Mar 19, 2025
MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Loyalsock’s Julie Ellis (2) celebrates after Loyalsock won the District 4 Class AAA championship against Hughesville this season.
Only one freshmen who entered the Loyalsock girls’ basketball program four years ago remains there today.
What a player and leader Julie Ellis has become, too.
Ellis is the lone Lancer remaining from that group and is leaving a mark which goes beyond points or rebounds. It has never been about individual numbers for Ellis, only winning. And she sure has helped Loyalsock do that the past four years, 92 times as a matter of fact.
Now, Ellis has helped Loyalsock reach a second straight Class AAA state Final Four. There, the Lancers play Imhotep Friday at Parkland High School.
“It feels good because I feel like I can look back on all of my seasons and know it’s been a good experience,” Ellis said. “The people I’ve played with for four years have been great. The coaching staff is great here, too. I wouldn’t want to play for any other coaches.”
Those coaches would not want any different version of Ellis than the one they see every day.
“Julie has been an instrumental member of the team the past four years and has won 92 games in her career. She deserves a ton of credit in sticking it out as the only four-year member of her class,” Loyalsock coach Curtis Jacobson said. “I am so proud of the growth and maturity she has made as a person, way more than a basketball player.”
Ellis excelling on and off the court has helped bring out Loyalsock’s best during her four years. During that time, the team has won two district championships, six state tournament games, two HAC-III titles, and a Heartland Conference championship. Loyalsock has never won fewer than 18 games in a season in those years and has broken the single-season record for wins the last two years, producing 27 and 28, while going 55-6. Loyalsock has won an average of 23 games per season during Ellis’s four years, a remarkable achievement, considering the regular season lasts just 22 games.
Every player has a role in creating that success, but Ellis emerging as a strong leader has provided a strong foundation to build upon. That has gone double this year with she and Lacey Kriebel being the team’s lone seniors and helping guide a team which graduated several key players from a year ago.
“Julie is the X factor for our team. Since Julie and I are the only seniors, she provides that extra leadership that the team needs,” Kriebel said. “She also does a lot of dirty work and extra little things that don’t necessarily show up in the box score, but they have a big impact on our performance.”
That has evident the last four years. Ellis is a Swiss Army Knife player, capable of hurting opponents in many ways. She can be a scorer, facilitator, rebounder and defender. She can take her game inside or outside and defend guards or post players.
Equally important, Ellis is a calming influence on the court. She is a stabilizing force; a glue-like player who helps keep the team together whether things are going well or not. Every successful team needs a player like that and Loyalsock having Ellis has again helped it become one of the state’s top four 3A teams.
That goes beyond the games as well. Ellis exhibits those same qualities at practice. She is a tone-setter who makes sure the team is focused on the next game and/or play. The cliché is practice makes perfect but in reality it is perfect practice makes perfect.
While no player or game is perfect, the way Ellis attacks each day is.
“There isn’t a day that Julie is not giving the team everything she has. She has never had a bad practice,” Jacobson said. “While she hasn’t been perfect, her attitude and effort daily in practice has been. She is vocal when needed, and leads by example always.”
That has helped Loyalsock weather storms in games or after tough losses. The Lancers have not cracked when behind this year or when struggling. They rallied from 11 down in the fourth quarter to edge Hughesville in the district final, overcame struggles for three quarters in the second round against West Catholic to maintain a lead and then put together a dominant fourth quarter finish and turned a one-point second quarter deficit into a 27-point third quarter lead last Friday against Dunmore.
It has been the next step in the evolution of a player who excelled as a reserve her freshman year, helping Loyalsock repeat as district champions a season after graduating two-time all-state selection Summer McNulty. Ellis moved into the starting lineup a year later and was a key factor in a young team returning to the district final.
Ellis continued surging as a junior as Loyalsock made history and reached its first Final 4. Becoming a senior captain, Ellis has made sure the Lancers keep grinding through all the ups and downs a season can bring.
That included suffering a badly sprained ankle late in the regular season. Ellis wanted to return for the HAC Tournament, but kept things in perspective, understanding her team needed her most for the state tournament push. She then returned in the district semifinals and has continued making a steady impact ever since, setting the tone against Dunmore when she scored the game’s first two points, then found Alaina Dadzie for the next two.
“I’m super proud of her because she’s been fighting through injuries this entire postseason,” Kriebel said. “And every game she has went out there and played her heart out.”
There are many ways to describe Ellis. but when looking at her entire high school career one word stands out above the others.
Simply put, Ellis is a winner.
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