Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. To view photos of the CR North/CR South and CB South/Souderton games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 56, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 53 (2 OT)
Coach Lou Palkovics received a phone call from Jessica Gerber while watching Monday’s jayvee game against Rock South.
“She said, ‘Coach, I left school today really sick. I think I’ll be all right by tomorrow. I think I’ll be able to play,’” coach Lou Palkovics said.
When Tuesday arrived, the Indians’ senior captain and top scorer was still under the weather. Out the window went the Indians’ game plan of attacking the box-and-one defense Palkovics figured Rock South coach Monica Stolic might throw at his team.
With Gerber unavailable, Palkovics started Tara Garfield, and the senior guard responded by burying a three-pointer on the Indians’ first possession of the game. She was the first of many players to step up for the Indians, who fell behind 20-10 but recuperated to pull to within 23-22 at the intermission.
“The change we did make – in the second quarter, we went into a 1-3-1 trap, and they really struggled with it,” Palkovics said. “Michaela (Finneyfrock) ended the game with eight steals, and she might have had six of them in the second quarter.”
The Indians outscored the Hawks 12-8 in the third quarter to go on top 34- 31 heading into the final quarter. They still led by two with time winding down only to watch Allison Taub score a layup at the buzzer, setting the stage for OT.
Both teams scored five points in the first OT, and in the second overtime period, the Golden Hawks appeared to be in command when they opened up a 52-48 advantage after the Indians were whistled for a technical. That lead was anything but secure. Michaela Finneyfrock scored five points in the second OT, and the Indians also made some clutch foul shots with freshman Mackenzie Tinner sinking a clutch shot in the game’s closing seconds.
“I had just put Mackenzie in the game,” Palkovics said. “She played four or five minutes in the first half.
“She gets fouled with under a minute in a one-point game in double overtime. Here’s a freshman with 40 seconds to go in a one-point game. I’m like, ‘Just make one,’ and she made the first.”
By game’s end, the Indians were not only minus Gerber but had lost Samantha Saifer and Becca Margolis to fouls. Still, they gutted it out for the heartstopping win.
“It’s someone different every night now,” Palkovics said. “I have 11 girls on varsity, and all 11 play. They know they’re going to play every night.
“Tonight it was Sam Saifer. The last game she played three minutes, and tonight she probably played 40 minutes.”
Finneyfrock turned in a brilliant all-around performance, contributing 17 points, eight rebounds, eight steals and two assists.
“After the game, my coaches came up to me and said, ‘Michaela was a stat machine tonight,’” Palkovics said. “Seventeen points might be a career high. She played unbelievably, hit big shots.
“It’s a big win when you look at the fact that we’re missing two of our five best players. Madison Attanasio (injury) is almost ready to come back, and Jess (Gerber) wasn’t there.
“Jess is the leader, she’s the captain. She’s so focused at practice, and she makes sure we’re focused, but we had a good practice last night. I felt good going into the game.”
Margolis also had a huge game for the Indians, finishing with 17 points, three rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist.
“She is really tough,” Palkovics said.
Garfield had nine points on three three-pointers while Saifer finished with six points. Also making contributions for the Indians were Emily Mackin (four points, two rebounds, five steals, one block, one assist) and Hailey Burns (five rebounds, one block, four assists).
Allison Taub (17 points) and Shannon Taub (15 points) led the Indians. Cara Barlow added nine.
“Both of those girls are so tough,” Palkovics said of the Taub twins.
The Indians upped their record to 4-1 in the league (7-3 overall) while the Golden Hawks are 3-2 in the league (6-3 overall).
Council Rock North 10-12-12-9-5-8 56
Council Rock South 15-8-8-12-5-5 53
Council Rock North (56) – Becca Margolis 17, Tara Garfield 9, Michaela Finneyfrock 17, Samantha Saifer 6, Emily Mackin 4, Mackenzie Tinner 2, Hailey Burns.
