Central Bucks West and Abington advanced to Wednesday’s District One AAAA semifinals at Council Rock South High School while Central Bucks South kept its hopes for a state playoff berth alive with a win.
#2 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 55, #7 UPPER DUBLIN 40
The Bucks were enjoying a team dinner on Friday night when they received word that Saturday’s quarterfinal game against Upper Dublin had been postponed until Monday.
“We were a little upset, but also as seniors – we knew this was our last home game, so we were kind of excited for it to be our last night game,” senior captain Nicole Munger said.
As last home games go, this was a good one for the Bucks, who played in front of another full house. They led Monday’s game wire to wire, ignited by the play of Munger and Corrinne Godshall. The duo combined for 32 points and 18 rebounds, and it was Godshall leading all players with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
For good measure, the Binghamton-bound senior also had four assists – three in a first quarter that saw the Bucks sprint out to an 11-2 lead. That lead ballooned to 20-6 after Peyton Traina buried a baseline three-pointer. Traina had six points in the first quarter and Makenzie Mason also had six.
“I thought we shot pretty well tonight,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “
The Bucks led 22-12 after one quarter, but the Flying Cardinals – who connected on 11-of-12 from the foul line in the second quarter – trimmed that lead to 33-25 at halftime. The Cardinals were 12-of-13 from the charity stripe in the opening half.
“You go to the foul line that much – it slows down the rhythm of everything,” coach Rakowsky said. “Before you know it, you’re walking it down the floor, you’re walking through your offense. You’re just walking, walking, walking.”
Munger turned a Mackenzie Carroll deflection into a bucket to open the second half, and after a UD miss, Maggie Rakowsky buried a three-pointer. When Munger turned another steal into a bucket, the Bucks led 40-25, prompting Funsten to call a quick timeout.
“I think it takes one person to get a deflection or tip a ball, and even if it’s not a steal, everyone gets going,” Godshall said.
The Bucks were certainly off and running. The Flying Cardinals misfired on a shot out of their timeout, and Godshall scored on a drive at the other end. Another Godshall basket was followed by a Munger putback, and when Godshall took it coast to coast for a bucket, the Bucks led 48-25 with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter.
“She was extremely smart today,” Rakowsky said of Godshall. “As soon as that kid (Julie Cross) got her third foul, she went unmercifully at her. She’s a good player, and she didn’t want to foul out, but Corrinne was smart. That’s a senior play.
“As soon as you sense that – and she hit those 15-foot shots, that little elbow shot.”
The Bucks’ 15-0 run to open the second half all but doomed the Flying Cardinals.
“In my opinion, I thought my team played 24 minutes of great basketball,” coach Morgan Funsten said. “You take away the first four minutes of the game and the first four minutes of the third quarter – obviously, those are the eight most important minutes of the game.
“We were able to make adjustments after the first four minutes, but against a team like that, you just can’t come out like that to start a game and to start the third quarter. It wasn’t all us – a lot of it was them too.”
The Flying Cardinals didn’t go down quietly. A pair of baskets by Allison Chernow and two foul shots from Josie Barrett made it a 50-28 game, but Godshall sank two from the foul line. The Cardinals would get no closer the rest of the way.
“We’re this late in the playoffs, so obviously, every game is going to be a battle the entire game,” Godshall said. “We got in foul trouble all around, and that really slowed down the game, but we were able to pull it out.
“There were flat points in the game, and I think that was from putting them on the foul line. It kind of killed the game.”
For the Flying Cardinals (20-6, 14-0 SOL), Monday’s game was an improvement over a 63-41 loss to the Bucks in the semifinals of the SOL Tournament.
“The last game we didn’t have Demi Balasa – I don’t want to make excuses, but she’s so important to our team, and at all times the last game, we had four guards and Julie out there,” Funsten said. “The last game there was literally a trip where they had six offensive rebounds.
“When we were playing well tonight, we had them in the half court.”
The Bucks (26-1, 14-0) will face 11th-seeded Downingtown East in a semifinal game at Council Rock South High School on Wednesday (6 p.m.).
