Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Friday night. Check back for Diana Leferovich’s photos of the Bensalem/Truman game.
American Conference
WISSAHICKON 46, NORRISTOWN 39
The Trojans wrapped up a perfect week with a stunning upset of the Eagles on their home court, and after losing the first 15 games of the season, the Trojans have won three straight in the last four days. Friday’s was by far the most impressive.
Consider only that 24 days ago – on Jan. 5 – the Eagles defeated the Trojans 45-20 in a game that wasn’t even that close. Norristown led 18-3 after one quarter and took a 41-13 lead into the final quarter.
“It’s just a pleasure to watch these girls execute and be able to adjust when need be,” coach Rodney Cline said. “We took advantage of the mismatches, and they just listened and they executed.
“It’s fun to watch. I’m just so proud of them and so happy for them, but we can’t get complacent – we have to take one game at a time, one practice at a time and keep working hard.”
The two teams were tied at seven after one quarter, and the Trojans took an 18-14 lead into halftime. The Eagles answered with a 15-12 third quarter to trim the Trojans’ lead to one (30-29) heading into the final frame. The Trojans closed it out with a 16-10 quarter.
“We came out with a game plan, and when we have to make adjustments and see mismatches, we adjust,” Cline said. “We came out in a box-and-one on Patti Fortescue, and they weren’t ready for that.
“Brianna Tilghman, a freshman, played great defense on her. Victoria Selverian played great defense on her. Lexi Carradorini played great defense on her. We had three different girls on her. They came out in the second half, and they made adjustments on the box-and-one. Right away we went into halfcourt man.
“We learned how to help the helper, we boxed out, and the girls executed on offense. They had us in a zone in the beginning, and we just moved the ball around and exploited the middle. They went to man in the second half, and that’s where they beat us the last time. I was worried how we would handle the pressure. We were up 18-14 at halftime, and my girls were confident. You could see it in their eyes. They came out and persevered.”
After scoring more than 40 points just three times in their first 15 games, the Trojans have scored 40-plus in three straight, averaging 46 points a game for the week. Three Trojans finished the game in double figures. Julianne Griffin led all scorers with 15 points – which included a 9-for-10 effort at the foul line. Daria Earland added 11 and Sydney Ott, 10 points.
“It’s the first time in a while that we had three players in double figures,” Cline said. “Julianne Griffin hit some key foul shots that kept us in the game in the first half.”
In the second half, it was Earland who was on fire for the Trojans, scoring all 11 of her points in the final 16 minutes.
“Daria Earland was asleep in the first half, but man, we woke that beast in the second,” Cline said. “She took over – on the offensive end especially and on the defensive glass, she took over.
“When you play man against her and spread the floor, she’s pretty much unstoppable.”
The Trojans’ coach also credited the strong play of Ott.
“She’s a gym rat, and her game and confidence is starting to come,” Cline said. “She’s taking the ball to the hole and just finishing. It doesn’t matter – left or right, she’s just finishing.”
Point guard Carolina Mack scored just two points but provided steady floor leadership.
“She is just stable,” Cline said. “She keeps us all together. She’s the glue to our foundation.”
Patti Fortescue (12 points) and Lauren Fortescue (10 points) led the Eagles. Precious Milan added seven points.
Wissahickon (3-15, 2-10 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Tuesday, and Norristown (10-7, 5-5) will travel to Upper Moreland.
Wissahickon 7-11-12-16 46
Norristown 7-7-15-10 39
Wissahickon: Brianna Tilghman 5, Daria Earland 11, Carolina Mack 2, Sydney Ott 10, Julianne Griffin 15, Lexi Carradorini 3.
Norristown: Patti Fortescue 12, Taijah James 3, Lauren Fortescue 10, Precious Milan 7, Tamara Wright 5, Brooke Heim 2.
UPPER DUBLIN 54, UPPER MERION 26
The Flying Cardinals clinched sole possession of the SOL American Conference crown with a convincing win over the visiting Vikings.
Josie Barrett led a balanced attack with 12 points while Allison Chernow added 11 points, three rebounds and three assists. Ashley Barber also finished in double figures with 10 points to go along with eight rebounds. Alison Gouveia contributed seven points and three rebounds. Maggie Weglos had a team high seven assists to go along with four points, four steals and three rebounds, Demi Balasa added four points, five blocked shots, three assists and three rebounds.
