Familiar voice informs Girard basketball great Ann Mimm Evans of her Erie Hall induction

Ann Mimm Evans immediately recognized the caller’s voice.

It belonged to Larry Seneta. The same Larry Seneta who coached her for four years with Girard’s girls basketball program.

Four successful years.

Between 1997-2000, Evans never experienced a season that didn’t end before the quarterfinals of a PIAA tournament. She competed in two PIAA championship games and was victorious in one of them.

Evans forever became a state titlist when the YellowJackets beat Eastern Lebanon County (ELCO) 45-34 in the 1998 Class 2A final at Hersheypark Arena.

Girard sought to repeat but lost 48-42 to Bishop Hoban in the 1999 final.

Evans graduated with 1,713 career points, a team record at that time. Girard officials retired her No. 40 jersey in 2005 and enshrined her in its Hive of Fame in 2022.

But while Evans knew it was Seneta who called last month, she was less certain why.

Their casual conversation wasn’t long.

Seneta, a 2009 inductee into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame’s Metropolitan Erie chapter, informed Evans of her impending membership. The former ‘Jacket, who also played basketball for Division I Niagara University, is one of nine members who comprise the hall's 2024 class.

Each will be formally enshrined during a June 26 ceremony at the Zem Zem Shrine Club, 2525 W. 38th St.

“Quite honestly, to get this recognition isn’t anything that ever crossed my mind," Evans said. "There’s been so many amazing athletes and teams to come out of Erie, so I’m really honored.”

Evans will return to Erie County from her current home in High Point, North Carolina. She lives there with her husband, Brian, and two children, Mitchell and Gracen.

Evans won’t fret over missing work the week of the ceremony, as the students at Guy B. Teachey Elementary School will be on summer vacation. She’s been the principal of the Asheboro, North Carolina, school since 2018.

Saluting Seneta

Seneta retired after Girard’s 2017-18 season. He did so having won 713 games, the most by any coach in the history of Erie County girls basketball.

That wasn’t the reason, though, Evans deemed it appropriate that Seneta was the person who called to inform her of her impending Metro Erie inclusion.

“I always knew he looked out for his players long after their time with him,” Evans said. “What also makes Coach Seneta special is that once you’re long gone from the program, he’ll always treat you like one of his special players. I’ve seen him in the following years and he’s still always excited to see you.”

One of those recent meetings was last year, when those associated with Girard’s 1997-98 title team held a 25th reunion.

Evans was a vital reason for that silver anniversary celebration. She recorded 12 points in the ‘Jackets’ title-winning game against ELCO.

Girard outscored the Raiders 10-1 over the last 1 minute, 31 seconds of the fourth quarter. Evans recorded a layup and two free throws during that decisive run.

Seneta was voted the state’s 2A girls basketball coach of the year based on the ‘Jackets’ championship. Evans, who averaged nearly 13 points per game for her sophomore season, was an honorable mention for the players.

Evans nearly recorded a double-double (14 points and nine rebounds) during Girard’s 1999 PIAA 2A final against Bishop Hoban, but they weren’t enough to deny Bishop Hoban its six-point victory.

However, it was the loss that ended Girard’s 1999-2000 season which tends to linger more for Evans, who averaged more than 17 points as a senior.

The ‘Jackets possessed the only perfect record (27-0) going into the PIAA 2A tournament.

A perfect season, though, didn’t happen. Southern Huntington, the District 6 champion, recorded a minor upset with its 39-32 victory on Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s court.

Evans eventually made peace with the second half of her varsity career.

“In recent years,” she said, “there’s been so much positive recognition for the year we won states that over time I think we’ve gotten over the (following two). We had a great team that was entirely capable of getting to the (2000) final. We really thought we could do it, but sometimes that’s just the way life works.”

“In some way, it provided a lot of us a valuable lesson.”

A recent reminder

Bill Agronin was the women’s basketball coach at Niagara from 1992-2007. He recruited Evans to the suburban Buffalo school based on her play for Girard.

Evans said she was humbled Agronin named her a team captain as a sophomore despite her reserve status. She was an outside threat when she did get court time and converted 40% of her career 3-point attempts.

That average remained the third highest going into Niagara’s 2023-24 season.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in secondary mathematics education, Evans began work on her master’s at Ohio’s Bowling Green State University. She then moved to North Carolina, where she’s lived for nearly a decade.

Evans completed work on her master’s in school administration at North Carolina-Greensboro. These days, her athletic life consists of volunteering as a YMCA soccer and basketball coach.

Evans did enjoy following this past season’s deep playoff run by Girard’s boys basketball team. It ended when the Franklin Knights, before a standing room-only crowd at Edinboro University’s McComb Fieldhouse, defeated the ‘Jackets 64-55.

Evans, who watched the game online with her children, let them know how she occasionally competed in similar playoff atmospheres during her varsity days.

“I look back on that time now being over 40,” she said. “Some days, it seems far away and others it feels like yesterday. When we were watching the Girard boys from afar, I was so reminded not just what it was like winning basketball games there but to excel and feel part of a special community.”

“I’ll cherish that the rest of my life.”

Mike has worked for the Erie Times-News editorial department since 1997 and full time with its sports department since 2004. He was the sports editor for the former Titusville Herald from 1991-93.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Metro Erie Hall of Fame: Former Girard hoops star set for enshrinement