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By: Kate Harman
Sometimes, Beth Mattern admits that Haley Meinel is all over the place.
“In a good way,” the Central Bucks South coach enthusiastically maintained.
“In a good way,” she repeated.
Watching Meinel on the court, you’d understand what Mattern means. You’d understand that obviously she meant it in a good way.
A steal here. A drive to the basket there. A block, a rebound - the frenetic pace of the senior can catch you off guard.
Mattern remembers one such sequence against Central Bucks West. One that made her turn to her assistants in awe of what the dynamic guard was doing on the floor for the Titans.
“It must have been a 30-second period,” Mattern said. “All of the sudden. She must have had a blocked shot, a rebound, and took it down to score. She really wanted to win that game - at times she is just so athletic and can do so much.”
For four years, Meinel has been doing all of that and more for C.B. South (28-4) and on Tuesday night she’ll do it one last time, as the Titans will play for the program’s first ever state championship at Hershey’s Giant Center, 6 p.m., against Upper Dublin.
“I’m so excited,” the Jefferson University recruit said. “Honestly, I didn’t picture this happening at the beginning of the season but it is a huge opportunity that we have to take advantage of. It’ll be fun either way - whatever the outcome is.”
Another thing she never expected?
Becoming the Titans all-time leading scorer.
She did that, too.
When Meinel first came to South, only one player had ever reached the 1000-point mark – Colleen Christian. The senior remembers seeing Christian’s name up on the banner in the gymnasium. It didn’t dawn on her yet that she could be up there one day, too.
Two years ago, she looked on as her teammate, Jordan Vitelli, joined the club, and again when Vitelli eventually surpassed Christian’s scoring mark.
That’s when it hit Meinel. Her name could be on that banner.
This season, it was her turn.
“Her ability to create for herself - each year she has gotten better at it,” Mattern said. “Clearly, she is one of the centerpieces of our offense now. I don’t think she’s afraid to make a mistake – she owns what she knows she can do on the court. She’s worked a lot on her jump shot, too, and her confidence in herself as a scorer has gotten better over the years.”
What else has gotten better? Her penchant for scoring in droves – and in big games. Meinel – whose scoring average has gone up as the year has progressed – currently averages about 16 points a contest. During a four-game stretch in January she totaled 84 points and now she is netting over 17 points during the state tournament.
“Number one is just her athleticism,” junior point guard, Alexa Brodie said. “That’s the first thing anybody who sees her for the first time says. That with her speed and her length – plus those intangibles. Her intangibles are probably her biggest strength.”
Those intangibles, according to Brodie, include Meinel’s leadership and an innate ability to give her teammates confidence in tight games.
“It really helps in big games,” Brodie said. “And big moments.”
Like the district semifinal against Spring-Ford, where the game was knotted at the half and the Titans weren’t playing their best basketball. Brodie, Meinel, and the squad’s third captain Mackenzie Ehresman walked to the locker room together, trying to figure out what they could say to motivate their team.
Who was the first to speak?
Meinel, without hesitating,
“She’s fun - there are a lot of layers to her,” Mattern said. “She’s an enjoyable person to be around and it’s enjoyable to watch her play basketball. There’s just something about her, an it factor.”
Brodie can tell you a little something about that.
It was the day of the group’s first league game against rival Souderton – a contest that was expected to be a battle – and the team was assembled for a 20-30-minute warmup before they got on the bus.
They found the gymnasium already set up for the boys’ game when they got there, with the bleachers and speakers out. Maddie McShane found a cd and put it on for shooting practice.
That’s when Meinel – usually poised and collected both on and off the court – grabbed the microphone.
The Titans could barely contain their laughter as she sang “Aint’ No Mountain High Enough” and a variety of other, older hits. Needless to say, the shootaround was a bust.
“We didn’t touch a ball,” Brodie said.
But, the team won that day.
Maybe an encore is in order.
@Ka_Harman