Council Rock South (53) – Cara Barlow 9,, Payton Spadiccino 4, Shannon Taub 16, Christiana Deo 2, Kasey Schlupp 5, Allison Taub 17.
NESHAMINY 32, PENNSBURY 25
The Falcons threw a scare into the Redskins, opening up a 20-11 halftime lead. The Redskins responded with a standout defensive effort in the second half, allowing the Falcons to score just five points. The ‘Skins scored 21 of their own to earn the hard-fought win.
“We played a good third quarter,” said coach Joe Lally, whose team outscored the Falcons 15-4 to go on top 26-24. “We came out of the locker room and we were able to dig a little bit deeper, and with some of the ailments the kids are going through, we put a good quarter together that got us the win.
“Our second half defense, which held them to five points, is what got us over the top. I thought we were uncharacteristically lazy on defense in the first half, and it definitely cost us.”
Lally admits he’s not sure what to expect from his young squad.
“Life is a box of chocolates for us,” he said. “Coming off the Methacton game, I really felt as though we were hitting our stride.
“I don’t want to make excuses, but a couple of girls came in with sore throats. It’s that time of year, and you give the big speech about how it’s time to dig deep and persevere. We were just very flat.”
Maddie Murray (eight points, three steals, two blocks, five rebounds) and Morgan Goldenbaum (six steals, seven points, five assists) led the Redskins. Pennsbury was led by the 11-point effort of Niasia Boone.
The Redskins upped their record to 4-1 in league play (8-2 overall) while the Falcons are 2-3 in the league (3-5 overall).
Pennsbury 12-8-4-1 25
Neshaminy 6-5-15-6 32
ABINGTON 59, WILLIAM TENNENT 31
The Ghosts led 19-11 after one quarter and then blew the game wide open with a 17-4 second quarter to go into halftime with a 36-15 lead. Abington outscored Tennent 34-9 in the middle two frames to seize complete control of the game.
Deja Rawls scored 14 points in just over a half of action while Sammy Lochner had 10. Gabby Nolan handed out eight assists for the Ghosts (9-2, 5-0 SOL).
The Panthers are 1-4 in league play (6-5 overall).
William Tennent 11-4-5-11 31
Abington 19-17-17-6 59
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 52, SOUDERTON 45
The Titans used an impressive 16-5 tear in the final three minutes of the opening quarter to turn a one-point deficit into an 18-10 lead. That stretch proved to be the difference in a win that snapped the Titans’ five-game losing streak to the Indians dating back to January of 2012.
Freshman Mackenzie Ehrseman provided the spark in the Titans’ first quarter surge, scoring nine points in three minutes.
“It’s awesome,” said senior Sam Clevenstine, who led the Titans with seven rebounds to go along with three steals. “She’s been working so hard at practice, and she just really came out there and picked us up when we needed it.”
Junior Jordan Vitelli also had a hot hand in the first quarter, scoring seven points and sharing game scoring honors with Ehresman. Both players finished with 14 points.
“Jordan is proving to be a nice player,” South coach Beth Mattern said of Vitelli. “She has great offensive ability and skill, and she keeps working on both ends of the court, and that’s all we can ask for in a strong player and one of our leaders.”
The Indians, who found themselves on the short end of a 30-21 halftime score, trailed by as many as 13 in both the third and fourth quarters, but they refused to go away.
Olivia Kaunert led the Indians with 12 points while freshman point guard Tori Dowd added eight and Krista Schneider had seven. Kaunert and Schneider both scored five points in 12-6 Indian run to close out the game.
The Indians connected on 15-of-21 from the foul line in the game, led by Kaunert’s 5-for-6 effort.
“We’ve been fortunate,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “We haven’t played in over a week, and we’ve had five practices, and we needed them.
“We played 11 games in December and didn’t focus on ourselves enough. We were focused on other teams too much, and these last five practices we were able to get back to the fundamentals and continue to progress. I think we did.”