The Flying Cardinals led 12-5 after one quarter and extended that lead to 28-12 by halftime. They outscored their visitors 26-14 in the second half.
Upper Dublin (16-4, 12-0 SOL) will travel to Wissahickon on Tuesday, and Upper Merion (4-15, 2-9) will be on the road at Springfield.
Upper Merion5-7-9-5 26
Upper Dublin 12-16-19-7 54
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 46, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 30
In the initial meeting between the two teams, the Colonials needed some last-second heroics from Ali Diamond – who sank both ends of a one-and-one – to eke out a 44-43 win over the Spartans.
Friday’s rematch was devoid of drama as the Colonials – who took a tenuous 18-17 lead into halftime – outscored the Spartans 28-13 in the second half.
“The first half was exactly like the second half of the last game – neck-in-neck,” PW coach Daniel Dougherty said. “We scored a basket right at the buzzer to get a one-point lead at halftime – Taylor O’Brien went coast-to-coast with about three seconds left. It was a nice emotional lift going into the locker room.
“The big difference this time in the second half was we just played smarter defense, mostly to guard Molly Dugan. I was losing my mind the first half. We failed to close out on her three times in the first half.
“Springfield really does a good job of getting to the foul line, and we really made it a focus tonight to move our feet and try to make them make shots over us, not putting them at the foul line. They probably average between 20-25 foul shots a night.”
The Spartans took just five trips to the foul line, converting three. The Colonials were 7-of-9 from the charity stripe.
Taylor O’Brien led the way for PW with 19 points, which included a 3-for-4 effort at the line. Ali Diamond – who was 5-for-7 from the line – added 13 points. Lauren Coscia had eight points and eight rebounds, and Sarah Putsch had a big game under the boards with 13 rebounds to go along with four points.
“We got big contributions from Taylor O’Brien, Ali Diamond and Lauren Coscia – they all came up with big baskets for us in the second half,” Dougherty said. “Sarah Putsch played a great game. She was really, really special out there for us tonight.”
Dugan led the Spartans with 19 points and Maura Ryan added seven.
“I think our girls played hard and battled well,” Springfield coach Bill Krewson said. “We played a good first half.
“As a coach, I’d like to take some of the blame on not making a few critical adjustments in the second half. Overall, Plymouth Whitemarsh had a good game plan and played well.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (13-5, 9-3 SOL) will host Cheltenham on Tuesday, and Springfield (8-11, 6-6) will host Upper Merion.
Springfield 10-7-9-4 30
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12-6-15-13 46
Springfield: Grace Barraclough 2, Molly Dugan 19, Maura Ryan 7, Siana Wynn 2.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Taylor O’Brien 19, Ali Diamond 13, Sarah Putsch 4, Laurel Suchsland 2, Lauren Coscia 8.
CHELTENHAM 46, UPPER MORELAND 28
Gabbi Wright and D’ajah Bouchereau each scored 10 points to lead a balanced Lady Panther attack. Caitlin Wallace added nine points on three three-pointers as Cheltenham continued to play without its top scorer, Ashley Jones.
Sparked by six points from Julia Gatto, the Golden Bears sprinted to a 15-10 lead after one quarter, but the Lady Panthers – behind a pair of Wallace treys – answered with a 14-4 second quarter to go into halftime with a 24-19 lead. The Lady Panthers sealed the Bears’ fate with an 18-0 third quarter that included seven points from Wright and six from Bouchereau.
Jenna Getz led the Golden Bears with 11 points, which included three triples. Gatto and Noelle Woodman each added six.
Cheltenham (13-5, 8-3 SOL) will travel to Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday, and Upper Moreland (5-14, 2-10) will host Norristown.
Upper Moreland 15-4-0-9 28
Cheltenham 10-14-18-4 46
Upper Moreland: Savannah Roberts 5, D’ajah Bouchereau 10, Danielle Brown 3, Mia Leonard 5, Caitlin Wallace 9, Dejah China 2, Gabrielle Wright 10, Nashira Brown 2.
Continental Conference
NORTH PENN 59, PENNRIDGE 43
There wasn’t a lot of fanfare, and if the Lady Knights celebrated capturing a share of the conference crown with two SOL games remaining, it was behind closed doors.
“It means a lot to us,” senior Mikaela Giuliani said. “We knew we had to play hard, and we knew they weren’t going to go away and we had to keep fighting the whole game. It’s really exciting for us.”
