The Upper Dublin girls and Upper Moreland boys teams advanced to Wednesday’s district semifinals while CB East and Neshaminy girls saw their seasons come to an end. To view photos of the Upper Dublin/North Penn game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#3 UPPER DUBLIN 42, #6 NORTH PENN 26
After watching senior Curtrena Goff slice through the Maidens’ defense for a basket on the first possession of the second half, the Upper Dublin student section began chanting, ‘She’s a problem. She’s a problem…’
And Goff was just that, tormenting the Maidens at both ends of the court. The senior point guard finished with a game-high 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds. She also handed our more than a few assists and effectively directed the Cardinals at both ends of the court.
“She’s taken her game to the next level,” coach Morgan Funsten said. “The last couple of games she’s refused to let us fall behind.
“Ever since she scored her thousandth point, you can see a big relief in her body language, and you can see it in her game. She’s back to dominating a game in all aspects.”
A key to Upper Dublin’s win was unquestionably the defense they threw at the Maidens.
“We watched game tapes for two days before practice, and we knew what we had to do,” Goff said. “They’re pretty big, so the game plan was to make their okay players beat us. We kind of focused on Lauren Crisler and Vicky Tumasz, so getting them out of their game forced the others to do more.”
Crisler and Tumasz came into the game averaging close to 27 points a game between them. They combined for just 13 points on Saturday.
“An hour and a half before the game, I didn’t know which defense we were going to come out in,” Funsten said. “I’d watched what feels like four days worth of tape on North Penn.
“Finally, talking to my assistants and talking to the girls, we decided we were going to come out in man. We went with it, and the girls did just an awesome job containing Crisler and knowing where Tumasz was. Those were our keys.
“We went in with the game plan – if the other three girls are able to beat us, then they’re going to win the game. Holding Crisler to eight and Tumasz to five – our goal was to keep both of those girls under 10. What feels like the entire season – when I write a goal on the board, the girls take it as a major challenge. It seems like they take it personally.”
The game itself was close for a while. Erin Maher’s three-pointer at the 4:21 mark was the first field goal of the game for either team and spotted the Maidens a 3-1 lead. Lauren Rothfeld answered with her first of three three’s in the half to put the Cardinals on top by one. At the end of the quarter, Upper Dublin led 8-7.
A three-pointer by Goff to open the second quarter put the Cards on top by four, but Maher answered with her second three of the game. Another Rothfeld three gave the Cadinals a 14-10 edge, but sophomore Jackie Bilotti answered with a three-pointer for the Maidens. Goff scored at the other end, and when Rothfeld buried a three after a Maidens turnover, the Cardinals led 19-13. Crisler scored on a putback to trim that lead to four, but a Kayla McAneney three sent the Cardinals into halftime with a 22-15 lead.
“Everybody can score pretty much for them,” North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “They have so many weapons, and they have good passers. They play very well as a team.”
“All five of us can score,” Rothfeld said. “If they’re face guarding (Goff), we have four others who can score.”
Rothfeld scored all nine of her points in the first half.
“Lauren hit a little bit of a slump midway through the season, but the last five or six games, she’s been awesome,” Funsten said. “For her to be able to do it on the offensive and the defensive end – she can play anybody.
“When we went into our halfcourt trap, Lauren got her hand on the ball multiple times in the second quarter and really disrupted things.”
And it was in the second quarter, according to Funsten, that the game started to turn in Upper Dublin’s favor.
“Although they did not have a lot of success against our man-to-man defense in the first quarter and the first part of the second, I thought they started to really feel uncomfortable with our trap in the second quarter,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “I was not overly pleased with how we executed offensively in the first half. I thought we pretty much built our lead on playing great defense and making shots. A lot of shots we made were tough shots, and they just happened to be falling today.”
Goff scored on the opening possession of the third quarter, but Tumasz answered with a three to make it a six-point game. That basket, however, was followed by an eight-minute scoring drought for the Maidens. By the time they scored again early in the fourth quarter, the Flying Cardinals led 36-18.
In the third quarter, the Flying Cardinals were sparked by six points from Goff – one basket on a dazzling move after stripping a Maiden ball handler on the defensive end.
“We were shooting the ball well and with confidence, which is important,” Goff said.
Brianna Spector and Regan Gallagher each added four points – all on easy buckets in close out of the set offense.
“Defensively, we had so many breakdowns,” deMarteleire said. “All those backdoors they had in the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth, it was stuff we went over, and we just didn’t execute at all.”
The Cards’ 14-3 third quarter tear effectively sealed the Maidens’ fate.
“In our second half, we did some of our best executing of the year,” Funsten said. “The box score changed from a bunch of three-pointers to a bunch of two’s, and those two’s were layups.
“It was a credit to the girls for executing what we asked them to execute, and they did it perfectly.”
While the Maidens struggled offensively, that wasn’t deMarteleire’s main area of concern.
“Defensive rebounding is usually a strength of ours, and it wasn’t today,” the Maidens’ coach said. “We’re usually one and done, and that didn’t happen today.
“It was very disappointing to watch my kids perform like that. We need to perform a lot tougher mentally and physically and follow instructions a lot better. We do need to recommit ourselves and regroup as a team because I don’t think we played well in any of our three playoff games.”
The game was played before a packed house, and no one was making more noise than the Flying Cardinals’ huge student section – decked out as nerds.
“It’s really ridiculous – we can’t even hear coach Funsten calling plays,” Rothfeld said. “They’re so intense about it.”
“It was great having a crowd,” Goff said. “During the regular season, we didn’t have a crowd. I feel as though the school has more spirit.”
