Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action on Thursday. To view photos of the William Tennent/Council Rock North and Upper Dublin/Wissahickon games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
National Conference
WILLIAM TENNENT 60, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 36
The Panthers turned in a first half performance that bordered on perfection, exploding out of the gate to a 17-9 lead at the end of one quarter. By halftime, that lead had grown to 34-12 over the stunned Indians, all but guaranteeing there would be no reruns of the initial meeting between the two teams that saw the Panthers take a two-point lead into halftime only to be outscored by the Indians 19-5 in the third quarter in a 49-39 loss.
“Top to bottom, we played a very good game tonight,” Tennent coach Paul Veltre said. “Offensively, we did not handle the pressure well the first time we played them. He (coach Lou Palkovics) is very good at forcing teams to turn the ball over. We did not turn the ball over as much as we did the first time we played.”
The Panthers were led by the glittering 17-point effort of freshman Kyla Gibson.
“We shot very well tonight, and she was 6-for-9 from the field,” Veltre said. “She played very strong against (Jessica) Gerber tonight too, and (Gerber) deserves a lot of attention because she has hurt a lot of teams.”
Nikki Alden turned in her usual workmanlike performance, contributing 13 points – which included a 6-of-7 effort at the foul line - and 14 rebounds. Angie Pomponio added 11 points, and Alyssa Christensen had nine, which included a 7-of-8 performance at the foul line.
All told, the Panthers connected on 22-of-30 from the charity stripe.
“It’s kind of hard to single players out because they all did very well tonight,” Veltre said. “I am so happy and proud of these girls. They played great, and I’m glad they were able to see some success. It’s such a quality win.”
The Indians were led by Tara Garfield’s eight points while Gerber and Hailey Burns both added seven.
While the Indians fell to 4-4 in league play (6-5 overall), the Panthers are 3-4 (8-5 overall) and off to a good start as the second go-round in conference play gets underway.
“Having a win is always good and having a win against a quality team is great, especially one that has had such a strong reputation like North does,” Veltre said. “It was great for Nikki (Alden) in her last game against North.
“We start two freshmen, and for these young players to develop some confidence and to see what it’s like to compete and see what it’s like to be successful against a strong team – hopefully that will pay dividends long term, and that becomes the standard of the level they want to play at.”
William Tennent 17 17 11 15-60
Council Rock North 9 3 13 11-36
ABINGTON 48, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 32
The Ghosts held a 19-18 lead at the intermission but used a 29-14 second half surge to earn the big win.
“We executed better offensively in the second half, and we stepped up our intensity a little bit on defense – Deja (Rawls) took over,” coach Dan Marsh said. “Gabby Nolan had another great game. She was a catalyst for us.
“Sammy Lochner did a great job on (Taylor) Dillon. She only had two points. We’re starting to get a little bit better.”
Rawls led all scorers with 17 points while Michael Harris added 10. Nolan had six points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Allison Taub led the Golden Hawks with nine points.
“She is really starting to play well for them,” Marsh said of Taub. “She was a tough matchup for us. We had to adjust in the second half. We didn’t really know who to put on her. Leah Simmons, our sophomore, ended up on her in the second half and did a better job on her.”
The Ghosts upped their record to 7-1 in league play (9-5 overall) while the Golden Hawks fell to 2-5 in the league (3-10 overall).
Abington 7 12 13 16-48
Council Rock South 5 13 9 5-32
NESHAMINY 72, HARRY S TRUMAN 20
Maddie Murray continues to put up impressive numbers for the Redskins, contributing 20 points and seven rebounds in limited minutes in Thursday’s win.
“We really think she’s got talent to play in the post,” coach Joe Lally said. “She’s definitely become more of a weapon. It’s something we’ve worked on in the offseason.
“She’s just a great kid. She’s been working really hard, and it’s nice to see her playing really well.”
Sarah Oliveira added 12 points and eight rebounds. Megan Schafer had a team-high eight assists. Sophomore Tiara Porterfield had seven points, six rebounds and five assists while freshman Thyra Tuttle added eight points.
While the Tigers fell to 1-7 in league play (4-9 overall), the Redskins upped their record to 7-0 in the league (9-2 overall).
Harry S Truman 5 6 6 3-20
Neshaminy 28 23 14 17-72
BENSALEM 64, ACADEMY PARK 30
Lyric Lewis has been on a bona fide tear recently, and the sophomore standout, who transferred to Bensalem from Conwell Egan, singlehandedly outscored Academy Park, finishing with 34 points to lead the Owls to their first win of the season.
