Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. To view photos of the Upper Dublin/Cheltenham game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 49, CHELTENHAM 30
Defense has been a trademark of Morgan Funsten-coached Upper Dublin squads, and if the Cardinals’ coach could package the formula he used to silence all-state sophomore guard Ashley Jones in Tuesday’s win, it’s a safe bet he’d have plenty of buyers.
Jones, who came into the game averaging a league best 25 points a game, has been unstoppable. In Tuesday’s showdown, she was held scoreless through three quarters and finished with a season low seven points.
“With four minutes to go in the game, she had zero,” Funsten said. “She ended up fouling out with two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but she did not come out of the game until then.”
The key to the Cardinals’ defense could be summed up in two words – Alisssa Klammer.
“Alissa played her the whole night,” Funsten said. “We didn’t do anything fancy – we didn’t do a box-and-one or triangle-and-two. We just played man-to-man.
“We talked about staying connected. It was a great individual performance by Alissa Klammer. In preparation yesterday, we talked about always knowing where she was at all times.
“She fought through screens, and her teammates helped her. It was a total team effort. A couple of times she did get picked off on screens, and her teammates were there to cover for her.”
If there was a down side to the night, it came with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter when Klammer went down with a knee injury and did not return.
“We’re hopeful she’ll be okay,” Funsten said.
Thirty seconds later, senior center Julie Cross went down with an ankle injury and did not play in the fourth quarter. The Cardinals led 38-21 heading into the final frame.
“Although we were pretty comfortably in the lead, it made for a very interesting fourth quarter,” Funsten said. “With two of our starters down and us usually playing only six players, we needed other girls to step up, and they did.”
Stepping up in a big way for the Cardinals was junior guard Allison Chernow, who led all scorers with 22 points to go along with seven rebounds.
“Allison had just a great, consistent from beginning to end game,” Funsten said. “She had 10 points in the first half, 12 in the second, and she hit big shots when we needed her to.
“More importantly, she handled the ball against pressure. Cheltenham is extremely quick. Allison did such a great job managing the game.”
Earlier, it was Josie Barrett giving the Cardinals a lift out of the gate, scoring seven points in a first quarter that saw the Cards sprint to a 16-5 lead.
“She really set the tone,” Funsten said.
The win gives Upper Dublin a two-game lead over the second place Lady Panthers, and even more importantly, according to Funsten, it gave the team a boost after back-to-back losses to Central Bucks South and Neumann-Goretti over the weekend.
“This was a game we needed on a lot of levels,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “We have to look ourselves in the mirror and figure what was going wrong.
“Against CB South, we were very frustrated after the game. We were like – how did we lose the game? We looked at it a little deeper. We only turned the ball over eight times in that game. If you told me we would turn the ball over eight times against CB South, I would say we probably won the game easily. We shot 26 percent from the field. We said – were we getting good shots? We thought we were, but sometimes you have to make some shots to win games. Our defense has been consistent all year.
“Against Neumann-Goretti on Sunday, we shot 18 percent from the field. They had a lot to do with it. If we shot 80 percent, I don’t know if we win anyway, but one of our goals tonight was – we needed to make some shots and obviously take care of the ball. Our defense was the best you have ever seen tonight with the way the girls stayed connected and really shut Jones down. It was impressive. I was so proud of my girls.
Before she left the game, Cross contributed 10 points and 14 rebounds.
“She just totally dominates the glass, and it’s one shot and done when she’s on the floor,” Funsten said of Cross. “Everybody played great, and I was really proud of the girls.”
Amarri Trueheart led the Lady Panthers with 13 points.
While the Lady Panthers are 7-2 in league play (11-4 overall), the Flying Cardinals are 9-0 in the league (12-4 overall).
“We’ve played seven games in 11 days, and whether or not you want to agree with the (district) rankings, we’ve played two top 10 nationally ranked teams in O’Hara and Neumann Goretti,” said Funsten, whose team is ranked 12th. “We had it to eight (points) in the fourth against O’Hara, and Goretti is just at an entirely different level – they’re ranked number one in the country right now, and they’re that good.
“We tried to get something out of that game. It’s easy to throw it away. We tried to come up with a game plan against Goretti we could use against Cheltenham because Goretti has two incredible guards who can shoot the ball well and get to the basket.
“We tried to come up with a blueprint and have that carry over because we didn’t have a lot of time to get ready for Cheltenham. I thought the girls really took to that well. If we’re going down this year, we’re going down with a fight. CB South is a really good team, but I didn’t think we played that well. I didn’t think we were mentally prepared to play that game. Today couldn’t have been any different.”
