Central Bucks South & Upper Dublin were winners in Monday’s PIAA 6A semifinals and will face each other in Friday’s state title game at Hershey. UD/Souderton photos provided courtesy of Donna Longacre Photography. Check for a gallery of photos.
#1-9 UPPER DUBLIN 26, #1-1 SOUDERTON 25
Jess Polin was grace under pressure.
The Upper Dublin freshman, fouled with 2.6 seconds remaining in regulation and the Indians in the bonus, had already missed the first of two shots. With Souderton’s student section chanting ‘Choke, choke, choke’ and Council Rock South’s gym rocking, Polin calmly buried the second, giving the Cardinals a 26-25 lead and – after a desperation heave by the Indians fell short – the heartstopping win in Monday’s PIAA 6A semifinal.
“I bricked the first one – I was pretty shaken up, but the Souderton coach called a (timeout),” Polin said. “I guess she was trying to ice me, but it really gave me a breath, and I got to think what would happen if I made it, and I put it in.”
The Flying Cardinals - as a result of Polin’s late-game heroics – will be heading to Hershey for Friday’s PIAA 6A title game against Central Bucks South. Monday’s win capped a magical run through the state tournament that has seen the Cardinals knock off one higher seeded team after another, beginning with their overtime upset of highly regarded Cardinal O’Hara.
“That definitely gave our team confidence,” Polin said. “We were so ready. They were very good tonight, and we knew we just had to get through this game.
“We were very confident, and we knew not to be nervous because it was just one more game.”
Defense was once again the name of the game for the Flying Cardinals, who limited the Indians to just 14 points over the final three quarters.
“One of our goals coming into the game – we didn’t want any of their players to score double digits,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “It looks like we hit that.
“That was our focus to not let one of their girls get hot. It starts with Jackie Vargas on the back end, altering shots and blocking shots and intimidating people who attack the basket, and then the perimeter defense of the other four people.”
There was nothing about the first quarter that suggested the Indians would endure such an offensive drought. Granted, they connected on just one of their first five shots but still jumped out to an 11-6 lead. Vargas scored all six of those points for the Cardinals, a streak that was broken when Nicole Kaiser sank a pair at the foul line to make it an 11-8 game at the end of one quarter.
The Indians suffered a setback when Alana Cardona picked up her second foul with 1:56 remaining in the quarter and took a seat on the bench where she was joined by Kate Connolly in the opening minute of the second quarter. Only a basket by Megan Walbrandt on a tough drive prevented the Indians from being shut out in the frame. A Polin three sent the Cardinals into halftime with a 16-13 lead.
“At halftime, we had Maggie Weglos and Dayna Balasa in foul trouble too, and the message to the girls was – awesome job by the bench,” Funsten said. “Kara Grebe gave us four huge points in the second quarter.
“When the game is this low scoring, every basket is just so magnified. Between Kara Grebe and Sarah Eskew coming off the bench and giving us huge minutes, we felt good.”
Early in the third quarter, Megan Bealer buried a three after a Cardona steal, knotting the score 16-16, and Bealer – after a Walbrandt steal - sank one-of-two at the foul line to put the Indians on top 17-16 at the 5:59 mark, but those would be their final points of the quarter.
Vargas answered with a basket for the Cardinals, and then Dayna Balasa buried a three. Kaiser converted a drive in the closing seconds to give UD a 23-17 lead at the end of three quarters.
“We just wanted to stick around,” Funsten said. “When you’re the favorite and the other team is sticking around, you start thinking a little more about the ramifications if you lose.
“That was kind of our mindset coming in – let’s make them think about what’s ahead of them and their expectations.”
The Indians opened the final quarter with a 5-0 run that was capped with a Walbrandt bucket to make it a one-point game with 4:44 remaining. Vargas blew by her defender at the other end, and the Cardinals led by three.
“Jackie Vargas really dominated the game offensively and defensively,” Funsten said. “She turned into our point guard. It was kind of ‘Here you go, Jack, show them what you got,’ and she showed them. She got them in foul trouble, and she attacked the basket as well as she has in her two years so far. It’s crazy that we’re talking about a sophomore here.”
Connolly connected on a pair of foul shots to pull the Indians to within one, and they had several chances to take the lead when the Cardinals misfired on the front end of three straight one-and-ones. The Indians missed on a one-and-one of their own, but with 26 seconds remaining, Connolly sank one-of-two at the line to knot the score.
The game’s final shot – according to Polin – wasn’t designed to end up in her hands.
“Jackie Vargas was supposed to take her girl one-on-one like she had been doing great the entire game, and she kicked it out to me,” Polin said. “I was too far out to take the shot, so I drove in and she fouled me.”
It was yet another in a long line of plays that worked for the Cardinals, who won their fourth straight state game over a higher seeded team.
“We just really wanted this so bad,” Vargas said. “We worked so hard for this, and we know we can beat any team if we put our minds to it.
