"Ever since the beginning we've just been like sisters," said Maddie DeFronzo. "Especially in like JV, in fifth and sixth grade, we just got that chemistry and ever since it's been so much fun playing with them."
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DeFronzo and four of her eighth-grade teammates can now call themselves two-time champions. They helped bring the St. Anastasia Parish Girls Varsity Basketball team to the top of the Pennsylvania State CYO grade school tournament and win during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
"We knew going into the season last year that we had a really strong team," said head coach Pat Doogan. "The girls set goals and the state title was one of them."
Doogan had only become head coach at the beginning of last year's season. That makes his record for state championships 2-0.
"The weekend in Altoona was just fantastic," said Doogan. "We got there and to be able to win that game, it was amazing to be able to do that two years in a row."
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The team got to reunite on the court for one of the last times tonight during a Hoops Hysteria fundraising event for St. Anastasia School. Girls on the team are no strangers to fundraising after having accumulated $31,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Watch our video in the player above to see the girls dust off their skills on the court and hear how the eighth graders felt about their resounding victory!
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