Teams that are still competing in tournaments as well as squads that have not been included in the tournament recaps will be highlighted at a later date.
And then there were two.
Abington and Cheltenham are the lone SOL schools who made it through the month of December without a loss. While the Ghosts are 7-0 heading into the New Year, the Lady Panthers are 8-0.
“We haven’t been 8-0 in a long time,” Cheltenham coach Bob Schaefer said. “I don’t remember the last time. Probably not since Laura Harper played.”
It’s been seven years since Harper starred for the Lady Panthers. She went on to earn MVP honors in the NCAA Tournament during the University of Maryland’s run to a national title and is now playing in the WNBA.
This year’s squad doesn’t have a Laura Harper, but it does have a lot of hard-nosed basketball players who know how to create chaos with their aggressive defense. In their last three games, the Panthers have allowed 21, 21 and 27 points.
“When you shoot as poorly as we are and to be beating these teams – we know our shooting will get better,” said Schaefer. “We always get better as the season goes on. That’s going to come.
“We spend a lot of time working on our offensive plays and our defenses and haven’t done a lot of shooting. We do play good defense, and we’re getting better at it.”
Cheltenham did not participate in a tournament during the holiday break but still picked up a pair of wins. On Tuesday, the Lady Panthers crushed Emmaus 44-21 as a fill-in at the West Chester Tournament. Liz Taliaferro and Ciara Andrews both scored eight points to lead the Lady Panthers, who jumped out to a 29-7 halftime lead and coasted to the big win.
One night later, the Lady Panthers rolled to a 50-27 non-league win over Perkiomen Valley. Kira Ogden, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds, scored eight points in the first quarter, and Monet Constant added five as Cheltenham jumped out to a 17-6 lead. Constant finished with a team-high 12 points, which included a pair of treys.
By halftime, the Lady Panthers led 29-15. The Vikings never threatened.
“It was ugly,” Schaefer said. “We shot poorly.
“It’s just amazing. I guess we really are that quick of a team that we’re going to make a lot of ugly games. That might end up being our style – a lot of sloppy, ugly plays. Any team that’s big – we’re going to struggle shooting.”
One of the pleasant surprises has been the play of Ogden, who has been a presence in the paint. She had 10 rebounds in both of her team’s wins this week.
“Kira has played four games in a row really nicely,” Schaefer said. “Emmaus, although they weren’t a good team, had some big kids, and she dominated the boards, and she did again tonight. She played real well inside.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Ghosts roll to tournament title – Sophomore Aiyannah Peal earned tournament MVP honors as Abington captured the championship at the Delsea (N.J.) Holiday Tournament. The Ghosts actually faced their toughest challenge in an opening round win over Sterling (43-31) and then coasted to a 40-26 win over Shawnee in Wednesday’s title game.
“We played better against Sterling,” coach Dan Marsh said. “Against Shawnee, I think we played down to our competition.
“Sterling was a good team. They’re picked to compete in their league, but our defense again has been pretty good. Our offense hasn’t been pretty but our defense has.”
In Wednesday’s title game, the Ghosts led 20-12 at halftime and added to that lead with a 10-2 third quarter en route to the big win.
Emily Leer had 14 points for the Ghosts on the heels of a 17-point performance on opening night. Peal had 14 points and five steals.
“Aiyannah was just key in certain situations,” Marsh said. “She would take over when we were struggling.
“They really packed it in. Emily had four or five girls on her, and Aiyannah took over with steals and fast breaks.”
As for his team’s 7-0 start, Marsh couldn’t be happier.
“We know what we have coming up on our schedule with Pennsbury and Council Rock South this week and Truman and then Council Rock North next week,” Marsh said. “We know we have to play well, but we’re still happy that we can get out December undefeated.
“Even though we know it’s not realistic for us to go undefeated, it’s a great start.”
Spartans win Stan Novak Tournament – Springfield rebounded from a pair of tough SOL losses to Upper Dublin and Wissahickon to down Calvary Baptist (57-28) and Penn Wood (58-43) en route to capturing the championship in the Spartans’ own tournament.
“This was really important for us,” coach Sarah Constable said. “We came off two tough losses – we were happy we played both Wissahickon and Upper Dublin tough, but it was so important for us to get back into our groove and to get some confidence heading back into the league play, so we can walk into league play being 6-2.”
Annie Crudele earned tournament MVP honors. It was her 18-point effort that paced the Spartans in the title game.
