernow made the trek to Milton Hershey School to watch Gwynedd Mercy’s state opener against Greencastle-Antrim.
Chernow’s connection to the Skwad began with her friendship with South senior Taylor Dunn in 10th grade on the AAU circuit.
“We saw each other at tournaments, and we would all hang out,” UD’s senior captain said. “It’s really cool when we play each other because the atmosphere makes it that much more fun. There were times when Taylor and I would go to high five, and we’d realize we can’t do that.”
Their respective coaches warned them to save their friendship until after the games, but it didn’t always work.
“I remember in ‘the game’ Mikaela fell and the play was down at the other end of the court, but I went back and helped her up, and we jogged down the court,” Vitelli said of South’s district showdown against North Penn.
Her action did not go unnoticed, and the story goes that Vitelli’s grandfather shouted a friendly reminder from the stands - ‘Jordan, what are you doing?’
“The one play Jordan did something good, and I forgot she wasn’t on my team and said, ‘good job,’” Giuliani said. “Wait – wrong team.”
Central Bucks West senior captain Makenzie Mason and CB South senior captain Chloe Entenberg were also members of the Fusion as were North Penn juniors Jess Huber and Irisa Ye and Perkiomen School's Kristen Burdo.
Huber and teammate Sam Carangi, who plays for the Comets, are best friends, creating yet another connection.
“It’s crazy to think about it – they’re from rival teams,” Carangi said. “It’s not like it’s just random teams.
“It was really neat, and it’s nice to get to know people from different schools because you get a different perspective.”
“It was great to have them connect,” Huber said. “They’ve become my best friends and half of them don’t even go to my school.
“It’s nice to say you can have other people supporting you from different schools. They come to our (Fusion) practices. Bailey Greenberg even came to one. It was just great to have them all there and be role models for me and the other girls.”
Greenberg also attended as many Gwynedd games as she could over the course of the season and was at some North Penn postseason contests as well.
“I go to the (Fusion) practices because it gives me a chance to keep a ball in my hands,” Greenberg said. “I had coach Duross for a year, and I absolutely loved him – he’s such a great coach.
“I love those girls. We’ve been together for a long time.”
Ward’s teammate at LC, Lauren Crim, also plays for the younger Fusion as does Souderton’s Tori Dowd, Upper Dublin’s Josie Barrett, North Penn’s Mia Melchior and Jess McKenzie, Council Rock South’s Payton Spadaccino and Pennridge’s Brooke Bachtle.
The circle is endless.
“Basically next year, it will be like us again,” Giuliani said. “We’ll be gone, but everyone will have connections in the league because of Fusion.”
Friends for life
If ever a friendship endured the ultimate test, it came when Vitelli’s buzzer-beater from beyond halfcourt propelled CB South to a you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it overtime win that ended top-seeded North Penn’s dream of winning a district title.
“I saw (Mikaela) come out of the locker room, and I was sitting on the bench,” Vitelli said. “I knew they were all going to be upset –I didn’t want to say anything so I just ran over an gave her a hug.”
Vitelli went a step further, asking Giuliani if she wanted to hang out later that night.
“I said, ‘No,’ but I hung out with her the next day so it was all okay,” Giuliani said. “I just needed a few hours.”
“Even though I was really happy we won, in the back of my head, I still felt bad,” Vitelli said. “It was hard to be extremely happy knowing my friend was upset over it.”
Even the friends observing the game were torn.
“CB South was up the whole time and we were cheering for North Penn to get back in it,” Ward said. “Then when Jordan made that shot, there was no sound. Our jaws dropped.”
Although that game created conflicting emotions on all sides, the five Skwad members say they will always be rooting for each other.
“Even though Mikaela may have been (angry) at Jordan, she was still happy that she got to advance,” DeCandido said. “Just those little things that no matter what – somebody’s priorities are always above yours.”
DeCandido goes on to recall her team’s final game against Archbishop Wood at Archbishop Ryan High School.
“When I was hugging everyone at the end of my game, I was trying to hold back tears, but once I saw them start running toward me, I just lost it, and then Abby (Ward) lost it,” the GMA captain said. “I was like, ‘Why are you crying too?’ She said, ‘I don’t want your season to end.’
“Just seeing them running up to me and hugging me – even though we lost, this isn’t going to end just because the season ends.”
According to Vitelli, Ward cried harder after DeCandido’s final game than she did at her own. Vitelli would know – she was at both.
“Kyra and I drove up to Cardinal O’Hara for Abby’s last game,” Vitelli said. “It was an hour away, and we knew we would only get there for the last quarter, but we still went because we knew it was going to be her last game.”
“As sad as it was that my season ended early, I was able to go to all of their games,” Ward said.
It’s not unusual to see all or some of the members of the Skwad at this summer’s Fusion practices, and Duross admits it’s a special bond.
“I don’t know – they just seemed to click,” the Fusion coach said. “You don’t see it a whole lot, and that’s why this is so special. They’re great kids.
“They come to my Fusion practices now. I don’t ask them, but I tell them they’re welcome. They make our practices better, and it really helps.”
The Skwad members know they’ve stumbled upon something special.
“I feel like a lot of people in high school don’t have loyal friends consistently,” Scaliti said. “The one thing I personally can take away is having four consistently best friends that you can always count on.”
“We’re always here for each other, no matter what,” DeCandido said. “That’s a huge part throughout your high school experience.
“You’re going to go through rough patches, not even emotionally but physically too. When I sprained my ankle, Jordan was the one who massaged it at a tournament. Those little things – they’re always there to help you.”
