History was made in the SOL National Conference on Thursday night. Check out the two big games that were played.
There were only two SOL games on Thursday night, but a bit of history was made in both.
In Council Rock South’s win over Pennsbury, senior point guard Alexis Hofstaedter broke the Council Rock assist record of 562 held by Ben Luber (1999-2003). Luber, who is now an assistant at Binghamton University, went on to have a standout career at point guard at Penn State where he is in the top 10 in both career assists and steals.
Hofstaedter broke the longstanding Council Rock record – which includes the entire district – in the second half of Thursday’s win. The senior standout now has 564 assists.
“She walked in as a freshman and started every game since she’s been here,” coach Monica Stolic said. “For three years, she just passed the ball to everybody. She has great court vision – she sees the court so well, and for being her size, she gets the ball out there.
“Obviously, we needed her to pick up the scoring this year, and she has, but sometimes I still have to tell her to look for her shot. She’s so unselfish, and she’s a great teammate.”
The senior point guard has signed a letter of intent to play basketball at William & Mary University.
Hofstaedter wasn’t the only person making history in Thursday’s game. The win was number 200 of the stellar coaching career of Monica Stolic, who is in her fifth year at the helm after a successful seven-year stint at Conwell Egan.
The Golden Hawks were 15-10 in Stolic’s first season and then 21-8 and 19-8 the following two before last year’s spectacular 27-3 season. This year’s squad is 10-6. Thursday’s win was the sixth in a row for the Golden Hawks after a 4-6 start.
“They’re a great bunch of kids,” Stolic said. “They work very hard.
“I walked into a program that was struggling. It’s been great. It also helped when you walk in and you have Alex Wheatley and Alexis Hofstaedter was there my second year. You have to have good players to win and definitely good assistant coaches too.”
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 48, PENNSBURY 36
The suddenly red hot Golden Hawks used some deadly long-range shooting to open up a 20-13 lead over the Falcons at the end of the first quarter. They never looked back, taking a 27-23 lead into halftime and blowing the game open with a 19-11 third quarter surge.
“Our first and third quarters were pretty good tonight,” coach Monica Stolic said. “I thought they hurt us on the offensive boards. I told them at halftime, ‘If we’re going to win this game, we have to rebound better.’
“In the third quarter, we changed our defense a little bit, and we did a better job on the boards.”
Alexis Hofstaedter connected on three three-pointers in the first quarter while Courtney Brown and Cara Barlow each added three’s in a frame that saw the Golden Hawks bury five three-pointers.
Hofstaedter led the way for the Golden Hawks with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Taylor Dillon added 12 points while Brown had nine points and Barlow, eight points. Sajanna Bethea led the Falcons with 20 points.
Both teams are now 6-3 in SOL play. The Falcons are 10-7 overall while the Golden Hawks improved to 10-6.
“I think the girls are starting to believe in themselves more,” Stolic said. “They’re definitely more confident.
“This is the right time. We had our downs at the beginning of the season. They’re getting used to each other, and I just think they’re jelling at this point.”
NESHAMINY 46, ABINGTON 45
It’s been a long time since Neshaminy defeated Abington in girls’ hoops. Just how long, no one is really sure.
“We’re looking in our archives, and we’re not seeing a win over Abington in nine years,” coach Joe Lally said. “We’re looking for the last win.
“I think that pretty much shows how special this is. We have a lot of respect for them as a program. They’ve been there, and they’ve done it. If you’re setting your sights on a team, they’re a team you want to follow in their footsteps.”
Beyond the historical implications of Thursday’s win was the fact that – thanks also to Rock South’s win over Pennsbury - it gave the Redskins sole possession of first place in the National Conference standings. It also avenged a loss to the Ghosts earlier this season.
“We lost to them by four the last time, and we were up by nine at one point in that game, so we knew that we could play with them,” said junior Megan Schafer, who has been battling something close to the flu all week.
The Redskins needed some late-game heroics to pull out the win.
With 31.2 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock and the Redskins trailing by one, senior Lori Paulits stepped to the foul line and calmly hit nothing but net on a pair of shots to put the Redskins on top 46-45.
“I just thought – me, the ball and the basket,” Paulits said. “We went into the game thinking we had nothing to lose. If we lost, it was what everyone thought we were going to do.”
The final seconds certainly were not without drama. The Ghosts misfired on a shot to take the lead, and Schafer pulled down the rebound but missed on the front end of a one-and-one at the other end. Michael Harris came up with the rebound for the Ghosts, but their shot for the win fell short, setting off a giddy celebration on Neshaminy’s sidelines.
“This means the world to us,” Paulits said. “It feels awesome to actually go this far.”
The mindset in Thursday’s game, according to Paulits, was a whole lot different than the first meeting.
“When we went into the locker room at halftime, all of us acted like we were at a funeral,” she said. “We were just so down on ourselves. This time we all stayed together and picked each other up every time someone got down.”
The Redskins took a 23-21 lead into halftime, thanks to four straight points from Schafer after the two teams were deadlocked 19-19 late in the second quarter. Twice Schafer went the length of the court for the score.
“Every single practice since day one we have been running for 20 minutes, so we can outrun the other team,” the junior point guard said. “I think it’s really paying off. These girls can stay in the game, and they’re just fit, and it’s benefitting us a lot.”
The Redskins led 35-25 after a basket by Sarah Oliveira to cap a 12-4 Redskin run out of haltime.
The Ghosts responded with a run of their own, closing out the quarter with a 10-0 tear to knot the score 35-35 heading into the final frame. In the opening seconds of the fourth quarter, Oliveira buried a pair from the foul line to break the tie. The Ghosts rallied to go on top 40-39 after freshman Sammy Lochner connected on both ends of a one-and-one at the 5:51 mark, and they still led by one (45-44) after Lochner scored on a drive with 58 seconds remaining, setting the stage for the dramatic ending.
“Talk about youth,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “We’re winning the game, but we can’t finish. We have to learn to finish.”
All but lost in the shuffle of the Redskins’ big win was the fact that Schafer was on the bench for the better part of the third quarter.
“Coming out of the locker room when Megan Schafer really was not feeling well – Morgan Goldenbaum gave us about six unbelievable solid minutes that will not show up in the boxscore,” Lally said. “For a 14-year-old freshman, I am so proud of her. She is really going to be a player.
“The key was her allowing Megan to get that six minutes to get her feet back under her. That was just huge.”
Lally also credited his team’s post defense and ability to play the pick-and-roll defense as keys to the win. The Redskins spent the game pushing the ball and attacking the basket.
“That’s definitely one of our primary goals,” Lally said. “We don’t want to be a perimeter shooting team only. I think we’re a good perimeter shooting team, but we definitely want to go to the basket.”
Abington’s Deja Rawls led all scorers with 19 points while Paulits led the Redskins with 12 points. Oliveira had 11 and Schafer, nine points. McKenna Mullin added six.
“I’m just really proud of the kids and where they are,” Lally said.
To view a video of game highlights and interviews by Jen Wielgus, PhillyBurbs.com video journalist, please click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ao7nKPJJEI0&feature=youtu.be
- Log in to post comments