Cheltenham 5-9-7-9 30
Upper Dublin 16-10-12-11 49
Cheltenham (30) – Ashley Jones 7, Monet McGorda 3, Amarri Trueheart 13, Dejah China 2, Gabrielle Wright 5.
Upper Dublin (49) – Josie Barrett 10, Julie Cross 10, Allison Chernow 22, Demi Balasa 5, Maggie Weglos 2.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 68, UPPER MERION 41
For those who thought perhaps PW’s 14-point win over their neighboring archrival in an early season meeting was a fluke, the Colonials proved it wasn’t with an even more convincing win this time around.
“Basically, their entire starting five is taller than our tallest player,” said PW coach Daniel Dougherty, who was without 6-1 sophomore Lauren Coscia. “She’s our only size, and we only had six players tonight.”
If the Colonials needed a an early lift, freshman Taylor O’Brien gave it to them, scoring 12 of her game-high 22 points in the first quarter and propelling PW to a 22-9 lead.
“She was just unstoppable in the first quarter,” Dougherty said. “She was getting to the basket at will. They came out in a spread 1-3-1 zone, and they were mixing up their defenses trying to take away Alynna Williams.
“Alynna didn’t even score in the first quarter.”
When the Vikings focused their defensive attention on O’Brien, Williams – who finished with 20 points – went to work, scoring 10 points in the second quarter. Khadijah Hickson buried a pair of three-pointers late in the half to send PW into the intermission with a 40-25 lead.
“I have to give Khadijah a lot of credit – she was elbowed in the face and she came back [in] in the second quarter and hit those big three’s,” Dougherty said.
A 20-6 third quarter surge by the Colonials made it a 60-31 game.
“In the third quarter, we made a slight adjustment to our defense,” Dougherty said. “It was a huge, gutsy performance.
“A kid that just played so well tonight was Laurel Suchsland. People will look at the box score and see Eryn Brady had 18 points for them, but Laurel Suchsland must have given up a foot to Eryn Brady. Laurel just battled and battled and battled the kid.
“This is a big team win. Last Tuesday night we lost a heartbreaker to Norristown, and the girls just really bounced back with three strong wins and none bigger than tonight.”
The Colonials – after burying 12-of-20 shots from three-point land Saturday – connected on 10-of-22 shots from beyond the arc in a torrid display of long-range shooting. Five different players had three’s, led by Williams with four and Alison Spinelli and Hickson with two each. O’Brien, who also pulled down eight rebounds, and Ali Diamond each had one trey.
A key to both wins was the Colonials’ ability to contain high-scoring Regie Robinson. The senior standout scored 11 on Tuesday after scoring 14 in the initial meeting. Brady led the Vikings with 18. Tatiana Pleasant added eight.
The Colonials are 6-3 in league play (10-5 overall) while the Vikings are 4-5 in the league (10-7 overall).
Plymouth Whitemarsh 22-18-20-8 68
Upper Merion 9-16-6-10 41
Plymouth Whitemarsh (68) – Taylor O’Brien 22, Alynna Williams 20, Laurel Suchsland 3, Alison Spinelli 12, Kahadijah Hickson 8, Ali Diamond 3.
Upper Merion (41) – Katie Valeri 2, Tatiana Pleasant 8, Regie Robinson 11, Eryn Brady 18, Jordan Wilson 2.
SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 65, NORRISTOWN 63
The Spartans battled back for a huge come-from-behind win over the Eagles. They trailed 17-10 after one quarter and still found themselves on the short end of a 34-28 score at the intermission. The Eagles took a 54-50 lead into the final quarter when the Spartans were able to claw their way back for the win.
“It was a very exciting game,” coach Bill Krewson said. “We were struggling and had some mental breakdowns, but we played solid defense and forced turnovers, which unfortunately we weren’t holding on to and capitalizing on.
“Our girls really picked each other up and hung in there.”
The Spartans received monster performances from Jewell Ringgold (26 points) and Maura Ryan (22 points). The duo combined for 48 points. Jayla Green added seven for the Spartans.
Freshman Tatiana Jones led the Eagles with 16 points while Lauren Fortescue added 15. Tatiana Dewalt had eight points and Beyonce Collins, seven.
The Spartans (9-8) and Eagles (7-9) are both 4-5 in conference play.