“I was certainly pleased with their effort. We shot more foul shots tonight than we’ve taken in a game all season. We were looking to go to the basket more. Overall, I’m pleased. Three weeks ago we lose by 20, so we’re progressing, and it’s great for such a young team to make strides the way they are.”
Chloe Entenberg added seven points to a balanced Titans’ attack.
The Titans are 5-0 in league play (9-1 overall) while the Indians are 2-3 in the league (4-8 overall).
Souderton 10-11-8-16 45
Central Bucks South 18-12-10-12 52
Souderton (45) – Tori Dowd 8, Krista Schneider 7, Alana Cardona 2, Olivia Kaunert 12, Noelle Noble 4, Marissa Sandone 6, Sami Falencki 6.
Central Bucks South (52) – Emma Gardy 2, Taylor Dunn 3, Jordan Vitalli 14, Chloe Entenberg 7, Sam Clevenstine 3, Mackenzie Ehresman 14, Courtney Dietzel 3, Tricia DeCesare 2, Meghan Kuypers 2.
NORTH PENN 49, PENNRIDGE 42
Mikaela Giuliani had a big game at both ends of the court for the Maidens, scoring a game-high 15 points to go along with 12 rebounds in an impressive double-double. She also had three steals. Sophomore Irisa Ye added 12 points in a contest that saw the Maidens rally from a 14-7 deficit after one quarter to outscore the Rams 23-13 in the second quarter.
“Pennridge did a good job of attacking the basket, and we did not do a great job of putting up much resistance at times,” said coach Maggie deMarteleire, whose team took a 30-27 lead into halftime. “On the other hand, our press was extremely effective.
“We got a lot of turnovers, but when we get turnovers, we are not converting. We should have numbers advantages and we’re not. We’re just a little bit tentative. We need to see some improvement.
“I know we’re young, and we’re going to have up and down games, but we need to see some improvement in that area where we’re working so hard and creating so many turnovers and getting so many steals, but then we don’t have much to show for it, so we need to get better at that.”
The Maidens, who took a 32-27 lead into the final quarter, outscored the Rams 19-15 in the second half.
“We were down 14-7, but the kids really battled, particularly in the second quarter,” deMarteleire said. “Pennridge really does a nice job of attacking the basket, and they finish pretty nicely around the basket. They’re much improved.
Maiden sophomore Sam Carangi added seven points, five assists and three steals.
Devan Rimmer led the Rams with 12 points while Lydia Konstanzer and Shelby Schoonover both added 10 points. Konstanzer led the Rams under the boards with nine rebounds and also had two steals and two assists. Brill had five rebounds while Rimmer had two assists and three rebounds, and Schoonover had three rebounds, two steals and an assist.
North Penn is 3-2 in league play (7-3 overall) while the Rams are 1-4 in the league (5-4 overall).
Pennridge 14-13-10-5 42
North Penn 7-23-12-7 49
Pennridge (42) – Monika Brill 4, Shelby Schoonover 10, Jenna Dominic 2, Devan Rimmer 12, Lydia Konstanzer 10, Kaeli White 4.
North Penn (49) – Irisa Ye 12, Taylor Thames 4, Mikaela Giuliani 15, Jess Huber 2, Taylor Putnam 5, Sam Carangi 7, Bri Hewlett 4.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 47, QUAKERTOWN 29
Sophomore Grace Stewart scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in a third quarter that saw the Patriots put the game out of reach. The Patriots held a 7-2 advantage after a low-scoring first quarter, and the Panthers rebounded to edge their hosts 17-16 in the second quarter to make it a 23-19 game at the intermission.
A 14-4 third quarter tear gave East a 37-23 lead on its way to the win.
Freshman point guard Bailey McManus added nine points and Abby Charlton added eight for the Patriots.
Spenser Gray led the Panthers with 10 points while Marina Cooke had seven.