“She’s been on fire lately,” coach Don Bogan said of Lewis. “The last couple of games she’s really been playing well. We weren’t winning, and she was getting a little frustrated. She’s a very coachable kid, one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever had. She wants to win bad, and being a sophomore, she needs to let the game come to her.
“Starting around Christmas, she started taking a leadership role on the team, and right now, she’s the unspoken team leader. She’s taking the reins of the team and really trying to lead the team to be a better team. She’s working hard, and she’s a great kid to coach. She’s trying to get the girls to play the right way. She’s behind the coaching staff. It’s very hard when you have a sophomore that has to lead the team, but she’s doing a great job.”
Bridget Watson added 12 points while Samantha Werth added eight for the Owls, who jumped out to a 30-4 lead at the end of one quarter and never looked back.
“Our defense caused Academy Park to turn the ball over 33 times,” Bogan said. “The girls are really working hard, and we’re starting to get our injured players back on the court.
“Hopefully, we can make some noise during the next three weeks of this season.”
The Owls earned their first win on the eve of Bogan’s birthday. As presents go, they don’t get much better than this.
“The girls have been hanging in there,” the Owls’ coach said. “We had injuries, and one of our girls – her father passed away before a game, so it’s been a lot of things.
“The girls have been practicing hard. We have a combination of being very young and very inexperienced. A lot of these girls never played at this level before, but they come with a good attitude. I’m just hoping this win gets some positive things going that we can carry into next year.”
The Owls are 1-10 on the season.
Bensalem 30 4 16 14-64
Academy Park 4 4 15 7-30
Continental Conference
NORTH PENN 51, SOUDERTON 46
Sam Carangi.
Remember that name.
The North Penn freshman officially served notice that she will be a force to contend with in the SOL for the next four years, displaying the poise of a seasoned veteran in Thursday’s hard-fought win over the Indians.
The freshman point guard not only effectively directed the Lady Knights’ offense on a night that saw them turn the ball over a season-low 10 times, she also connected on one big basket after another en route to a game-high 16 points.
“I don’t even know what to say,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “She’s so smart, and she sees the floor. Her decision making is just getting better and better.
“She distributes the ball, and the kids love her.”
While Carangi was working her magic for the Lady Knights, Souderton junior Sarah Derstein was having a breakout offensive performance of her own, finishing with a team-high 15 points to go along with eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
“If this is a sign of things to come for Sarah, we’re in a really good position the rest of the year,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “She was determined.
“It was the first game, I think, in her three years where she really wanted the ball, and she wanted it repeatedly. At one point, she looked at me and indicated that she wanted a play called for her.
“Sarah has always done a lot of great things on the basketball court, but offensively, she has preferred to pass first. We have been begging her to take shots, and she did that tonight. That’s going to make it so much more difficult for other teams to defend our guards. It makes us a more well-rounded team. I was really happy with that.”
The game started out slowly with the Lady Knights – sparked by five points from Carangi and four from freshman Irisa Ye – taking an 11-6 lead after one quarter. The Lady Knights’ point guard admits she has started looking for her shot.
“I saw my AAU coach at Philly U, and she said, ‘Have you been shooting?’” Carangi said. “I said, ‘Not as much,’ and she said, ‘Because you can’t get open or because you’re just not shooting?’
“That kind of helped me think maybe I should start shooting more. Coach D and Budweg have been telling me to look for my shot more, and it’s been helping.”
North Penn led 21-15 at the intermission, and the pace picked up considerably in the second half. The Indians pulled to within one (24-23) after a Bianca Picard trey, but Erin Maher – who finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and six assists – scored on a drive to give the Lady Knights a three-point advantage. Devon Boehm answered with a three-pointer, and the two teams were deadlocked.
But not for long.
Mikaela Giuliani scored on a putback, and the Lady Knights led 28-20. The sophomore center pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds – eight offensive – and also scored seven points. The teams exchanged misses, and a Bri Cullen three-pointer put the Lady Knights on top 31-26. Derstein responded with a basket for the Indians, but Carangi buried a short jumper off the dribble on the left wing.
“We were telling her that’s something we want her to do more of,” deMarteleire said. “She’s very coachable.”
Another Carangi bucket to close out the quarter as well as a Vicky Tumasz three-pointer to open the final frame gave the Indians a 38-28 lead, but the Indians battled, making it a 45-43 game after a basket by Boehm with three minutes remaining.
