Seyfert’s spirits are still high this season
When Lily Seyfert looked forward to her senior season, this wasn’t what she saw.
Only 10 fans were in the stands for the opening tip. Her parents weren’t allowed to watch. Bench seats were placed a safe distance apart. And those masks.
The only normal thing about Saturday was Seyfert’s performance. The All-State guard scored 18 points and Wyomissing defeated Daniel Boone 53-17 in non-league girls basketball at Birdsboro.
The most striking part of the night was how much fun Seyfert seemed to be having. She has blocked out all that’s missing and has embraced what’s there.
A typical season, as so many athletes have learned, doesn’t exist these days.
“We’ve all kind of accepted the fact that it’s not going to happen for us,” Seyfert said. “We’ve moved on from that and decided to have fun. Go as far as we can. That’s all we can do.”
For Seyfert, the next two months are a march up the all-time scoring list and a march toward a possible county championship. While the latter is more important to her, both are notable.
The 5-9 senior scored 40 points in her first two games and raised her career total to 1,040. She passed 13 Berks greats during the opening weekend alone. She’ll likely pass 1520 more next week.
During the 23-day layoff when sports were on pause due to COVID-19 concerns, Seyfert could only wonder how much season would be left when play resumed. For now, there are 16 games on the schedule plus playoffs.
“After the break something just switched,” Seyfert said. “We kind of took off at practices and at games. We were all in a better mood. Now it’s just a much better environment.”
What remains intact is Seyfert’s team. Wyomissing (2-0) is loaded and is the biggest threat to Gov. Mifflin’s hopes of a Berks threepeat.
Abby Doyle and Ava Gehman are the fellow senior leaders. Doyle scored nine points against Boone and has looked like an All-Berks candidate through two games.
Beyond the big three, the Spartans have depth and interchangeable parts. A lot of players are in the rotation.
“We’re competing at a pretty high level right now at practice,” coach Aaron Anders said. “On any given night you’re going to see one or two other kids coming out of nowhere and doing something.”
Maybe it’ll be guard Maddie Campbell or forward Vicky Heliodoro, the other two starters. Or maybe Lexi Loeb and Caroline Blickley, the first two players off the bench.