North Penn took care of business on Friday night, breaking an 8-8 tie with less than two minutes to play in the opening quarter with a 29-15 tear.
“Our defense tonight was not where we needed it to be,” Pennridge coach Lindsey Tennett said. “Defense is our biggest thing, and tonight it was not too good.
“Aside from that, we weren’t getting shots where we wanted them. We need to get shots inside. We have great outside shooters, but you need to have an inside-outside game.”
North Penn – with its lineup of potential weapons – can change the flow of a game in a heartbeat, and any thoughts that this could be another struggle for the Lady Knights – who defeated the Rams 50-40 in the initial meeting but could not shake them – were put to rest in an explosive one-minute span. Bri Hewlett’s triple gave the Lady Knights a lead they would not lose, and after a Pennridge miss, Sam Carangi hit her second three of the frame. Three first-quarter three-pointers exceeded North Penn’s output of just two perimeter shots the entire game in the initial meeting.
“It really helps your confidence once you start hitting the early ones,” Carangi said. “It really helps build your confidence – I can make this – because shooting is a lot of confidence. If you think you’re going to make it, chances are you’ll make it.”
When Mikaela Giuliani scored off a Mia Melchior feed, the Lady Knights led 16-8.
Devan Rimmer scored on a drive to make it a 16-10 game, but the Lady Knights were just getting started. Giuliani scored the next six points for North Penn, a stretch that was interrupted only by Rimmer’s baseline three-pointer. Giuliani’s third basket – this one with a Jess Huber assist – put the Lady Knights on top 22-13.
The Lady Rams didn’t go down quietly, and a bucket by Lydia Konstanzer made it a seven-point game, but Melchoir buried a pair at the foul line, and another Huber assist resulted in an easy basket for Giuliani that put the Lady Knights on top 26-15. They led by 14 after Irisa Ye buried a pair at the foul line and still led by that margin at halftime (37-23), thanks to a Ye steal and layup at the buzzer.
Giuliani opened the third quarter with a bucket, and then it was Huber connecting on a pair from the foul line. Ye scored on a nifty spin move on a drive to the hole, and when Carangi found Huber for a reverse layup, the Lady Knights led 45-23 just over two minutes into the second half.
“We made the extra pass when we needed to – I thought our passing was very good,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “The last time we played them we made two perimeter shots.
“Our shooting was much better today and our transition offense.”
The Lady Rams – despite a strong fourth quarter – never threatened.
“The defensive end is where it starts,” Tennett said. “You get your intensity on the offensive end from defense, and it wasn’t there, but this is the fifth-ranked team in the state and they’re first in the district. The biggest thing I’m proud of is (we) didn’t give up.”
Friday’s win was an advertisement for the Lady Knights’ teamwork as their selfless play resulted in one easy basket after another. Carangi had a team high six assists while Huber had five, but everyone got into the act.
“It’s really a team – we’re like a family,” Carangi said. “Everyone gets along. It’s just really good.”
Giuliani led the Lady Knights with 19 points while Ye added 10. Huber finished with nine, and Carangi had eight.
For the Rams, Konstanzer had another big night, finishing with a double-double that included a team high 19 points and 11 rebounds. Rimmer finished with 13 points.
North Penn (17-2, 12-0 SOL) will compete in the Blue Chip Classic at Spring-Ford High School, taking on Garnet Valley on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. Pennridge (9-9, 3-8) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Tuesday.
Pennridge 10-13-5-15 43
North Penn 16-21-16-6 59
Pennridge: Brooke Bachtle 4, Gillian Anderson 5, Sam Muredda 2, Devan Rimmer 13, Lydia Konstanzer 19.
North Penn: Irisa Ye 10, Mikaela Giuliani 19, Jess Huber 9, Sam Carangi 8, Jess McKenzie 4, Bri Hewlett 5, Mia Melchior 4.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 48, SOUDERTON 41
Jordan Vitelli had just two points in the first half, and the Titans found themselves deadlocked with a feisty Indian squad 17-17. Things changed in a hurry in the second half. The senior sharpshooter found her stride, scoring six points in a third quarter that saw the Titans outscore their visitors 16-8 to go on top 33-25.
Vitelli, it turns out, was just getting started. She scored all 15 of her team’s fourth quarter points, connecting for four field goals and burying 7-of-10 from the foul line to finish with a game-high 23 points.
