CB West and Upper Dublin earned wins in their district seeding games on Saturday.
#10 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 63, #6 NORTH PENN 41
Something had to give when the SOL Continental Conference foes met in Saturday’s fifth place district game. Four times the archrivals met over the past two years, and each team won two games.
The Bucks – who were forced to settle for a co-championship after falling to the Maidens in a late-season contest - had the final say on Saturday.
“The last time we played them they shot like 60 percent or something incredible like that, but they weren’t really hitting their shots today,” West sophomore Corrinne Godshall said.
While the Maidens – who scored just 21 points through three periods – were struggling to find their offensive game, the Bucks dominated the paint to build a double-digit lead by late in the second quarter.
“It’s obviously frustrating to the kids when they’re not shooting well, but we need them to pick it up in other areas,” North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “The last time we played them we shot three’s really well, and today they shot three’s unbelievably well, but you can’t count on three’s. That’s where you have to pick it up on the defensive end when you’re not getting your three’s.”
Godshall led the Bucks in the paint with 10 rebounds to go along with 11 points. Sophomore point guard Nicole Munger also had 11 points while senior Maggie Gratz had 10 and sophomore Mackenzie Carroll, eight points.
“Coach said we had 50 rebounds, and when you get rebounds, it generates everything,” Godshall said. “It generates defense, it stops their offense, it gets us points in transition. It’s awesome.”
The Maidens were led by the 19-point effort of senior Lauren Crisler while junior Vicky Tumasz had nine points. No other player had more than four for the Maidens, who took their final lead of the game (7-6) after senior Jenn Halcovage buried a three with just under three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The Bucks responded with eight straight points, and they were off and running. They closed out the first half with a 10-2 run that culminated with a Carroll three, sending the Bucks into halftime with a 29-13 lead.
The Maidens’ shooting woes carried over to the foul line where they connected on just 3-of-8 in the second quarter. They finished the game 12-of-20 from the charity stripe.
“We shoot 20 foul shots every day in practice, and I don’t know how many kids this week were 20-for-20,” deMarteleire said. “That’s just lack of focus when you get up there and you’re not hitting foul shots.
“They had 14 points on offensive rebounds and we missed eight foul shots – what did we lose by? Twenty-two, and that’s 22 points. We’re so much better than this. Something isn’t right. It’s very, very frustrating when you have all this talent, and you can’t seem to get the most out of them.”
Maiden freshman Mikaela Giuliani connected for a basket to open the third quarter, and when Crisler sank one-of-two, it was a 29-16 game. Godshall, however, pulled down the rebound of the Crisler miss and took it coast-to-coast for a bucket that put the Bucks on top by 15.
Crisler answered with a basket for the Maidens, but Carroll buried her second three of the game, and after a Maiden miss, Munger found Gratz for an easy bucket. A basket by freshman Makenzie Mason put the Bucks on top 38-18, and when junior Taylor Moylan scored on a putback at the buzzer, the Bucks led 45-21 on their way to the big win.
“Coach always tells us to not really pay attention to the score but to play the same way whether we’re up or down,” Godshall said. “We just tried to play 32 minutes going hard as a team.”
The Bucks (20-6) will open state tournament play Friday against Central Dauphin East, the third place team out of District 3. The Maidens (22-5) will face District 11 runner-up Pocono Valley West.
#3 UPPER DUBLIN 57, #12 WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 55
Letting go of a dream is never easy, and after their dream of a trip to Villanova for the district title game was shattered as a result of Wednesday’s loss to Mount St. Joseph, the Flying Cardinals had the difficult task of regrouping for Saturday’s third place game against Rustin.
“Going into the game, I could have predicted it was going to be a weird game,” coach Morgan Funsten said. “And it was a weird game.
“I thought we showed up offensively, but we didn’t show up defensively, which is very, very rare for us.”
Junior Regan Gallagher turned in a stellar performance for the Flying Cardinals, contributing 25 points, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals. The junior forward connected on 9-of-14 shots from the field and 7-of-8 from the foul line.
“Regan had a great game,” Funsten said. “She was the storyline offensively.”
Rustin led 8-7 at the end of one quarter, but the Flying Cardinals answered with a 21-17 second quarter to go into halftime with a 28-25 lead. The two teams exchanged baskets in the second half, and the Flying Cardinals, who never trailed in the half, had a five-point lead down the stretch. A Rustin three in the final seconds made it a two-point game.
“We played more girls than we normally do,” Funsten said. “We got 11 girls into the game in the first half, and they came in and played well.
“They have been working hard at practice, and we decided we wanted to play more girls today. I thought they came in and performed well.”
The Flying Cardinals connected on 16-of-22 from the foul line.
“For the first time in the playoffs, we actually made foul shots,” Funsten said. “It was a good way to go into the state playoffs feeling good about our free throws.”
The Flying Cardinals (25-2) will take on District 12’s third place team, defending state champion Archbishop Carroll, in Friday’s opening round game.
“Our original goal was to get to Villanova,” Funsten said. “That’s why going into today – you knew it was going to be a weird game. Our goal was getting to Villanova, and when your number one goal is to get something done, and it’s no longer attainable but the season is still going on – it’s a weird feeling. We need to refocus and reset our goals, and that’s what we’re going to do this week.”
#7 BOYERTOWN 53, #20 PENNSBURY 49
The Falcons appeared to have the upper hand in Saturday’s seventh place game, but they were ultimately doomed by a fourth quarter that saw the Bears close out the game with a 20-11 tear.
The two teams were deadlocked 10-10 after one quarter, but the Falcons outscored their hosts 17-11 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 27-21 lead. They still led 38-33 heading into the final quarter.
Kaitlyn Eisenhard, Boyertown’s all-time leading scorer, scored eight of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, and Olivia Cavallo, who scored eight points, was a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final minute of the game.
Sajanna Bethea lead the Falcons (14-13) with 20 points while Kaitlin Kelly had 13 and Taylor Ferguson, nine points. Boyertown will face District 3 runner-up Central Dauphin in Friday’s state opener while Pennsbury will face District 12 champion Prep Charter.
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