Upper Dublin 12-13-6-9 40
Central Bucks West 22-11-17-5 55
Upper Dublin (40) – Alissa Klammer 2, Josie Barrett 14, Allison Chernow 11, Dmi Balasa 3, Julie Cross 10.
Central Bucks West (55) – Mackenzie Carroll 6, Peyton Traina 6, Nicole Munger 13, Corrinne Godshall 19, Maggie Rakowsky 3.
#5 ABINGTON 51, #4 GARNET VALLEY 39
The Ghosts took an early lead and never really looked back on their way to a win that propelled Abington into the district semifinals.
“It’s going to sound like a broken record, but it comes down to defense,” coach Dan Marsh said. “We knew this team could shoot, we know how disciplined they are on offense, and they just couldn’t get into a flow.
“We just played tremendous team defense. They have three legitimate scorers, and Gabby (Nolan), Sammy (Lochner) and Deja (Rawls) just locked them down, and they had to earn everything they got. We wore them down, and it showed in the second half when we took the bigger lead.”
The Ghosts led 11-7 after one period and took a 20-18 lead into halftime. It was still a 29-26 lead into the fourth quarter when they put the Jaguars away.
“We were trying really hard to play good defense, and we were struggling,” Lizzie O’Leary said. “We had to adjust, and we did that the second half.
“They’re a great outside shooting team, and that was something we really had to adjust to. We let them get a lot of three’s off, but I think we did a pretty good job towards the end of the game – not letting them get them off or contesting them. If they did drive, we helped in the lane, and if they kicked out, we had to adjust.”
O’Leary had another huge game to lead the Ghosts, contributing 16 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Deja Rawls also had a big night, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Sammy Lochner also finished in double figures with 10 points.
“This is a big step,” O’Leary said. “They were ranked higher than us, so we were kind of the underdog coming in even though it wasn’t a big seed differentiation. It was a good win for us. We played really well, and we got to keep our rhythm going, getting good shots and playing together.”
Abington (23-4, 14-0 SOL) will face 16th-seeded Spring-Ford in a district semifinal game on Wednesday at Council Rock South (7:30 p.m.).
“We’re very excited, but we’re not done,” Marsh said. “This team is focused. They want to get to Temple, they want to get that shot at Central Bucks West, but now we have to go through Spring-Ford who knocked us out last year. We know how good a tough, physical defense they are, and we have to get ready for them tomorrow and come ready to play, and our kids will. I was so nervous all day, and our kids come in so relaxed. I might need to take a page from them.”
Abington 11-9-9-22 51
Garnet Valley 7-11-8-15 39
Abington (51) – Gabby Nolan 4, Sammy Lochner 10, Lizzie O’Leary 16, Bre Bermel 2, Deja Rawls 14, Leah Simmons 5.
#16 SPRING-FORD 41, #8 NORTH PENN 35
The Lady Knights were doomed by a slow start in a district quarterfinal game that was a rematch of last year’s district title game. North Penn led 4-0 but then scored just two points over the next 11 minutes, falling behind 17-6. They recuperated to make it a 19-11 game at halftime but spent the entire night fighting an uphill battle.
“Offensively, we missed shots inside, we missed three-pointers, and we were just really out of sync,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “Defensively, we played fine, but offensively, we were just out of rhythm. You would think it would be because of Spring-Ford’s trapping, but it wasn’t.
“They played full court man, but they really didn’t trap us. Our turnovers were not because of their pressure. They just played solid, half court man-to-man defense, and we just made poor decisions and couldn’t finish shots. They made their foul shots when it counted.”
The Rams, who took a 29-23 lead into the final quarter, connected on 10-of-13 foul shots in the fourth quarter to seal the Lady Knights’ fate.
“In the second half, we started to play better, but we still could not seem to really make a run at them,” deMarteleire said. “All of sudden, with less than two minutes, we actually cut it to 34-32.
“For as poorly as we played offensively, the kids made such a gutsy effort. We literally put ourselves right back in the game, but we just couldn’t get over the hump. We missed a layup, a couple of wide open three’s, and we missed foul shots. The kids fought so hard. We could have pulled it out, but it was just one of those nights.
A bright spot in the loss was yet another solid outing by sophomore Jess Huber, who led the Lady Knights with 13 points.