“She had a great tournament,” Constable said. “She really carried us late in the (title) game. They had a really nice comeback and cut our lead to one point.”
The Spartans closed out the game with a 20-9 fourth-quarter tear. Crudele led the charge.
“Annie had 12 of those points,” Constable said. “She just kept driving, and no one had an answer for her. She really stepped up and carried us to that win in the fourth quarter.”
In Tuesday’s win, Briana Scafidi added 15 points, Morgan Smith, 12 points, and Elise DiFilippo, seven. Smith and DiFilippo also were named to the all-tournament team.
In Monday’s win over Calvary Baptist, the Spartans sprinted to a 22-1 lead at the end of one quarter. The rest of the game was just a formality.
“It was a really nice game for us because everyone got quality minutes,” Constable said. “We had girls who don’t have experience getting a chance to play a good amount.”
Smith and DiFilippo led the Spartans with 11 points each while Crudele added nine.
Panthers dominate own tournament – Quakertown rolled to a pair of big wins to capture the title of its own tournament. In Monday’s opening round, the Panthers defeated Palisades 51-29, and in Tuesday’s title game, Quakertown crushed Upper Perkiomen 61-22.
Daniella Ciccarone and Kristine Jackiewicz shared tournament MVP honors. Jackewicz led all scorers with a career-high 25 points in the title game, which included five three-pointers. Twenty-two of those points came in a torrid first half.
“She had a really good night,” coach Greg Swavely said. “She was on, and our girls realized that and kept getting her the ball. She had a great night. I was really happy for her.”
Jackiewicz, according to the Panthers’ coach, will play a key role in determining just how far this Lady Panther squad will go this year.
“I have known all along that Kristine was capable of putting out that type of offense,” Swavely said. “It’s just a matter of her getting some confidence and going out and doing it now.
“You can never have enough scorers. It’s definitely something we need from her going forward.”
Ciccarone had 14 points while Lauren Starzecky, who also earned a spot on the all-tournament squad, had 10 points.
In Monday’s win over Palisades, Quakertown’s starters saw only a half of action. Ciccarone led the Panthers with 14 points, Jackiewicz had 11 and Starzecky and Brittany Buonanno-Taylor, 10 points each.
The big wins couldn’t have come at a better time for a Panther squad that took a three-game losing streak into the tournament.
“This is definitely a confidence builder,” said Swavely, whose team evened its record at 3-3. “We suffered three tough losses against three quality opponents going into the tournament, so we were looking for some wins to get our confidence going again.
“It was really important to get these two wins to get some momentum going back to the league next week.”
Panthers play tough in Punxsutawney – Ashley Alden turned in a glittering 21-point effort, and William Tennent appeared poised to pull off an upset of Hazleton in the opening round of the Punxsutawney Tournament on Tuesday, opening up a 25-16 halftime lead and extending that lead to 11, but then the shots stopped falling, and Hazleton rallied for a 52-43 win.
“They took the lead back, and we really just stopped scoring,” coach Paul Veltre said. “We handled their pressure, but we just stopped scoring.
“A win would have been such a great momentum shift because they have such a good program. It was just a very, very bad third quarter. We stopped scoring, and they heated up after halftime.”
Despite the outcome, Veltre was thrilled with the performance of Alden, who is coming back strong after shoulder surgery.
“It was the best offensive performance we have seen since she has been with us,” the Panthers coach said. “(Overall), we missed many, many easy layups, and the message today was to get more of a contribution from everybody, and they responded real well.”
In Tennent’s 56-46 consolation round win over Punxsutawney, Sarah Godfrey led the Panthers with 15 points. Emily O’Donnell came off the bench to score 12 points, and Alden had nine points. Liz Kovel had eight points and Alison Malatesta had seven.
“We got considerable contributions from more people, and that was the difference,” Veltre said. “We lost the game yesterday because we were depending too much on Ashley. She really was unbelievable.”
The Panthers (3-2) return the action on Tuesday against Council Rock North.
“That’s another game nobody expects us to win,” Veltre said. “If we want to do something, we have to win those games nobody expects us to win.”
Vikings settle for split – Coach Tom Schurtz was hoping his team would face a tough Wotoon squad in the title game of this week’s Sherwood Holiday Tournament.
That didn’t happen.
The Vikings hung tough but came up just short in their opening round game against Sherwood, falling 38-34. Sherwood outscored the Vikings 18-9 in the second and third quarters combined. That was the difference in the game.
