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Shipley girls’ basketball aims to win first Friends School League title since 2014

The Shipley girls' basketball has a chance to win the first Friends School League championship since 2014 on Friday versus Abington Friends.

#1 Elle Stauffer of Germantown Academy fights for the opening jump against #11 Anna Camden of The Shipley School.Girls Basketball game between Shipley and Germantown Academy played At the Westtown School in West Chester, Pa  Shipley was victorious . November, 23rd 2018 (Bob Williams /For the Inquirer)
#1 Elle Stauffer of Germantown Academy fights for the opening jump against #11 Anna Camden of The Shipley School.Girls Basketball game between Shipley and Germantown Academy played At the Westtown School in West Chester, Pa Shipley was victorious . November, 23rd 2018 (Bob Williams /For the Inquirer)Read moreBob Williams /For the Inquirer

Anna Camden and Lauren Ross have each racked up several milestones throughout their careers on the Shipley girls’ basketball team, but one achievement has eluded them.

The two seniors are both 1,000-point scorers — Camden is the program’s all-time leading scorer. They’ve also led the Gators to back-to-back state championships the past two years, and both will play Division I basketball next season.

But Camden and Ross still have one day marked on their calendars: Friday, when they get a chance to check off another box.

“The one thing that we have not managed to get is a Friends League Championship,” Camden said.

Camden and Ross lead Shipley’s squad into the league championship against Abington Friends at La Salle’s Tom Gola Arena at 7 p.m.

Shipley beat Moorestown Friends, 59-43, in the semifinals on Tuesday to advance.

The Gators haven’t won the title since 2014, while the Kangaroos are looking to win their third straight league championship.

Ross, a St. Joe’s recruit, said her, Camden and Shipley girls’ basketball coach Sean Costello have conversations about wanting to add their team to the FSL championship banner hanging in Shipley’s gym on a daily basis.

“We want to put our names on as many banners and as many plaques as possible before we leave,” Ross said. “That’s another banner that we want to put our name on.”

Even though Ross and Camden, who is Penn-State bound, haven’t had success in the FSL playoffs, they’ve made the postseason every year, including one other championship appearance.

In 2018 and 2016, the Gators lost to Moorestown Friends and Friends’ Central in the semifinals.

Shipley faced Abington Friends in the 2017 championship, but fell short to the Kangaroos, 47-41.

Friday’s matchup will be rematch of that game two years ago, and Camden plans to use this upcoming contest to send a message to the FSL.

“It’s just not specifically AFS, it’s revenge for every team that has beaten us these past three years,” Camden said. “I don’t think any one of them should’ve been us, and I say that confidently… We’re just trying to make a statement and say that, ‘We’re back permanently and here to win everything.’”

The Gators edged Abington Friends, 42-40, when the teams played back on Dec. 11.

Shipley led by 16 points at halftime, but the Kangaroos made a run in the second half as the Gators got into foul trouble.

In the fourth quarter, Camden drained a clutch bucket and the Gators made key defensive stops to pull off the victory.

Costello expects the championship to mirror the game Shipley and Abington Friends played a couple months back.

“Abington has been kind of running the Friends League tournament the past couple of years,” Costello said, “so we’re hoping that we can try and take that away from him.”