May, Tretter lead comeback win for Wood in state quarterfinal
By: Kate Harman
Katie May wasn’t going to walk out of Spring-Ford High School without a win.
She knew it. Her coach, Mike McDonald, knew it. Her Archbishop Wood girls’ basketball team knew it.
The Vikings fans in the stands probably knew it, too. They had seen that look on her face before.
It was obvious any time the senior guard/forward knocked down a turn around pull up jumper, grabbed an offensive rebound, directed a teammate to box out, or even called a timeout when an inbounds play wasn’t going the way she wanted. The Northeastern recruit would try to take over the contest any which way she could.
She did, as she finished the game with 14 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, two steals, and a block, leading Wood to a come-from-behind victory over West Chester Henderson in the quarterfinal round of the PIAA Class 5A state tournament, 40-35.
“That was the mindset,” May, who has played in three state championships, winning two, said. “I just really want to go out on top this year. If we are going to end our season, I want to end it at Hershey. I was just not going to let us lose.”
For a while on Saturday afternoon, it looked like that’s exactly what the Vikings (21-7) were going to do, as the Warriors (30-1) led for 20 total minutes of play, including the entire third quarter, thanks to a great defensive effort.
But May wasn’t going to let that happen, so she turned it up in the second half, and her team followed suit. Henderson’s lead – which was in the single digits for the majority of the contest – started to slowly slip away.
“Leadership – the composure – she’s been here before,” McDonald said. “And she wasn’t making shots for a stretch there, so to be able to continue doing all the little things right – rebounding, playing defense – and finally hitting a couple of shots. It was huge – she’s been outstanding for us in so many facets of the game and that didn’t change today.”
While May was a force on both ends for Wood– and provided invaluable senior leadership down the stretch – it was sophomore Lindsay Tretter who hit some of the biggest shots for her team.
“In the beginning I was nervous because I never really played in a game this big before,” Tretter said. “But then once I kept playing, hitting my shots, and getting some steals on defense, I was more confident in myself.”
The confidence showed, as Tretter knocked down four pivotal three-pointers, including two in the final seven minutes of play – one of which gave the Vikings the lead for the first time since the score was 2-1.
“When I came in, I was really happy that I was going to be a part of something like this,” Tretter said, of the significant of the program. “And then when we won the state championship last year, it was really exciting for me because I grew up watching them play. To be a part of that was really great for me and I hope we can get another one this year.”
If May has anything to do with it, they just might.
@Ka_Harman
KateRHarman@gmail.com
West Chester Henderson 12 3 12 8 – 35
Archbishop Wood 5 7 11 17 – 40
WCH: Erin Thompson 12, Grace Ferguson 9, Erin Torrance 6, Maddie DePrisco 3, Abbey Shea 3, Adrienne Smith 2
AW: Katie May 14, Lindsay Tretter 14, Kaitlyn Orihel 6, Annie Whalen 3, Erin Morgan 3
Behind a Strong Effort from Connolly, Souderton Beats Neshaminy
By: Kate Harman
A year ago, Souderton’s appearance in the Final Four of the PIAA Class 6A tournament was a surprise – unexpected, even.
The 11th and final seed out of District 1, one look at the bracket told you the team wasn’t anticipated to make it out of the first round, let alone win four in a row.
All of that, and the program had never won a state playoff game in its’ history, either.
So, unexpected, yes, the run Souderton put together last year was unprecedented.
Until, of course, this season.
This year, Souderton was the pre-season favorite to win not only the district, but make a run for the state title, returning all five starters from last year’s Cinderella run.
Underdog to favorite in the span of nine months.
On Friday, the District 1 champions lived up to the high expectations, defeating a gutsy Neshaminy team, 54-43, in the state quarterfinal at Bensalem.
“Last year we were the underdogs and we learned from that game experience,” senior guard Kate Connolly, who registered her 1000th point in the game, said. “Now, we are going to try and bring that experience to this year’s Final Four game. We will see what we can do.
“I think we learned that we need to stay calm in tight situations,” the Drexel recruit added. “It was such a close game last year – it came down to the final seconds – so I think we know we’ve done that before and we have to keep playing as hard as we can and try to come out on top this time.”
Connolly was terrific for 32 minutes, netting a game-high of 19 points and having a tendency to come up with a crucial steal, block, or rebound when her team needed her most.
When Connolly wasn’t coming up big, it was Alana Cardona or Megan Walbrandt notching key buckets for the team.