“Sherwood had two girls that are signed Division One,” Schurtz said. “They were good, and I think we came out a little flat, and we paid for it.
“We had a two-point third quarter, and with a (30-second) shot clock, that’s ridiculous. Last year we averaged 68 points with the shot clock. This year we did not. It was just one of those days we did not shoot well from the field.”
The Vikings – led by Alex Galdi and Kristina O’Sullivan with nine points each - connected on just 19 percent from the field.
“We had good opportunities, and we didn’t capitalize,” Schurtz said. “They were long and athletic and a good basketball team. We just didn’t play with fire. When that happens, you pay the price.”
The Vikings owned Tuesday’s consolation round game against Reservoir, opening up a 19-6 lead at the end of one quarter and coasting to a 52-38 win. Cassidy Koenig led the Vikings with 17 points while Alex Galdi and Briana Alvarez each added 11 points.
Schurtz lauded the play of Galdi under the basket.
“Alex Galdi is really coming into her own,” he said. “In both games, she was in double figures in rebounds. She’s not a very flashy post player.
“You’re not going to look at her and say, ‘How are we going to stop her?’ But the first game she guarded a 6-1 girl and held her to four points. In the second game, she guarded a 5-11 girl and held her to eight points.
“She’s one of those kids – if we have a successful season, she’s a big part of the reason. She is really one of the best post defenders I have ever coached. She works so hard off the ball, and she makes it very difficult for other team’s post players to get going.”
Galdi, who measures in at just 5-10, routinely finds herself matched up against taller opponents.
“She’s not really big, she’s not really fast, and she’s not really strong, but she’s always where she belongs,” Schurtz said. “In my 13 years, we’ve had some great players, but she’ll be the player who walks out of here, and no one will understand how good she really is. Game in and game out, we can’t survive without her. We’re a .500 team without Alex Galdi.”
With Galdi, the Vikings are 6-2 heading into the New Year.
“You travel to learn a little bit about yourselves, and we learned we can’t take any team lightly,” said Schurtz. “We need to focus all the time.”
Hatters come up just short – Hatboro-Horsham had an opportunity to win its bracket in the Boardwalk Basketball Classic at Wildwood, but the Hatters dropped a 55-52 heartbreaker to Owen J. Roberts in Monday’s title game.
“We watched them play before – they play a one-three-one, and we went over it,” coach Eric Glemser said. “Then we went out there and acted like we didn’t know what we were doing.”
The Hatters found themselves staring at a 36-19 halftime deficit.
“We didn’t make one shot inside the three-point line, and we shot 18 shots inside the paint,” Glemser said.
The Hatters came out of halftime and outscored the Wildcats 19-6 in the third quarter to make things interesting.
“We were down two with the ball a couple of times, but we missed so many layups,” Glemser said. “We had some good looks.
“It became a real exciting game, but we can’t put a whole game together.”
Kate Romano led the Hatters with 18 points while Cailin Schmeer added 16. Alicia Hayes chipped in with 13 points. Romano and Schmeer both had six rebounds. Becca Purtel had a team-high seven boards.
“We needed a win, and we got one,” Glemser said. “We got a lot of kids involved, a lot of kids got playing time. We have a tough schedule coming up.”
In Sunday’s opening round game, the Hatters rolled to a 48-26 win over Lower Cape May (1-2). Schmeer paced with Hatters with 14 points while Romano had 13 points and six boards.
“Schmeer and (Romano) have been playing consistently this year,” Glemser said.
The Hatters were 2-4 in December.
Around the league - Plymouth Whitemarsh dropped a pair of games in the Catholic War Veterans Tournament. The Colonials fell to Mount St. Joseph Academy 62-38 in an opening round game. Alexa Borkowski had eight points. In the consolation game, Kennedy-Kenrick downed PW 45-39. Kelly Hackenbrack led the Colonials with 12 points while Katie Jo Wacker had 10 and Gabby Schumacher, nine points.
Upper Moreland trailed Jenkintown by just one point (26-25) heading into the final quarter of Monday's opening round game in the Jenkintown Tournament, but the Drakes used to a 21-9 fourth quarter tear to earn a 47-34 win. Erin Dixon led the Golden Bears with 12 points. The Golden Bears rebounded to down Bishop McDevitt 32-24 in Tuesday's consolation game. Christie Graf had a team-high 11 points, including six in a fourth quarter that saw the Golden Bears go on a 12-4 tear.
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