Basketball
Favorite athlete: Shawn White
Favorite team: Senior year at CB South
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: Tripping over my own feet right in front of the North Penn student section my junior year.
Music on iPod: Anything from rap to country
Future plans: Be part of the Penn State class of 2018!
Words to live by: ‘Hard work gets you wherever you want to go.’
One goal before turning 30: Have a solid job in a place I enjoy.
By GORDON GLANTZ
On Feb. 26, following a 41-33 loss to Garnet Valley, the CB South girls basketball team saw its season end.
With heavy hearts, the Titans boarded the bus for long ride home.
But the players didn’t sit with ear buds starring out the window, alone with their grief, while the coaches sat huddled by themselves at the front of the bus, talking of next year.
That’s what typical teams might do, but there was nothing typical about this team that exceeded on-paper expectations to finish not only a win shy of reaching the PIAA state tournament but also of the magical 20-win benchmark.
Instead, this squad –evenly split between four seniors, four juniors and four sophomores – talked of their journey together.
“It was one hour -- and then some -- to get home,” said coach Beth Mattern. “There was not a dry eye on the bus. We were doing a lot of reminiscing. It was a special group. They really enjoyed being together.
“We won a lot of games in a tough conference, but what was really special was the chemistry they had. They just clicked from go.”
And with a few weeks of hindsight, Mattern points to co-captain Lauren Mosher as the glue.
“She was crucial to making everyone feel they mattered,” said Mattern of her all-league forward who notched in the ballpark of 11 points and eight rebounds per game. “Lauren is not only special to me, but in general.
“These seniors started playing together in seventh grade. She embodied that on the court.”
Symmetry in Motion
Mosher said she was merely paying it forward as a leader, remembering how she and fellow captain Alysha Lofton, as the lone sophomores a few years back, were made to feel welcome by a group of seniors that included Madi Vitelli, with whom she will likely be reunited playing intramural basketball at Penn State.
“The seniors on the team this year had been playing together since elementary school,” said Mosher. “From my own experience, I wanted to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable.
“If you don’t have chemistry on a team, it will hold you back for sure.”
Mosher considers playing all three of her years for Mattern - who she had as a biology teacher as a sophomore before the coach-player relationship developed - as a gift.
“We have a really good relationship,” said Mosher. “I feel like I can talk to her about anything, on and off the court.”
Under the guidance of Mattern, as we all many other coaches along the way, Mosher went from a “contributor” as a sophomore to a starter who was named most improved player as a junior to a co-captain as a senior.
Mosher describes her personal evolution as a player as “ongoing,” as each high school season would be followed by AAU in the spring, summer leagues and then open gyms in the fall
“A lot of different coaches teach you different things as you go,” she said. “In my senior year, everything just came together.”
One of those coaches from travel basketball, Gary Christian, helped the senior year progression serving as an assistant under Mattern.
“He coached me the first year I played travel,” said Mosher. “Having one of my coaches come back made me want to do well.”
A Different Life
Mosher, like several players who have passed through Mattern’s program, is from a family headed by a Navy Dad, Capt. Chris Mosher.
Born in San Diego, Mosher has lived in Virginia Beach and Maryland – and also Naples, Italy – before settling in the area when she was in third grade (when Capt. Mosher was stationed in Philadelphia for a long-term assignment).
But when he was re-assigned to San Diego this year, the family chose to remain and ride the storm out.
“It was different,” said Mosher of the situation. “I think it was more of a bummer for my dad. He loves coming to my games, and I’m sure he wanted to be at every one again this season. He comes back home a lot, but he couldn’t make all of them.”
Because of that – and with her mother, Mary Pat, working -- Mosher had as many family responsibilities as she did with the team.
“We worked around it a lot,” said Mosher, whose part-time job is refereeing community league games. “My dad has a really good job right now, so we were happy for him, but it was bittersweet.”
Viewed by her coach as more of a leader by example than a talker, which was more Lofton’s role, it went beyond the court.
Her younger sister, Maryn, is a fourth-grader who spent a lot of time around the team.
“It’s fun to see and hear her sister, who was an honorary captain for one of our games this year,” said Mattern. “She is a role model to her younger sister. Her sister lights up when she is around Lauren.
“She has a great family, and Lauren is a great daughter. The family is very connected at home, a very family-first family. This year, with her father stationed in San Diego and her mother working and her older brother (Cale) at college, it was an interesting dynamic. She had extra responsibility at home.”
But Mattern, who was dealt with issues like these before, did not hesitate when naming her captains. She knew she was not placing too much of a burden on the shoulders of her 6-foot forward.
“It was my decision, and it was a clear decision,” said the coach. “She is a team captain because of the way she carries herself. If she makes a mistake, she takes responsibility. She conducts herself in a terrific manner.
“You feel like you wish you could coach her forever.”
No Regrets
But the reality for a high school coach is that “forever” doesn’t really exist. You coach the players for the time you have them and are hopefully left with mostly fond memories.
In that sense, with Mosher, it is a slam dunk.
Mattern’s most vivid memories are not during games, but practices. Mosher and Lofton are, for lack of a better term, basketball junkies. When they finish their mandatory free throws, they’ll start throwing alley-oops to each other off the backboard.
“That’s what I’ll remember about Lauren -- just her with a basketball in the gym, she and Alysha having fun and playing basketball for hours,” said Mattern. “They would be there all day if I let them.”
According to Mattern, Mosher’s natural ability and body type were evident, but that didn’t keep her from working on her game.
“Her jump shot improved a lot,” said Mattern, adding that Mosher’s ability to run the floor was her greatest natural asset. “Because that was more consistent, she was more of a consistent player. As she gained more confidence, she became more of a presence.”
Her play was not lost on colleges, but the final decision was to attend Penn State and not play basketball for keeps anymore.
“She had opportunities,” said Mattern. “But Penn State is where she wanted to go to school. It’s just a case where school and basketball didn’t line up.
“I think she is going to miss it, but I think she also feels like she has given basketball all she can.”
Mosher said these were the thoughts occupying her mind during that long and emotional bus ride home after the season-ending loss to Garnet Valley.
“Only one senior (Lofton) is playing in college (West Chester),” said Mosher, who had some contact with Ivy League schools but only firm offers from programs at the Division II and III levels. “For me, it was taking in every season I ever played. It made me reflect back a lot, knowing it was the last time I’ll be playing organized games.”
Taking advantage of the first free time she has had for the first time in a long time, Mosher has no regrets about moving on and away from the hardwood.
“I just wasn’t completely sold on basketball in college,” said Mosher, who visited Penn State last September, took in a football game and was “sold” on Happy Valley, even if it meant leaving basketball behind.
“Once I’m up at school, and the winter rolls around, I’ll be nostalgic,” she admitted.
But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have in the proper perspective, knowing she gave the game everything she had.
What impressed Mattern the most about Mosher was that she did it all for the love of basketball, not seeking the limelight.
“When you look at her, Lauren doesn’t ask for credit,” said Mattern. “She just comes in, works hard and is supportive of her teammates. She is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached.
“She doesn’t ask for credit, but she deserves credit.”