While different moments belonged to different members of Souderton (29-2) against a Neshaminy (20-9) team that hung around all contest, perhaps none was bigger than a three-pointer from Megan O’Donnell with four minutes remaining that stretched the lead from six to nine.
“It felt really good,” Connolly said, of the clutch shot. “It made everyone settled done, like, alright, we scored. It extended the lead – three more points – and it really helped get the confidence back up, so we could take a deep breath and play defense.”
On Monday, Souderton returns to the state semifinals – a contest that they were seconds away from winning in 2017 – against Upper Dublin.
“After our season last season, one of our goals, obviously, was to make it back to where we were, but this time we want to keep going,” Walbrandt said. “It is a pretty special feeling and Monday is going to be a pretty special game for us. We just have to work hard to get that win.”
A win, that, for the program would be a first, but not unexpected.
@Ka_Harman
Neshaminy 13 8 9 13 – 43
Souderton 13 14 15 12 – 54
N: Brooke Mullin 16, Kristin Curley 9. Olivia Scotti 6, Emily Tantala 5, Allison Harvey 5, Kelli Kowalick 2
S: Kate Connolly 19, Megan Walbrandt 12, Alana Cardona 10, Megan Bealer 8, Megan O’Donnell 3, Tori Dowd 2
Upper Dublin continues run, downs Abington
By: Kate Harman
The box score won’t tell you that a single player dominated on Friday night for Upper Dublin – there won’t be a number that stands out.
Instead, it’ll show you a nine-point performance from sophomore forward Jackie Vargas, eight points from freshman Dayna Balasa, and seven from another, Jess Polin.
The box score won’t show you the pressure the Cardinals put on Abington in the PIAA Class 6A state quarterfinal contest. It won’t show you the grit the team demonstrated to survive a furious comeback from the Ghosts.
As for senior Maggie Welgos, if you just looked at the box score – you’d see six points – but you might not understand the impact the guard had on her team.
You may not understand that if it wasn’t for her leadership and poise, they may not have walked out of the Bensalem gymnasium with a 36-31 victory.
Oh, and she ended up hitting the game winning shot, too.
“I thought we took our lead tonight from Maggie Welgos,” coach Morgan Funsten said. “Defensively she held [Sam] Brusha to 1 and mentally she is what kept us in it. She happened to make the game winning shot when we got down 1.
“If you could hear the stuff Maggie was saying to the girls out of the timeouts we were taking out of necessary to save possession, staying positive,” he added. “She didn’t guarantee victory, but her mentality, I felt very comfortable that we were going to win the game because of how she was acting.”
The Cardinals (25-5) jumped out to a 22-9 lead over the Ghosts (22-8), as Upper Dublin dominated the first 16 minutes of play. But Abington was a new team after the break, amping up the pressure and getting better looks offensively. A few key three-pointers got the Ghosts within striking distance and the group led for the first time all contest with a little under 5 ½ minutes remaining.
“She [Welgos] kept saying, ‘It’s not over, it’s not over’. Even with 5 seconds left she was saying ‘it’s not over, it’s not over,’” Polin said. “She really knows how to put you in the right mindset, get you to keep playing, not get you in the wrong mindset, not get cocky – she’s great.”
With her team down a point late in the game, Welgos drove baseline and pulled up for a short jumper.
It was a lead the Cardinals would never surrender.
“If I just stood out there and dribbled, nothing was going to happen except a five-second call. I thought, ‘what the heck’ just drive in and see if you can get anything,” Welgos said. “I found an opening and I felt like I got it off right. It felt good leaving the hand, I had felt good going into the move. You just have to brush off all the bad plays because that’s just going to hold you back if you think about it. I can be a scoring threat when I want to be – I just went into the play and shot it.”
Thoughts and feelings won’t make it into the box score either, but the shot dropping through the netting?
Two points.
Good enough for a trip to the Final Four.
@Ka_Harman
KateRHarman@gmail.com
Abington 4 5 14 8 – 31
Upper Dublin 5 17 2 12 – 36
A: Camryn Lexow 11, Kassondra Brown 8, Britney James 5, Miranda Liebtag 3, Tamia Wessels 3, Sam Brusha 1
UD: Jackie Vargas 9, Dayna Balasa 8, Jess Polin 7, Maggie Welgos 6, Kara Grebe 4, Nicole Kaiser 2
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