Norristown 17-17-20-9 63
Springfield 10-18-22-15 65
Norristown (63) – Tatiana Dewalt 8, Beyonce Collins 7, Brianna Schools 4, Werkheiser 5, Lauren Fortescue 15, Devon Morse 4, Tatiana Jones 16, Jen Kennedy 4.
WISSAHICKON 31, UPPER MORELAND 26
The Trojans led 9-2 after one quarter only to watch the Golden Bears answer with a 13-2 second quarter to go into halftime with a 15-11 advantage. The Golden Bears still led 22-18 heading into the final quarter when they saw an opportunity to get their first league win slip away late.
Julie Weber connected on some key free throws down the stretch, and Daria Edwards, who led all scorers with 14 points, came up with two steals that she converted into layups to seal the win.
Jenna Getz and Emily Zanine led the Bears with seven points each while Noelle Woodman had six.
The Trojans are 2-7 in league play (2-14 overall) while the Golden Bears are 0-9 (1-14 overall).
Wissahickon 9-2-7-13 31
Upper Moreland 3-13-6-4 26
Wissahickon (31) – Jasmine Bishop 2, Lexi Carradorini 1, Daria Earland 14, Julie Weber 3, Hilma Mieby 2, Brittany Gelman 5, Anna Morgan 1, Alisha Kelly 3.
Upper Moreland (26) – Jenna Getz 7, Julia Gatto 4, Emily Zanine 7, Noelle Woodman 6, Kim Benge
Continental Conference
NORTH PENN 62, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 51
With 2:05 remaining in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game at North Penn, the Patriots made it a three-point game (51-48) when sophomore Bridget Birkhead hit nothing but net on a three-pointer.
Mikaela Giuliani, who was big under the boards all night, came up with an offensive rebound on the other end and was fouled going up for the shot. She buried both, and the Lady Knights led 53-48. A Taylor Thames steal set the stage for an easy bucket for Giuliani, and the lead was stretched to 55-48.
North Penn sank foul shots down the stretch to ice the win over a Patriot squad that remained within striking distance until the game’s final minutes.
“They played very well,” North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire said of the Patriots. “They were attacking the basket, and we were fouling them.
“They took 15 foul shots in the first half, and they were all deserved foul shots. More than half their (first half) points were scored from the foul line, but rightfully so. We were just fouling them.”
Giuliani was the difference in the game, turning in a career-best effort at the offensive end with 25 points while also pulling down 14 rebounds. She scored 14 of those points in the first half.
Sam Carangi, who buried three three-pointers, added 17 points and eight assists. It was her three-pointer and – after an East turnover – three-point play that turned a 43-43 tie into a 49-43 Lady Knight lead midway through the fourth quarter.
“I think I’m the tallest girl in the league, and Sam is one of the best three-point shooters in the league,” Giuliani said. “Sometimes we get off and she’ll be shooting too much or it goes into me too much. We have to find a balance between that.
“When we do, she’ll get it in to me and they’ll double down, and I was able to hit it back out to her, so she got her points. Since we’ve been playing together so long – each year, each game even we get better with that.”
Freshman Taylor Putnam had nine points – including a clutch three – while Irsa Yee had eight points and four steals.
“Overall, I was happy that we pulled it out,” deMarteleire said. “I was pleased with our fourth quarter foul shooting because that’s been kind of woeful lately. We made big plays when we needed to, and we had a lot of assists, which was good as well.”
The Patriots – minus starters Kyra Scaliti and Grace Stewart – lost Megan Lapioli for the game in the closing seconds of the first quarter. They trailed 30-25 at the intermission. Birkhead – who finished with a career-high 23 points – accounted for 14 of her team’s first half points. She was a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line in the half and finished 10-for-10. She also had seven rebounds and four steals.
The Patriots buried 13-of-15 from the charity stripe in the first half and connected on 17-of-22 for the game.
“We been inconsistent with foul shooting,” East coach Liz Potash said. “That’s a big goal – they want to shoot 70 percent from the line. They did a nice job.”
Brianna Talbot added eight points and five steals for the Patriots while Abby Charlton had seven rebounds and seven points. Megan Browne also had seven points.
“I’m incredibly proud of the effort,” Potash said. “The kids kept playing, and they did a great job.”
The Maidens improved to 7-2 in league play (12-4 overall) while the Patriots are 4-5 in the league (9-8 overall).
Central Bucks East 10-15-13-13 51
North Penn 14-16-11-21 62
Central Bucks East (51) – Bridget Birkheard 23, Bailey McManus 4, Brianna Talbot 8, Abby Charlton 7, Megan Browne 7, Melanie Wetzel 2.