Teammates Alexa Brodie and Taylor Dunn each added six points for the Titans.
Freshman Megan Walbrandt had a breakout game for the Indians, scoring a team high 14 points, which included three three-pointers. She also had four rebounds and four blocked shots. Krista Schneider and Alana Cardona each added 12 points. Schneider added two triples. Point guard Tori Dowd sparked the Indians’ defense with six steals.
Central Bucks South (16-4, 10-2 SOL) will host Quakertown on Tuesday, and Souderton (6-13, 3-8) will host North Penn.
Souderton 8-9-8-16 41
Central Bucks South 14-3-16-15 48
Souderton: Tori Dowd 3, Krista Schneider 12, Alana Cardona 12, Megan Walbrandt 14.
Central Bucks South: Alexa Brodie 6, Taylor Dunn 6, Chloe Entenberg 1, Meghan Kuypers 3, Haley Meinel 4, Jordan Vitelli 23, Mackenzie Ehresman 5.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 39, QUAKERTOWN 28
The Panthers led 10-7 after one quarter, but the Patriots responded with a 17-6 second quarter to go into halftime with a 24-16 lead. Grace Stewart scored all six of her points in the frame while Bailey McManus added five.
In the third quarter, the Patriots outscored their visitors 11-6 to go into the final frame with a 35-22 lead on their way to the win.
Bridget Birkhead led the Bucks with a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. McManus added 10 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three assists, and Kyra Scaliti had six points and eight rebounds.
Maggie Garlick and Olivia Morano led the Panthers with eight points each. Meghan Klee had seven.
Central Bucks East (12-7, 7-5 SOL) will be on the road at Central Bucks West on Tuesday, and Quakertown (4-15, 1-11) will host Central Bucks South.
Quakertown 10-6-6-6 28
Central Bucks East 7-17-11-4 39
Quakertown: Maggie Garlick 8, Olivia Morano 8, Meghan Klee 7, Jill Martin 5.
Central Bucks East: Bridget Birkhead 11, Kyra Scaliti 6, Megan Browne 4, Bailey McManus 10, Bri Talbot 2, Grace Stewart 6.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 60, HATBORO-HORSHAM 38
The Bucks led 17-12 after one quarter and then added 17 more points in the second quarter while limiting the Hatters to just five to go into halftime with a commanding 34-17 lead. They never looked back.
Three West players finished the game in double figures – Makenzie Mason and Maggie Rakowsky both scored 13 points while Maddie Maio added 10 points. Molly Rodenbach contributed eight points.
For the Hatters, Cassidy Quattro and Haley Seifert each scored 12 points, and Julia Thornton had eight.
Central Bucks West (14-5, 9-3 SOL) will face a Cardinal O’Hara squad that is ranked third in the state in Sunday’s Blue Chip Classic at Spring-Ford High School at 4 p.m Hatboro-Horsham (6-13, 2-10) will host Pennridge on Tuesday.
Hatboro-Horsham 12-5-10-11 38
Central Bucks West 17-17-20-6 60
Hatboro-Horsham: Bergen Sims 3, Haley Seifert 12, Cassidy Quattro 12, Julia Thornton 8, Erin Wingen 3.
Central Bucks West: Makenzie Mason 13, Maddie Maio 10, Tori Abelson 3, Abby Spratt 5, Izzy Treon 4, Bailey Tracy 2, Molly Rodenbach 8, Kaili Carey 2, Maggie Rakowsky 13.
National Conference
BENSALEM 64, HARRY S TRUMAN 56
It has been a rough January for the Owls, who had won just one game since they defeated Truman on Jan. 5 – that was a 39-20 non-league win over Upper Moreland. On Thursday night, they scored just 27 points in a loss to Wissahickon.
“January has not been kind to us,” coach Geoff Per said. “We were around .500 most of December.
“We don’t play four quarters. We just haven’t put four quarters together. It was definitely nice to get a win.”
Senior Lyric Lewis made sure the team’s fortunes would change, scoring a game-high 33 points to lead Bensalem to the big win.
“Lyric hasn’t had her voice the last two days – she’s fighting something, a cold, the floor,” coach Geoff Per said. “She actually shot the ball well for us (against Wissahickon).