The Patriots are 3-2 in league play (7-5 overall) while the Panthers are 0-5 in the league (2-9 overall).
Quakertown 2-17-4-6 29
Central Bucks East 7-16-14-10 47
Quakertown (29) – Makenna Kressley 3, Spenser Gray 10, Olivia Morano 2, Marina Cooke, Meghan Klee 5, Jill Martin 2.
Central Bucks East (47) – Bridget Birkhead 4, Kyra Saliti 4, Bailey McManus 9, Emily Jarin 2, Abby Charlton 8, Grace Stewart 20.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 57, HATBORO-HORSHAM 13
Junior Makenzie Mason scored 17 points and teammate Nicole Munger added 12 to lead the Bucks. Maggie Rakowsky added seven for the Bucks (9-1, 5-0 SOL).
The Hatters (2-9, 0-5) were led by the six-point effort of Julia Thornton while Rachel Helton added five.
Central Bucks West 14-18-18-7 57
Hatboro-Horsham 2-3-5-3 13
Central Bucks West (57) – Mackenzie Carroll 6, Peyton Traina 3, Makenzie Mason 17, Corrinne Godshall 6, Nicole Munger 12, Meghan Tillger 2, Maggie Rakowsky 7, Bailey Tracy 2, Maddie Maio 2.
Hatboro-Horsham (13) – Rachel Helton 5, Julia Thornton 6, Cassidy Quattro 2.
American Conference
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 66, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 62
The Colonials won a thriller over the visiting Spartans. With the Colonials trailing by one (56-55), freshman Taylor O’Brien – despite being fouled – connected on a driving layup. She converted the three-point lead to give the Colonials a 58-56 lead. PW never relinquished its lead the rest of the way.
“It was super, super exciting,” PW coach Daniel Dougherty said. “The game was constantly back and forth.
“Alynna Williams was on fire in the first half from the three-point line.”
The Philly U-bound guard buried five three-pointers in the first half. Sophomore center Lauren Coscia had eight points in the first half as the duo combined 26 of the team’s 36 points in the opening half. The Colonials took a 36-31 lead into halftime.
“To Springfield’s credit, they were super balanced tonight,” Dougherty said. “The kid that really hurt us tonight was number 15, (Jewell) Ringgold, and number 31, Maura Ryan, had a good game against us. (Molly) Dugan also had a good game.
“They were able to force us into some outside shots, and they were able to take the long rebounds and come down and score. They also mix up their defenses a lot and caused some turnovers. It just seemed like every long rebound and every long turnover they turned into an easy two-point basket.”
The Colonials edged the Spartans 15-14 in the third quarter to take 51-45 lead into the final quarter. They led by as many as eight, but the Spartans refused to go away.
“They had a couple of kids make some shots on us,” Dougherty said. “(Jayla) Greene was running their offense for them.
“They were beating us to loose balls. It was 55-49, and just when it started to feel comfortable, we had some bad, bad turnovers, and they go on a (7-0) run, and all of a sudden its 56-55.”
Dougherty called a timeout to try and stem the tide.
“Our kids were kind of rattled – how did we blow this lead,” he said. “We just regrouped during the timeout. We didn’t really draw up anything.
“We said – let’s spread the floor a little bit. Taylor O’Brien was doing a great job going to the basket, so she went to the basket. She got fouled pretty hard, she made the basket and free throw to put us up two.
“We kind of regrouped defensively, got a rebound and stretched the game back out to 66-58, and they got a couple of baskets at the end.
“Part of that too is we just constantly suffer the growing pains of having inexperienced players out there who are learning to play at the varsity level. We constantly tonight had two freshmen and two sophomores with Alynna on the floor. We just have to learn to play better defense. We’re getting there.”
Williams led the Colonials with 25 points while Coscia finished with a career-high 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field. She also had seven rebounds and three blocked shots. O’Brien added 14 points, and Khadijah Hickson had 10.
For the Spartans, Dugan led the way with 19 while Ringgold and Ryan both had 14.