“Jess Huber has been playing really well,” deMarteleire said. “She’s really stepped up.”
Taylor Thames added nine points, but no other North Penn player had more than four points.
The Rams (17-8) were led by the 13-point effort of Maddie Henry. Maggie Locke added 11 points.
While Spring-Ford will face fifth-seeded Abington in a semifinal game, the Lady Knights (19-7, 11-3 SOL) will take on fourth-seeded Garnet Valley in a playback game on Wednesday.
“The weaknesses we showed tonight – we need to fix those things,” deMarteleire said. “You just need to make sure you play better every game. Right now I need my team to improve on their decision making. I still think on any given day anybody can beat anybody, and I still think our kids have not seen their best game.”
Spring-Ford 9-10-10-12 41
North Penn 6-5-12-12 35
Spring-Ford (41) – Katie Gill 2, Julia Roshelli 9, Amy Roth 2, Maggie Locke 11, Maddie Haney 13, Abby Byer 4.
North Penn (35) – Irisa Ye 4, Taylor Thames 9, Mikaela Giuliani 3, Jess Huber 13, Sam Carangi 4, Bri Hewlett 2.
#12 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 42, #13 CHELTENHAM 20 (Playback)
The Titans took a 13-10 lead into the second quarter and then threw some serious defense at the Lady Panthers, limiting their visitors to just three points while the Titans scored eight to go into halftime with a 21-13 lead.
“We were down 8-6 at one point, but then we tied it and took the lead for good,” coach Beth Mattern said. “I thought we played good defense in the first quarter, but in the second quarter, I just thought our defensive effort was fantastic. We really kind of pulled it together in figuring out their speed and how to play them.”
Ashley Jones, who has averaged close to 25 points a game this season, scored six points in the first quarter and none in the second. She did not play in the second half.
“Kaley Smith was assigned to guarding Jones, and I thought she really did a great job,” Mattern said. “I thought she did a nice job adjusting and making life difficult for her.
“We just got better ball movement, and our help defense was better to take away the drive, and we rebounded the ball well.”
Without Jones on the floor, the Lady Panthers managed just seven points in the second half as the Titans rolled to the unexpectedly lopsided win.
“Hats off to CB South – they played really well,” said Cheltenham coach Brendan Nolan, who declined to comment on Jones’ absence from the lineup in the second half. “I really respect Beth. I thought she did a nice job. She had her team prepared to play. They played great, and they earned it.
“Early on, it was a very low scoring game. We missed eight layups in the first quarter, we missed 15 layups in the first half. Certainly if some of those could have gone, maybe the game could have been a little different. We weren’t executing well offensively, and they did a nice job defensively guarding us. They played us straight up man-to-man and did a nice job. I think frustration started to rise on our side as shots weren’t falling. When we’ve been frustrated in the past, we’ve responded well, and tonight we didn’t do that.”
Junior Jordan Vitelli led a balanced Titan attack with 10 points while Kaley Smith and Taylor Dunn both added eight. Courtney Dietzel contributed six points.
The Titans (19-6, 10-4 SOL) will face top-seeded Boyertown – a winner over Bishop Shanahan in a playback game – on Wednesday for one of two remaining state berths.
“This one feels good because it validates your seed,” Mattern said. “It puts us in the top 12 of the district, and we were the 12 seed.
“As much as we’d like to be in the top eight, our reality is we’re not there at the moment. We’re facing the one seed, and we just need to play like we want to win and see where it takes us. If we can make it into the state tournament, that’s obviously our ultimate goal at the moment.”
The Lady Panthers – who were led by the seven-point effort of Amarri Trueheart – closed out their season with an 18-7 record overall (12-2 SOL).
Cheltenham 10-3-2-5 20
Central Bucks South 13-8-13-8 42
Cheltenham (20) – Ashley Jones 6, Monet McGorda 2, Amarri Trueheart 7, Gabrielle Wright 4, Nashira Brown 1.
Central Bucks South (42) – Kaley Smith 8, Taylor Dunn 8, Melissa Veal 2, Haley Meinel 6, Jordan Vitelli 10, Sam Clevenstine 2, Courtney Dietzel 6.
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