“We always say ‘heart plus working together equals a dub,’ and that’s what we did tonight. Anything is possible, any team is beatable, and I think we proved that tonight.”
Upper Dublin’s jubilation was the Indians’ heartbreak, and for the Indians, things were never the same after a second quarter that saw them score just two points.
“The second quarter obviously killed us with Kate and Alana out,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “It’s hard to run a lot of our sets with both of them on the bench, and both of them were on the bench for a very, very long time.
“At one point in the second half, I called a timeout and said – it seemed like every shot we were taking was a desperation shot. ‘If this one doesn’t go in, we’ll lose.’”
While some may be surprised by a game that saw the teams combine for only 51 points, Maggie Weglos – called by Funsten the ‘heart and soul’ of the team – was not in that number.
“We were actually planning on it, which is surprising,” the UD senior captain said. “We knew coming into the game that Souderton is great defensively, and it was just going to be a game of grinding. We just had to keep at it.
“Every basket counts. We just had to be strong, be confident, and I think we really handled it well. We came to all the passes, which we knew we needed to do. We knew we couldn’t run any of our sets, so we really relied on Jackie tonight, and she did an amazing job.”
Vargas led all scorers with 11 points while Connolly led the Indians with nine.
Upper Dublin (26-5, 11-2 SOL) will face Central Bucks South in the PIAA 6A title game on Friday at 6 p.m.
“Oh my gosh – I have no words,” Weglos said. “I am just so proud of my team. We have put in so much work, so much effort this entire season, and it’s really paying off.”
Souderton (29-3, 11-1 SOL) closed out its most successful season in program history with a SOL Continental Conference title, the SOL Tournament crown and the District One 6A title.
"Obviously, I am extremely proud of this group," Carroll said. "Sometimes I feel like a celebrity when I walk around and people want to talk to me about them. People go out of their way to talk to me about them.
"I think these past two years were the most fun I've ever had as a coach, as a player, any team I've ever been a part of. They have a lot to be proud of - winning the league, winning the SOL, winning districts. This is a team that set records over the last two years, and I am so proud of them. I wasn't ready, I wasn't prepared to say good-bye to the seniors tonight. It hurts, it really hurts.”
Monday’s game marked the second time in as many years the Indians lost in the state semifinals on a late, late foul call. In last year’s 32-31 loss to North Allegheny, it came with .9 seconds. This year it was 2.6. The loss snapped a 23-game winning streak.
“It felt extremely familiar, unfortunately, but they have a lot to be proud of,” Carroll said. “In a couple of weeks, they’ll look back and they will have good thoughts about this season.
“Upper Dublin played great, and they executed enough and made the foul shot that mattered the most. Good for them – they deserve it. They put together quite a run. I wish it would have ended a little differently.”
Upper Dublin 8-8-7-3 26
Souderton 11-2-4-8 25
Upper Dublin (26) – Nicole Kaiser 1 2-3 4; Jess Polin 1 1-3 4; Kara Grebe 2 0-0 4; Maggie Weglos 0 0-1 0; Dayna Balasa 1 2-3 3; Jackie Vargas 4 3-6 11; Totals 9 6-15 26.
Souderton (25) – Megan Bealer 1 1-2 4; Alana Cardona 3 0-1 6; Megan Walbrandt 2 2-2 6; Erica Stephens 0 0-2 0; Kate Connolly 1 6-8 9; Totals 7 9-15 25.
3-point field goals: Souderton – Megan Bealer, Kate Connolly; Upper Dublin – Dayna Balasa, Jess Polin.
#1-2 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 52, #7-1 NORTH ALLEGHENY 49
Talk about a road trip to remember, this was it.
The Titans traveled more than 150 miles to Chambersburg High School for a date with a North Allegheny squad ranked 18th in the latest USA Today Super 25. They found themselves on the short end of an 18-14 score at the intermission but came out of halftime and seized control of the game, outscoring the Tigers 38-31.
When the final horn sounded, it was the Titans celebrating their program’s first ever trip to the PIAA 6A title game.
“I don’t know what it feels like to win a state championship, but this was probably the best feeling up to that point,” junior Alexa Brodie said. “There’s one more game left in the season, there’s only one more game we could possibly play. We want to be feeling good after that game.”
“I really can’t put it into words – it’s an unbelievable feeling,” senior Lindsay Scott said. “We’ve been dreaming about this since day one, but it’s hard to believe we actually got here and made it.”
The Titans will face Upper Dublin in an All-SOL title game on Friday at Hershey.
“It’s incredible,” coach Beth Mattern said. “I don’t know if it’s sunk in yet, other than we have a pack of Hershey bars with us right now.
“We’re not huge celebrators at the end of games, but it was awesome to watch them celebrate. This is such an accomplishment. We are playing from the first day of the season to the last day of the season. This is it.”
“We’re just letting it soak in right now, Brodie said. “We’re just enjoying the moment right now.
