No basketball title,
but no regrets for Elmes

By Joe Mason
Times Sports Editor

Next year, the Northeast High School girls basketball team will have a chance to excel.
With all but one player back, the Vikings have enough strong shooters to win games. They also have enough very good defenders to frustrate opposing teams, and they have enough size to achieve success in the paint and on the boards.
And when Northeast’s basketball team enjoys all that success next year, Georgette Elmes will not be part of the fun. But she will be one of the reasons the team performs so well.
Elmes is a senior all-everything guard on the Northeast squad. This is her final year with the team, and on Feb. 22, the Vikings’ bid to win a Public League championship was ended. Northeast fell to Simon Gratz, 56-54, despite enjoying a four-point lead heading into the final stanza.
When the game came to an end, most of the players could find comfort in the fact that next year they’ll be back to try to climb the mountain once again. Elmes, however, won’t be with them.
But once she dried a couple of tears, she was able to talk about what she did accomplish during her high school career.
"It’s sad, but when I think about what the team was like when I got here and what the team is like now, it’s pretty cool," said Elmes, whose team won just once during her freshman year. "We were bad. But then (Northeast coach Rich Kirk) came in and took over the program and things changed really quickly.
"Our practices became really hard. He expected a lot from us, and we started working a lot harder," Elmes said. "If we weren’t winning, it would have been tough. But as soon as we started doing the extra work, we started winning, so no one really complained. Now, we just expect to work hard."
They also expect to win.
This year, the Vikings won 13 games. In fact, Northeast went through a tough preseason that produced a 2-8 start. But since then, Northeast has won 11 of 13 games, and it not only helped them reach the Public League playoffs but also enabled them to clinch a spot in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Class AAAA playoffs, which begin later this week. Time and opponent will also be announced.
For Elmes, making the state playoffs for the third season in a row is nice. But the Rhawnhurst native has enjoyed a lot of success in other areas.
This year, as a winger, Elmes helped guide Northeast to the Public League field hockey title for the second consecutive season. This spring, once basketball season comes to an end, she’ll turn in her sneakers for spikes and head out to the softball pitch, where she plays outfield.
Just like she did during the fall, and like she’ll do starting in mid-March, Elmes’ primary role on the Vikings’ basketball team is to lead. Not just by example, but by her words.
Sometimes, the quiet Elmes will have to shout. Sometimes she has to be a little demonstrative. Sometimes she’s not the most popular girl on the team because she has to criticize her younger teammates. She does it because she cares.
"I sometimes joke and say I am the brains behind everything," said a giggling Elmes. "But it’s just because I’m older than everyone. I’m the older sister. I guess I’ve been the younger one and I know that it takes good leaders to make the younger players better. I’m just trying to do that.
"This year, I may not have been the high scorer on the team, but I think I did a lot of things that helped us win and I think that’s pretty important," Elmes continued. "I try to do those things that might not show in the box score, but they’ll show up in the standings."
Sounds like she’d make a good coach some day, huh?
Actually, she’s already refining those skills.
"I’ve been coaching, at least helping out, with the Mayfair Monarchs’ nine-and-ten-year-old team," Elmes said. "When you’re dealing with kids that young, you have to teach them the basics. They learn pretty quickly. I think I’d like to coach in the future."
She’d also like to continue her own career.
Elmes already has qualified academically to play next year. She’s been accepted to every college she has applied to. Now she’s hoping to find a school where she can play basketball, major in political science and minor in Spanish.
Oh, and there’s one more requirement.
"I want it to be close to home," Elmes said. "I’m real close to my mom, it’s just me and her at home. People always call us the Gilmore Girls, and we really are just like (the television) show. If I go somewhere close, she’ll be able to come and watch me. She’s very supportive, and I hope she can continue to be supportive while I’m in college."

In another girls game:
Archbishop Carroll, 49, Archbishop Ryan, 32: Despite 10 points from Meghan Gibson and nine from Megan Tole, the Ragdolls fell for the third year in a row in the Catholic League semifinals at St. Joesph’s University.
The loss, which occurred on Feb. 25, ended a fine season for Ryan. The team ended Northern Division play with 12 victories.

Wrestling
Tom Brogan’s high school wrestling career will continue for at least another week.
Brogan, a senior 135-pounder at Frankford, got a decision on Chichester’s Matt Cinaglia, 6-3, on Feb. 24 in the consolation finals of the District One section 1/5-District 12 Class AAA individual tournament.
With the third-place finish, Brogan advances to the Southeast Regional tournament, which will begin Friday night at Norristown High School. ••