“Springfield is a very good team,” Dougherty said. “They really played well as a team tonight.
“The kid that snuck up on us was Dugan. It didn’t feel like she had 19, but she gets her points. She does a nice job of getting to the basket and finishing at the basket. A lot of credit to Springfield. They’re definitely an improving program. They really play well as a team.”
The Colonials are 4-1 in league play (7-3 overall) while the Spartans are 2-3 in the league (6-6 overall).
Springfield 14-17-14-17 62
Plymouth Whitemarsh 16-20-15-15 66
Springfield (62) – Jayla Greene 6, Jewell Ringgold 14, Molly Dugan 19, Maura Ryan 14, Caroline Pape 4, Meg Smith 5.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (66) – Tyalor O’Brien 14, Alynna Williams 25, Ali Diamond 2, Alison Spinelli 2, Khadijah Hickson 10, Lauren Coscia 12, Laurel Suchsland 1.
UPPER DUBLIN 47, UPPER MERION 19
The Flying Cardinals sprinted to a 15-4 lead after one quarter and took a 31-6 advantage into halftime on their way to a convincing win over the Vikings.
Julie Cross led the Cardinals with 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals. The senior center scored all of her points in the first half. Allison Chernow added 13 points and three assists. Demi Balasa had nine points and four blocked shots. Josie Barrett added nine points on a night that saw the Flying Cardinals bury 9-of-15 shots from beyond the arc.
The Flying Cardinals remain perfect in league play with a 5-0 mark (8-1 overall) while the Vikings are 2-3 in league play (7-4 overall).
Upper Merion 4-2-10-3 19
Upper Dublin 15-16-12-4 47
CHELTENHAM 53, UPPER MORELAND 25
Ashley Jones scored a game-high 16 points – 13 in a first half that saw the Lady Panthers open up a 34-12 lead over the Golden Bears. Senior point guard Amarri Truehart had 15 points, 10 in the first half. Monet McGorda also finished in double figures with 12 points, which included a pair of three-point baskets. Her seven points sparked a 20-4 first quarter surge for the Lady Panthers.
Julia Gatto’s 10 points led the Golden Bears while Jenna Getz added seven.
The Lady Panthers upped their record to 4-1 in conference play (6-2 overall) while the Golden Bears are 0-5 in the league (1-7 overall).
Upper Moreland 4-8-5-8 25
Cheltenham 20-14-15-4 53
Upper Moreland (25) – Jenna Getz 7, Julia Gatto 10, Sydney Bachmayer 2, Emily Zanine 2, Noelle Woodman 2, Kim Benge 2.
Cheltenham (53) – Ashley Jones 16, D’ajah Bouchereau 2, Monet McGorda 12, Danielle Brown 2, Amarri Trueheart 15, Gabrielle Wright 2, Nashira Brown 2, Mia Leonard 2.
NORRISTOWN 64, WISSAHICKON 43
Pattie Fortescue had the hot hand from beyond the arc, connecting on six three-pointers to finished with a game-high 18 points. She buried a pair in a first quarter that saw the Eagles open up an 18-12 lead. Fortescue connected on three more treys in the second quarter as the Eagles opened up a 33-16 halftime lead. Tatiana Dewalt also had six points in the second quarter. Dewalt’s six points led a 17-11 Eagles’ burst in the third quarter as they rolled to their second big win in as many nights.
The Eagles improved to 2-3 in league play while the Trojans are 1-4.
Wissahickon 12-4-11-17 43
Norristown 18-15-17-14 64
Wissahickon (43) – Daria Earland 3, Julianne Griffin 5, Brittany Gelman 16, Anna Morgan 7, Alisha Kelly 12.
Norristown (64) – Tatiana Dewalt 13, Beyonce Collins 4, Pattie Fortescue 18, Brianna Schools 17, T.James 3, Lauren Fortescue 10, Devon Morse 9.
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