“We’re always checking up on each other,” Vitelli said. “We tell each other everything.”
“If something good or bad happens in my life, they’re the first people I want to tell about it,” Giuliani said. “They’re always the first people we texted if we got into a school.
“They would be the first people to come to my house with ice cream if I was upset about something. That bond we have is something none of us have experienced before.”
“I think we make a big deal out of the little things for each other,” Scaliti said. “I came back from Italy after 16 days, and they were on my front steps with food and stuff.”
Scaliti celebrated her birthday while abroad, so her friends made sure a celebration awaited her when she returned.
“We were there with birthday presents and American food,” Viteli said. “Then we went out to dinner.
“I think playing basketball on the same team creates a different bond than you would make with a friend from school. I think that’s why our friendship is so unique and will last forever because of the bond we created with basketball before we created our friendship.”
While they do things together, they are more than happy to do nothing together. Their easy exchange when the subject comes up tells the story.
“We like to eat,” Vitelli said. “Or go to basketball games. Occasionally, we’ll go to the park and play basketball.
“We hang out – we’re usually in the Giuliani’s kitchen talking.”
“We eat food and watch movies,” DeCandido said.
“Or we go to Wegman’s,” Giuliani said. “We don’t really do much.”
“If you asked our mom, we’re all the same person,” Scaliti said.
All five are quick to acknowledge the significance of their Fusion experience.
“I feel like Fusion was so much more than basketball,” Scaliti said.
“It was making you not just a better player but a better person,” DeCandido said.
“Most teams are like – ball is life,” Ward said. “That’s all they focus on. We focus on friendship too.”
“I don’t think (our conversations) go the basketball route now,” Scaliti said.
They’ve given some thought about the inevitable separation that awaits them in the fall, although Scaliti and Ward will both be at Penn State and Giuliani and Vitelli will be roommates and teammates at the University of the Sciences. DeCandido will continue her basketball career at Tufts University.
They expect to be at each other’s weddings – if not in it, they joke about living next door to each other. Their futures, they say, will most definitely include each other.
“I know when I come home off break – these are the four people I’m going to want to see and spend my whole break with,” Vitelli said.
It’s a safe bet that’s not going to change any time soon.
Epilogue: The coaches’ perspective
It’s safe to say the Skwad’s impact was more far-reaching that they might have imagined. Granted, they shared something special, but they also brought something special to the games they attended.
“I’ve lost count of how many times I would look over to the stage, which is right next to our bench, and countless times I’d see Mikaela, Kyra and Jordan Vitelli,” Gwynedd coach Tom Lonergan said. “The unique thing about it too was they stayed around afterwards.
“Every single time they would come up and say ‘Congrats, coach’ and go to Erica (DeCandido) and give her big hugs. They’re just great kids, not just good friends among themselves, but they’re really the type of players that – as a coach – you really respect because they’re just great kids.
In Gwynedd’s small gym, Skwad members were impossible to miss.
“I remember when Erica was going for her thousand points,” Lonergan said. “They would come religiously to games, and they’d be holding up signs counting down to a thousand. I’m sure they did the same thing for Mikaela and Jordan.
“You clearly can tell they’re great kids and they come from great families. I know in Erica’s case, her parents are terrific. I had Kyra for a year (at CB East), and her parents are terrific. I got to know Jordan’s father, and I knew of Mikaela’s parents through Erica.
"I’m sure Brian Duross had somewhat of a hand because he always preached team bonding. It's definitely neat to see that.”
Talk to CB South coach Beth Mattern, and she credited the Skwad for making the season a bit more fun.
“When we played certain teams, there were certain connections and people we were going to see that I know were important to players on my team,” the Titans’ coach said. “It wasn’t just the usual – ‘Oh, we’re playing North Penn or CB East today.’ I think it heightened it a little bit more, and that was fun because you always want to play your best against your friends.
“They just were so supportive of each other. Honestly, whether it was a big game or a little game, they were always supportive. They were always cheering for each other and wanting them to win. It was really refreshing to see that out of high school girls who go out of their way to recognize some of the accomplishments.”
Mattern recalled a potential scheduling conflict when DeCandido was approaching the 1,000-point milestone.
“Jordan looked at me and said, ‘Coach, Erica is going to score her thousandth point that game,” said Mattern, who was more than willing to adjust her team’s practice schedule. “I said, ‘Okay, go. We’ll be done in time.’
“There was no other place she wanted to be that night than to support her when she did that.”
CB East coach Liz Potash was equally impressed with the Skwad’s dedication to each other.
“We played Pennridge on the Friday night before the SOL Challenge, so those teams had played Thursday,” the Patriots’ coach said. “I looked up in the stands at Pennridge, and they were all there holding up signs for Kyra. That doesn’t usually happen.
“Talking to Mrs. Scaliti the last two years – she’s said she’s never seen anything like it. It’s so genuine. It’s a pretty cool thing to see, and as an outsider, it is something you don’t see often.”
Potash recalled the Saturday of North Penn’s quarterfinal district game against CB South.
“We had our shoot-around, and I’m following it on Twitter heading up to East,” Potash said. “Kyra said, ‘Can we watch the game?’ We ended up watching the last two minutes of the fourth quarter and all of overtime through Erica (DeCandido) Face-timing us. It was pretty cool.”
According to Lonergan, the Skwad’s friendship is as rare as it is special.
“The support they give to their teammates from their AAU program is just amazing,” the Gwynedd coach said. “It’s definitely something unique. I was very happy to be able to be a part of it and seeing that happen. It’s nice to see that, and it would be nice to see more of that.”
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