Carangi scored on a drive, and the Lady Knights went on top open up a 49-43 lead after a Maher putback, but an Allison Gallagher three-pointer pulled the Indians to within three. They had a chance to knot the score but came up short, and North Penn iced the win when Cullen, cutting to the basket on a midcourt inbounds, turned Maher’s perfect pass into a layup.
“We were having a hard time even getting the ball in,” deMarteleire said. “I thought Erin was giving it to Vicky, and all of a sudden Bri broke loose, and she gave it to Bri. That’s why Erin does that – she makes good decisions, and that was a great finish by Bri.”
Cullen finished with nine points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line, and the senior guard admits she is attacking the basket more aggressively.
“In the beginning of the season, I hadn’t been doing it as much, and I realized that’s my strong suit,” Cullen said. “That’s the best part of my game, so if I get back to it, then I can either kick it back out to Vicky or Sam or I can dish it to Mikaela or Erin.”
Thursday’s win came at just the right time for a Lady Knight squad that had dropped back-to-back games last week after opening the season with 10 straight wins.
“This was a very important win,” Cullen said. “We hadn’t had a good week, and we needed to get back to the way we were playing. I think this game brought us back together the way we needed to.”
“After losing to CB West and losing to Upper Dublin, we needed a quality win,” deMarteleire added. “We needed to execute offensively against a strong opponent, and I thought we did a better job of that tonight.
“I thought Souderton, in the second half, ran their offensive sets really well. It was a battle.”
The Lady Knights improved to 7-1 in league play (11-2 overall) while the Indians fell to 5-3 (10-4 overall).
“I’m really only disappointed that we lost,” Carroll said. “That's really the only thing I’m disappointed with.
“I’m disappointed for the girls because on the list of things they wanted to accomplish this year – at least splitting with North Penn was on that list, but we have more goals that still can be accomplished. Tomorrow we’ll get back at it and work on the next one.”
Gallagher added 12 points for the Indians while Picard had nine points and six assists. Boehm had eight points, and Katie O’Connor had six rebounds.
Souderton 6 9 13 18-46
North Penn 11 10 14 16-51
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 51, QUAKERTOWN 29
The Bucks seized early control of Thursday’s game, opening up a 37-5 lead at halftime on their way to the win. Nicole Munger led a balanced West attack with 12 points while Makenzie Mason added nine and Peyton Traina, eight points. Meghan Tillger and Cole Magura both had six points.
Ashlee Ruzicka led the Panthers with 14 points while Makenna Kressley added six.
The Bucks are 6-2 in league play (11-3 overall), and the Panthers are 0-8 (1-12 overall).
Quakertown 1 4 10 14-29
Central Bucks West 21 16 6 8-51
American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 50, WISSAHICKON 24
Allison Chernow is certainly doing her part to pick up the slack in the absence of high-scoring guard Kayla McAneney (ACL). The sophomore guard scored a game-high 15 points on five three-pointers to lead the Flying Cardinals to the win. Julie Cross added eight points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots and four steals. Larissa Leyes had eight points and four steals while Regan Gallagher contributed seven points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Taylor Linus had six assists.
The Flying Cardinals held a 7-5 lead at the end of one quarter and took a 22-16 lead into halftime before blowing the game wide open with an 11-3 third quarter. They outscored the Trojans 27-8 in the second half.
Daria Earland led the Trojans with nine points.
The Cardinals are 7-1 in league play (12-1 overall) while the Trojans fell to 1-7 in the league (2-10 overall).
Wissahickon 5 11 3 5-24
Upper Dublin 7 15 11 17
CHELTENHAM 58, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 46
The Lady Panthers led 10-8 at the end of one quarter only to watch the Spartans rally to go into halftime with an 18-15 lead. Cheltenham responded with a 20-8 third-quarter burst and followed that with a 23-20 fourth quarter effort to earn the win.
The Lady Panthers’ second-half charge could be directly attributed to the play of Ashley Jones. The freshman guard had just three first-half points but erupted for 24 in the second half – which included five three-pointers. Amarri Trueheart added 14 points, and Nashira Brown had eight.
For the Spartans, Meghan Wheatley scored 12 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter as her team tried to close the gap. Bailey Krewson and Molly Dugan both added nine points.
While Springfield saw its record drop to 1-7 in league play (3-11 overall), the Lady Panthers improved to 5-3 in the league (9-4 overall).
Cheltenham 10 5 20 23-58
Springfield 8 10 8 20-46
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