“In the first half, Truman played a packed in zone, and even though we started off slow, our press got us going. It’s a rivalry game. I could tell before the game that our kids had a little more juice than they normally have because it’s Bensalem-Truman. They were a little more fired up. They went man-to-man the whole second half, but they played zone the whole first half. Lyric hit a couple of shots. We pressed them and stole it. I think that got our confidence going.”
The Owls led 11-8 after one quarter and then used a 19-9 second quarter tear to go into halftime with a 30-17 lead.
“They jumped on us 8-3, and we went on a 23-0 run to go up 26-8,” Per said. “Then we had a mental lapse – we had five straight turnovers, and to make matters worse, we fouled them on five consecutive possessions.
“They only had two field goals the whole second quarter, but they were 5-for-8 from the foul line.”
The Tigers cut into the Owls’ lead early in the third quarter, but the Owls recuperated. They took a 48-41 lead into the final quarter and then outscored their visitors 16-15.
Truman was led by the 19-point effort of Sabria Lytes while Jayda Campbell added 15 points, which included an 8-for-9 showing at the foul line.
Bensalem (7-12, 3-9 SOL) will be on the road at William Tennent on Tuesday, and Truman (4-13, 1-10) will host Neshaminy.
Harry S Truman 8-9-24-15 56
Bensalem 11-19-18-16 64
Harry S Truman: Darnella McMillan 3, Jayda Campbell 15, Maylissa Clarke 5, Alexis McCoy 8, Sabria Lytes 19, Briana Cliney 4.
Bensalem: Sam Werth 8, Anna Dean 3, Destiny Rogers 9, Lyric Lewis 33, Julia Rymarczuk 4, Savannah Jordan 7.
COUNCIL ROCK 46, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 21
The Indians bounced back from a heartbreaking loss against Neshaminy on Tuesday to earn an impressive win over their archrival. Mackenzie Tinner led the charge with a double-double that included 10 points and 15 rebounds to go along with three assists and one block.
“For two days, we worked on what we wanted to do on offense, and we got it,” coach Lou Palkovics said. “We knew we were bigger, and we wanted to expose the inside game, and I think we did that.”
The Golden Hawks led 11-10 after one quarter, but the rest of the night belonged to the Indians, who outscored their visitors 10-4 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 20-15 lead. The Indians owned the second half, outscoring the Golden Hawks 25-6. All of Rock South’s points in the second half came from the foul line as the Indians did not allow a field goal.
“It’s happened before, but I didn’t think it would happen with South – I knew they were pretty good,” Palkovics said. “Defensively, we played really well.”
The Indians took a 29-17 lead into the fourth quarter, but Palkovics was feeling anything but comfortable.
“We were up 12 going into the fourth quarter against Neshaminy,” said the Indians’ coach. “I said, ‘Okay, what lessons did I learn?’ I talked to my girls and said, ‘What lessons did you learn?’”
On the Indians’ first possession of the final quarter, they went into a delay.
“I said, ‘We’re going to shorten this game right now,’” Palkovics said. “We went delay for 45 seconds to a minute, and we turned the ball over, but they didn’t score.
“We came down, and I said, ‘Let’s delay one more time,’ and in 30 seconds, we turned the ball over again. We were still up 12 with five minutes to go whereas against Neshaminy we were up 12, and Neshaminy scored the first 10 points of the quarter. I thought, ‘Maybe we can attack this,’ but I was shell shocked, and I think the kids were a little shell shocked, so we tried to shorten the game at the end.”
While Tinner was doing damage in the paint, Megan Haggerty, who had a team-high 13 points, was burning the Golden Hawks from the outside, connecting on three three-pointers. Becca Margolis added 11 points, and Kaelin Mealey had seven.
“I told them, ‘This (win) gets you in (districts) – now the last three games you play for seeding,” Palkovics said.
Payton Spadaccino’s six points led the Golden Hawks.
Council Rock North (11-7, 9-3 SOL) will host Central League champion Conestoga on Monday in a non-league tilt. Council Rock South (9-10, 7-5) will host Pennsbury on Tuesday.
Council Rock South 11-4-2-4 21
Council Rock North 10-10-9-16 45
Council Rock South: Caroline McGovern 5, Payton Spadaccino 6, Kasey Schlupp 4, Faith Turner 4, Christiana Deo 2.
Council Rock North: Becca Margolis 11, Megan Haggerty 13, Tara McGuigan 2, Kaelin Mealey 7, Mackenzie Tinner 10, Hannah Weiler 2.
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