“Obviously, tomorrow we have to get back to work, but right now we’re just enjoying it. It’s the first time we’ve ever gotten this far, it’s the first time we’ve ever made the state championship, so we’re just embracing it.”
Brodie was the catalyst in the Titans’ second-half comeback, scoring 13 of her game-high 22 points in the third quarter. Haley Meinel, according to Mattern contributed some big steals in the Titans’ run to open the half.
“Once we tied it up and took the lead, we knew there was no turning back,” Brodie said. “We knew we could win this one. We just had to take it possession by possession and get stops on defense, get buckets when we needed to, and we did that.”
The Titans outscored the Tigers 17-10 in the third quarter to go on top 31-28 heading into the final frame when Scott, South’s sixth man, went to work, scoring all 11 of her points in the frame.
“I was able, I guess, to really feel it in the fourth quarter,” Scott said. “I had some drives, and I got fouled a lot, which gave me good opportunities on the foul line.”
“That girl has had two big games in a row,” Mattern said. “Lindsay came in tonight and played fantastic defense. She was fantastic.
“She hit some clutch shots and foul shots to keep us in the lead at the end. She obviously clearly had the best game of the season tonight. Alexa was drawing attention because she was getting down the lane and she was scoring. Lindsay was open, and she just knocked them down.”
Scott was 5-of-8 from the foul line and also had three field goals in the final quarter.
“There was a foul at midcourt, and Lindsay was the first person at the foul line – ‘Give me the ball and let’s do this,’” Mattern said. “She’s motivated right now.
“My whole team is motivated, and they just really, really worked well together, and they were awesome. Every single one of them.”
The second half was a marked contrast to the first that saw the Tigers go on top 10-5 after a first quarter that included just one field goal by the Titans.
“I thought we were a little more aggressive offensively in the second half,” Mattern said. “I think offensively we were just feeling them out a little bit because they are a longer team, and we were trying to figure out how we wanted to break some of the defenses they were throwing at us.
“I thought the girls did a great job talking it out at halftime, and we adjusted and got the attacks we wanted.”
The Tigers scored 49 points, but defense – according to Mattern and her players – was the difference.
“Coming in we knew what we had to do to win – we just had to play really good on-ball defense,” Brodie said. “Our defensive intensity from the tip to the last buzzer was probably the best defensive intensity we’ve had all season. The defense we put out here tonight was crazy, and that’s really what helped us get that momentum at the start of the third quarter and keep that lead.”
“I just thought our defense was really great tonight,” Mattern said. “We scored six straight points and took the lead in the first minutes of the third quarter, and we never looked back.
“I did not know this until after the game, but this is the first game we actually won when we were losing at halftime. Apparently, we’re 1-4 when we’re losing at halftime. I didn’t know that stat, but I believe Alexa (Brodie) when she tells me that.”
Just as Upper Dublin played the role of giant killer in its semifinal against Souderton, the Titans did the same, upsetting the District 7 champions who brought a 28-game winning streak into the game dating back to last year’s state title game.
“We knew all the hype about North Allegheny,” Brodie said. “We just took it as another game, just another step in the process.
“We were down by four at halftime. In the locker room, we were pretty happy with where we were at – we were happy with our defense. We just knew we had to hit a couple more shots. We knew that if you get more stops on defense and get some easy buckets that would really help with our confidence. We came out in the third quarter firing, and we just didn’t stop after that.”
“We were pretty relaxed,” Scott said. “We didn’t feel too much pressure because we were the underdog. They were the 28-0 team, and the pressure was on them.”
Monday’s win was the fourth straight for the Titans (28-4, 10-2 SOL) after falling to Souderton in triple overtime in the District One 6A title game.
“That (loss) definitely gave us more fire,” Scott said. “We’re looking for a championship, and we knew once we lost in districts that we still had an opportunity ahead of us in the state tournament, and we were really happy that we’re going to play for the championship on Friday.”
Central Bucks South 5-9-17-21 52
North Allegheny 10-8-10-21 49
Central Bucks South (52) – Lindsay Scott 3 5-8 11; Haley Meinel 3 5-6 11; Natalie DiSandro 0 2-4 2; Alexa Brodie 6 6-8 22; Maddie McShane 2 1-2 5; Mackenzie Ehresman 0 1-2 1; Totals 14 20-30 52.
North Allegheny (49) – Brynn Serbin 1 4-6 7; Audrey Lane 2 0-0 4; Brooke Barcia 1 0-0 3; Courtney Roman 2 0-0 6; Piper Morningstar 5 1-2 13; Lizzy Groetsch 4 2-2 11; Madelyn Fischer 2 1-1 5; Totals 17 8-11 49.
3-point goals: CB South – Alexa Brodie 2; North Allegheny – Paige Morningstar 2, Courtney Roman 2, Lizzy Groetsch, Brooke Barcia, Brynn Serbin.
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