While the Maidens will face Boyertown in a game for state seeding on Wednesday, the Flying Cardinals will advance to Wednesday’s district semifinal game against Mount St. Joseph at Norristown High School at 6 p.m. The Mount crushed Boyertown 62-24 in a quarterfinal game Saturday.
To view the video by PhillyBurbs.com video journalist Jen recapping the game, please click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB-H71_eljo&feature=youtu.be
#12 WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 40, #20 PENNSBURY 31
The Falcons’ remarkable postseason run hit a speed bump on Saturday when they struggled to find their offense, scoring just 14 points through the first three quarters and coming up short in their bid to earn a spot in the district semifinals.
“We didn’t do a good job boxing out,” coach Donna Nicholson said. “We allowed them way too many offensive rebounds, and we just didn’t execute.
“We didn’t finish at all. We had some open looks in the first half, and we didn’t knock them down."
Rustin sprinted out to a 14-7 lead at the end of one quarter and stretched that to 23-12 by halftime. If the Falcons – who shot 5-for-15 from the floor in the first half - entertained any thoughts of a comeback, they were put to rest in a third quarter that saw them score just two points as Rustin opened up a 32-14 lead.
“You’re not going to win too many games only scoring two points in a quarter,” Nicholson said. “We didn’t shoot the ball real well, and we allowed them to get second and third chances. We gave up 12 offensive rebounds, and you can’t do that against a good team.
“We gave them some open looks. We didn’t recognize the shooters and get out on them and contest their shots. They got open looks, and they knocked them down.”
Kaitlin Kelly led the Falcons with 12 points, which included two three-pointers. She scored all of her points in a fourth quarter that saw the Falcons outscore Rustin 17-8. Sajanna Bethea added 11 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds for another double-double.
The Falcons will face Central Bucks West on Wednesday night in a battle for seeding position heading into the state tournament.
“We need to do a better job of boxing out, we need to do a better job of rebounding, and when we get those open looks, we’ve got to knock them down,” Nicholson said.
#5 METHACTON 50, #4 NESHAMINY 44
The Redskins saw their storybook season come to an end on Saturday when they fell to the fifth-seeded Warriors, but not even an early exit from the playoffs could diminish the accomplishments of a team comprised of players whose first sport – in more than a few cases – is soccer, field hockey or lacrosse.
The Redskins came together this season to win their first outright championship since 1997. They were co-champs with Council Rock North in 2005.
“I’m just so proud of the kids,” first-year coach Joe Lally said. “They made a commitment to each other in the beginning of November.
“We had to wait for the soccer playoffs to end and more pieces to get into the gym. They just continued to jell as more kids came into the gym and completed our team. It really is just a special group.”
The Redskins were without junior point guard Megan Schafer (soccer) on Saturday, but they led a good portion of the game and still trailed by just one (45-44) with 58 seconds remaining but misfired on a pair of shots for the lead.
“They played a phenomenal game today,” Lally said. “I know they came up on the short end of the score, but there’s no doubt in my mind or anybody that was in this gym that those kids showed how far they came this year to be in that game with a very good team with 58 seconds left. The girls really played well.”
Methacton led 13-8 at the end of one quarter, but the Redskins came roaring back to outscore the Warriors 15-9 in the second quarter to take a 23-22 lead into halftime. They still led 36-34 heading into the final frame when the Warriors closed it out with a 16-8 run.
“In the fourth quarter, they made a little run,” Lally said. “We had some open looks that didn’t fall for us. The press was effective.
“We continued to get good quality shots. They just didn’t fall for us in the fourth quarter.”
Lori Paulits scored 14 points in her final high school game. Sarah Oliveira added 10, Maddie Murray had eight points and McKenna Mullin had six.
“Morgan (Goldenbaum) also did another phenomenal job,” Lally said of his freshman point guard. “She only scored four points, but she had six assists and three steals and only two turnovers. It’s something to be excited about.
“I’m really proud of our captains and the whole team. They really stepped up. They took the challenge. They really played their hearts out. Methacton is a very good team. I’m just really proud of the way our kids played.”
While Methacton will face Downingtown West on Wednesday night for a state berth, the Redskins closed out their successful season with a 19-5 record.
#10 GARNET VALLEY 40, #18 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 32
The Patriots played the Jaguars all but even in the first half, trailing 19-17 at the intermission, but they were ultimately doomed by a third quarter that saw them score just two points while Garnet Valley put up 10.
Junior Courtney Webster led the Patriots with nine points while Katelyn Miller had seven and Morgan Kelly, six. Garnet Valley will face Souderton on Wednesday in a battle for a state berth while East closed out its season with a 16-9 record.
BOYS’ BASKETBALL DISTRICT ONE AAA QUARTERFINALS
#4 UPPER MORELAND 66, #5 POTTSTOWN 46
Matt Kohn had the hot hand for the Golden Bears in Saturday’s District One AAA opener, and in a preview of things to come, he scored seven points and also had a pair of steals in the first quarter. Despite Kohn’s early heroics, the two teams were deadlocked 12-12 at the end of the frame.
The Golden Bears closed out the first half with an 11-3 run, outscoring the Trojans 17-9 in the second quarter to go into halftime on top 29-21. They led 45-33 heading into the final quarter and never looked back on their way to the big win.
Kohn led all scorers with 22 points. He also had four rebounds, six assists and two steals. Junior Kevin McFall finished with a double-double, collecting 12 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Sophomore James Martin had 12 points and three rebounds, and Chris Corr came off the bench to contribute nine points.
The Golden Bears will face eighth-seeded Octorara in Wednesday’s semifinal game at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School at 7:30 p.m. Octorara upset top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep 49-48.
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