North Penn (62) – Irisa Ye 8, Mikaela Giuliani 25, Jess Huber 1, Sam Carangi 17, Bri Hewlett 2, Taylor Putnam 9.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 71, PENNRIDGE 50
The Lady Rams hung with a West team that is the class of the SOL and seeded first in the unofficial District One power rankings that were released earlier in the day Tuesday. They led 15-13 after one quarter and trailed by just one at halftime (27-26). The Bucks outscored their hosts 20-10 in the third quarter and then closed out the game with a 14-4 fourth quarter tear.
The senior trio of Nicole Munger, Mackenzie Carroll and Corrinne Godshall combined to score 55 points to lead the Bucks. Munger led all scorers with 22 points, which included a pair of three-point baskets. Carroll, who also had a pair of three’s, added 17 points, and Godshall had 16. Makenzie Mason chipped in with seven points.
Devan Rimmer led the Rams with 15 points, which included a 5-for-6 effort at the foul line. Shelby Schoonover added 13 points and five rebounds while Lydia Konstanzer had 12 points, 11 rebounds and three assists. Kaeli White had four points to go along with three assists and three steals.
The Bucks, who held a 28-21 advantage under the backboards, had 13 offensive rebounds to just four for the Rams.
West is 9-0 in league play (16-1 overall) while the Lady Rams are 4-5 in the league (9-6 overall).
Central Bucks West 13-24-20-14 71
Pennridge 15-21-10-4 50
Central Bucks West (71) – Mackenzie Carroll 17, Peyton Traina 5, Makenzie Mason 7, Corrinne Godshall 16, Nicole Munger 22, Maggie Rakowsky 3, Maddie Maio 1.
Pennridge (50) – Brooke Bachtle 2, Monika Brill 4, Lydia Konstanzer 12, Devan Rimmer 15, Shelby Schoonover 13, Kaeli White 4.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 55, HATBORO-HORSHAM 26
Junior Jordan Vitelli led a balanced South attack, scoring nine points. Teammate Taylor Dunn added eight, and Emma Gardy had seven while Chloe Entenberg added six.
Hatboro junior Cassidy Quattro led all scorers with 12 points while Rachel Helton added nine.
The Titans led 18-4 after one quarter and took a 28-8 lead into halftime.
CB South is 7-2 in conference play (13-3 overall) while the Hatters are 1-8 in the league (5-11 overall).
Central Bucks South 18-10-17-10 55
Hatboro-Horsham 4-4-7-11 26
Central Bucks South (55) – Kaley Smith 2, Taylor Dunn 8, Chloe Entenberg 6, Tricia DeCesare 5, Haley Meinel 5, Jordan Vitelli 9, Sam Clevenstine 3, Emma Gardy 7, MacKenie Ehresman 4.
Hatboro-Horsham (26) – Rachel Helton, Haley Seifert 3, Hannah Mallon 2, Cassidy Quattro 12.
SOUDERTON 38, QUAKERTOWN 34
Marissa Sandone buried a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to propel the Indians to the dramatic win. It was the junior guard’s fourth three-pointer of the game, and she led all scorers with 16 points. Sami Falencki, who had a pair of treys, added eight points, and Noelle Noble chipped in with six.
For the Panthers, Marina Cooke led the way with 10 points, and Olivia Morano added nine. Jill Martin had six points
The Indians opened up an 11-5 lead after one quarter, but the Panthers answered with an 11-7 second quarter to trim the Indians’ lead to 18-16 at the intermission. The second half was a battle. The Indians outscored the Panthers 11-10 and still took just a 29-26 lead into the final quarter when they edged the Panthers 11-8 to eke out the win.
Souderton is 4-5 in league play (6-11 overall) while the Panthers are 0-9 (2-14 overall).
Quakertown 5-11-10-8 34
Souderton 11-7-9-11 38
Quakertown (34) – Brooke Alwine 2, Maggie Garlick 2, Oliva Morano 9, Marina Cooke 10, Meghan Klee 5, Jill Martin 6.
Souderton (38) – Krista Schneider 4, Noelle Noble 6, Marissa Sandone 16, Sami Falencki 8, Mia Sherer 2.
National Conference
ABINGTON 32, NESHAMINY 23
On a night that saw standout point guard Deja Rawls hobbled by an injury she sustained early in the contest, the Ghosts turned up the defensive pressure, limiting the Redskins to single digits in all four quarters – seven in the middle two frames combined.
