Yencho said she's leaving Liberty girls basketball program in good shape

http://blogs.mcall.com/groller/

FROM KEITH GROLLER

Amy Yencho coached the Liberty girls basketball team in two different tournaments on Wednesday, but she also revealed that she's resigning to become an assistant coach at DeSales University.

She couldn't be reached for comment on Wednesday night,  but said on Thursday that coaching college basketball was always one of her goals. Yet, she is pleased with the eight years she spent at Liberty.

"I spent eight years at Liberty and worked my way up the ladder," she said. "These past three years as varsity coach I've really enjoyed. The kids are great. There's a lot of potential there. So I know I am leaving with the Liberty program continuing to be competitive and I know those girls are going to do some good things. They will be competitive for the next several years."

She was excited about what happened on Wednesday when her team reached the finals of two summer tournaments, winning the Holy Family event in Nazareth and coming up short to Northampton in the Catty League finals.

"We won one and just ran out of gas in the other," Yencho, a 2000 Liberty grad, said. "We faced some very good competition we don't normally see in the Holy Family tournament. I was pleased with how hard the girls worked for me. I didn't want the girls to find out until the last day that I was leaving."

Yencho was Liberty's freshman coach for three seasons and the JV coach for two before moving up to the varsity ranks to replace Sam Senneca in 2010.

Her teams made it to the district tournament three straight years and even won a state playoff game in 2012.

"I took something positive from all three years," she said. "Even when we were supposed to be down, we made it to districts. That middle year when we beat Cardinal O'Hara in the first round of states was definitely one to remember."

Yencho, who is a chemist at Puritan Products, is looking forward to being reunited with Fred Richter at DeSales.

"I have been fortunate to coach at both of my alma maters," she said. "It was a good experience at Liberty, but I am very lucky to be able to go back to DeSales."