They don’t do it for publicity or notoriety. They do it for each other, for their school, and maybe even for a higher purpose.
Flying under the radar and without much fanfare, New Covenant Christian School has forged a nice, little local girls’ basketball tradition. The Flames may indeed be the best Lebanon County basketball team you’ve never heard of.
“I think what we’re seeing is what I said to them (her players) at our first practice,” said Nicole Buffenmeyer, who’s in her third season as New Covenant’s head coach. “You have to take a step of faith, and God will come along side of you. One injury and everything’s different. We’ve come this entire way without an injury, and I think it’s God protecting them.
“Our two losses are on us. We got beat. It wasn’t because of anything that happened. They (her players) don’t have to be in fear of failure. This season is teaching them to step out in faith. It’s a story of overcoming distractions. It’s a story of kids just having a lot of heart.”
If indeed winning has become a habit at New Covenant, then this current version of the Flames is merely upholding that tradition. Through their first 14 games of the 2024-25 season, the Flames went 12-2 and were ranked third in the PIAA District Three Class A power rankings.
The District Three postseason tips off on Monday, Feb. 17.
“At the beginning of the season, I didn’t know if I could get them to believe that they could be successful,” said Buffenmeyer. “There were a lot of doubts. I didn’t know if we could get to .500. They came together in that first practice and became very committed to taking it one day at a time. It doesn’t matter what anyone else was saying. It only mattered what was going on in the team. They believed, and they’re doing it.”
After opening their season with a tight loss to rival Mount Calvary in early December, the Flames rattled off seven straight triumphs, including an emphatic victory over neighboring Our Lady of the Cross. NCCS’s campaign has also featured a five-game January win streak.
“After that loss, I told them (her players), ‘You have to see mistakes as hurdles you haven’t learned to jump over yet,’” said Buffenmeyer. “I think they took that to heart. I told them they had to dig deep. They have the ability to adapt. It helped them gain confidence and self-esteem.”
“Our players are great,” she continued. “They let me push them. They take things one day at a time, and they don’t let circumstances drag them down. I just have a great group of kids who are willing to work hard.”
With a roster of eight players, three of whom never played basketball before this season, New Covenant is not a deep squad. Buffenmeyer has gotten a lot of mileage out of her starters: senior ballhandler, defender extraordinaire, and emotional leader Miracle Hershey, prolific scoring sophomore Qynne Demler, freshman post player Alayna Zimmerman, junior glue girl Akaiya Hershey, and sophomore role player Moriah Simniskis.
“We have great team chemistry,” said Buffenmeyer. “All five players are playing on both sides of the floor. They all played soccer together. They play all sports together. They grew up together, and that helps on the floor.
“They’re all speedy players. They know that’s their strength. When we get rebounds and steals, they’re flying down the court as fast as they can. There’s a lot of mental toughness. They’re diving on loose balls. They’re very aggressive, and we play completely different than we might appear.”
Since becoming a PIAA-sanctioned school in 2012, NCCS has qualified for the District Three Class A playoffs six previous times. During those years, the Flames have compiled a 5-11 overall mark in the district tournament.
“It’s a lot of fun to qualify for districts,” Buffenmeyer said. “They (the players) get a little nervous, but they compete very well. In the past, they went for it, no matter who we were going up against.”
In Miracle Hershey’s freshman campaign of 2021-22, New Covenant made its only trip to the PIAA playoffs.
“She wants to get back,” said Buffenmeyer of Hershey. “She’s told the team what it’s like. It’s kind of captured the team’s focus. We want that experience.”
For additional information about New Covenant Christian School, go to nccspa.org.
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