“We relied on our defense, and we do all year,” coach Dan Marsh said. “We’re going through a stretch here – I don’t think we played particularly well against Pennsbury, and I don’t think we shot the ball particularly well today.
“Obviously, Deja is the key to our team, but we’re good enough to play without her. It should have been okay. We said to Lizzie – you have to step up, and she did.”
Liz O’Leary, who led the Ghosts with 14 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks, scored all eight of Abington’s points in a third quarter that saw the Ghosts outscore the ‘Skins 8-4 to go on top 26-16.
“She was a beast,” Marsh said. “It was nice to be able to lean on her a little bit.”
Gabby Nolan led the defense with six steals and six assists to go along with four points.
“It was an ugly game,” said Marsh, whose team led 11-9 after one quarter and 18-12 at halftime. “They wanted to play it at a turtle’s pace.
“We wanted to pull them out of their zone a little bit. We were up 12 at one point, and they came out of their zone.
“They didn’t really score on us, so I wasn’t too concerned. I wish we would have played better without Deja. She’s such a trooper – she wants to play, and we put her out there, but we weren’t able to put her in the press where we wanted to. She can’t move. She’s out there playing on one leg, and we finally took her out.”
The Ghosts are 9-0 in league play (13-3 overall) while the Redskins are 6-3 (11-5 overall).
Abington 11-7-8-6 32
Neshaminy 9-3-4-7 23
Abington (32) – Liz O’Leary 14, Gabby Nolan 4, Sammy Lochner 4, Bre Bermel 2, Deja Rawls 2, Jordyn Allen 2, Taylor Diehl 4.
Neshaminy (23) – Morgan Goldenbaum 8, Emily Alexis 2, Tiara Porterfield 3, Maddie Murry 4, Devon Storms 6.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 48, PENNSBURY 20
The Indians trailed 8-4 heading into the second quarter when they exploded for 16 points to go into halftime with a 20-16 lead. They allowed just four points in the second half – none in the third quarter – as they outscored the Falcons 28-4.
Michaela Finneyfrock had a big game for the Indians, contributing a game-high 14 points to go along with nine rebounds, eight steals and two assists. Jessica Gerber added 10 points, two rebounds, five steals and two assists. Tara Garfield had eight points. Both Garfield and Gerber connected on a pair of three-pointers.
The Falcons – who had four players contributing treys – were led by the five-point effort of Abby Wick.
The Indians are 7-2 in league play (11-5 overall) while the Falcons are 2-7 in the league (5-9 overall).
Council Rock North 4-16-12-16 48
Pennsbury 8-8-0-4 20
Council Rock North (48) – Becca Margolis 2, Tara Garfield 8, Jessica Gerber 10, Michaela Finneyfrock 14, Madison Attanasio 3, Megan Haggerty 5, Emily Mackin 2, Hannah Weiler 2, Hailey Burns 2.
Pennsbury (20) – Abby Wick 5, Macy Moore 2, Amy Blazejewski 3, Meredith Webber 2, Maggie Kane 3, Sarah Atunrase 2, Deborah Lavender 3.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 57, BENSALEM 31
Allison Taub led the Golden Hawks with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Shannon Taub added 19 points. Point guard Payton Spadaccino had seven points eight assists, four steals and six rebounds in a solid all-around performance.
The Golden Hawks led 23-11 after one quarter and took a 37-20 lead into halftime on their way to the big win.
Rock South is 7-2 in league play (10-7 overall) while the Owls are 0-9 in the league (3-13 overall).
Bensalem 11-9-5-6 31
Council Rock South 23-14-9-11 57
Council Rock South (57) – Allison Taub 22, Shannon Taub 19, Payton Spadaccino 7, Christiana Deo 4, Rachel Millstein 5.
WILLIAM TENNENT 66, HARRY S TRUMAN 31
The Panthers opened up a 14-6 lead after one quarter and took a 37-16 lead into the intermission. They outscored the Tigers 29-15 in the second half to earn the big win.
Angie Pomponio led the Panthers with 20 points while Kyla Gibson added 14 points. Alyssa Christiansen led the Panthers under the boards with seven rebounds to go along with eight points and four assists on a night that saw 11 Panthers get in the scoring column.
Daeja Moore led the Tigers with seven points while three players – Jasmyn Wilson, Sabria Lytes and Jayda Campbell – had six each.
The Panthers are 4-5 in league play (10-7 overall) while the Tigers are 1-8 in the league (6-11 overall).
Harry S Truman 6-10-5-10 31
William Tennent 14-23-12-17 66
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