Engineering & Science seniors take long road to title

On their fourth try, the Lady Engineers beat Central to become Public League champs

by Benjamin Herold

Photo: Achuff Photography

Up by 34 points with just 4.7 seconds remaining for the Public League girls’ basketball title, Coach Joe Ryan, his eight seniors, and the rest of the Lady Engineers could finally savor a victory four years in the making.

As senior leaders Keisha Hampton and Shamyra Hammond turned to the crowd and raised their arms in triumph, the raucous Engineering and Science student section erupted in celebration, prompting the players to throw their jerseys into the stands at Temple University’s Liacouras Center.

“We were crying,” senior guard Marqesah ‘Marty’ Spicer explained afterwards, “but this time, it was happy tears.”

It’s unusual for any school to have eight contributing seniors on a team of only 12 players. It’s especially rare at a small magnet school like Engineering & Science.

Two days before the game, during practice in the school’s gym at 17th & Norris Streets in North Philadelphia, Coach Ryan reflected on what this group means to him.

“I will probably never see another team like this,” said Ryan, a history teacher at E&S for 25 years and head coach of the girls’ basketball team for 19 years. “I’ll be long retired before a group like this comes together again,” he predicted while watching Hampton, Hammond, Spicer, Sharay Hall, Tesha Harvey, Vanessa Johnson, Shanda Kennedy, and Brittany Williams prepare for their final Public League game.

“Four years ago, our program was this close to being finished. Then, the eight kids who are now seniors just showed up. I thought they had come to E&S to play with me because of our basketball tradition, but they had no idea who I was. Some weren’t even sure we had a team. But then we held a real tryout, and I saw how talented they were,” he said, shaking his head at the memory.

“It’s amazing. You just don’t get that at a place this small.”

Ryan led E&S to its first and only Public League title in 1997. Eight years later, with the eight freshmen who had walked unannounced into his gym just months before, they made it back to the “chip,” only to be dismantled 79-56 by Public League superpower Central.

In 2006, with rising star Hampton sidelined with a broken thumb, E&S again lost to Central in the championship, 58-46. And last year, Central made it three in a row over E&S and six straight Public League titles overall with a 53-44 victory. The last one hurt the worst, agreed E&S players and coaches.

“Last year was the only time I really gave us a strong shot to win,” said Ryan. “It could have gone either way, but [Central’s star senior and current Villanova Wildcat] Sarah Jones just took over.”

“She wanted it more than us,” said the feisty Spicer, a diminutive but lightning-fast point guard. “It was her last year, and she was going for her fourth chip in a row. She wasn’t going to let them lose.”

“But that’s how we feel now.”

The E&S seniors and coaches all say that last year’s heartbreaking loss laid the foundation for this year’s success.

“We came up short at the end of [last year’s title] game because we started playing selfish,” explained volunteer assistant coach Dave Hargrove, who did his student teaching at E&S and now teaches at Duckrey a few blocks away.

“We had the talent, but we didn’t play as a team. That’s why we lost.”

The talented group of eight were all back at E&S as seniors this year.

All-everything forward Hampton averaged 20 points and 14 rebounds a game. She was named all-Public League for the third time, is a candidate for Pennsylvania player of the year, and will play next year for DePaul University in Chicago.

Hammond is a four-year starter and three-time all-Public League star who can play either guard position, drive at will, and extend defenses with her range.

Johnson is a rugged interior player who does much of the team’s dirty work.

Together, sparkplug Spicer, three-point specialist Harvey, and Kennedy comprise a formidable trio off the bench.