North Penn and CB West were winners in Saturday’s SOL Tournament at Council Rock North. The two teams will do battle in Monday’s title game at Bensalem (6 p.m.). Check all of Saturday’s results. Also, check back for Karen Discavage’s photos of the CB West/Upper Dublin game.
NORTH PENN 44, NESHAMINY 39
Unacceptable.
Coach Maggie deMarteleire and senior captain Mikaela Giuliani both used that word to describe the Lady Knights’ defensive performance in the second half of Saturday’s SOL Tournament semifinal game. After opening up a 22-8 halftime lead, the Lady Knights were outscored by the Redskins 31-22 in the second half.
“In the second half, our heads weren’t in it,” Giuliani said. “Our defense was just really poor in the second half.
“We held them to eight points in the first half and gave them 31 in the second half. That’s unacceptable, and honestly, none of our heads were in it. We were all frustrated with offense and defense and it kept snowballing.”
The Lady Knights’ coach echoed a similar refrain.
“We gave up 31 points in the second half,” deMarteleire said. “That’s unacceptable, and we played great defense in the first half.
“Obviously, I was pleased with the first half, particularly defensively, but I was not happy with the second half on either side of the ball.”
The Lady Knights threw some defense at the Redskins in the opening half. A Sam Carangi triple spotted North Penn a 3-0 lead, and that score held until the Villanova-bound point guard turned a steal into a bucket with 3:27 remaining. The Lady Knights reeled off an 8-0 run in the final 1:02 to go on top 13-0 after one quarter.
The run started with a three-point play by Jess Huber, and after a Redskins turnover, Giuliani scored. Bri Hewlett’s trey at the buzzer capped the run to close out the frame.
“(They’re) a very good basketball team, very well coached,” coach Joe Lally said. “We knew exactly what we were getting into.
“I thought we had some looks early, and we didn’t make them. More than halfway through the first quarter they only had five points, but we didn’t finish the second half of that quarter real strong on defense, and that little 8-0 run kind of killed us. It wasn’t a good quarter for us.
“Again, I don’t want to take anything away from them. They’re a great team. They came out and did what they needed to do. They set the tone.”
A Giuliani bucket to open the second quarter put the Lady Knights on top 15-0, and they took what appeared to be a commanding 22-8 lead into halftime. North Penn still had a 32-21 lead heading into the final quarter. A pair of Brooke Mullin foul shots made it a 38-28 game midway through the quarter, and after a Lady Knight turnover, Devon Storms scored on a drive. When Irisa Ye found Giuliani rolling to the basket for an easy bucket, North Penn once again had a double-digit lead (40-30), but the ‘Skins wouldn’t go away.
Mullin – after drawing a foul on an offensive rebound – connected on a pair from the charity stripe, and when the Lady Knights misfired on the front end of a one-and-one, Storms took it strong to the hole and – despite being fouled – made the basket and then buried the foul shot to make it a 40-35 game with 39 seconds remaining.
Carangi sank both ends of a one-and-one at the other end, and the Redskins would get no closer than five, but the Lady Knights were not celebrating when it was over.
“It was really frustrating,” Giuliani said. “I was missing layups – we had a wide open layups that people were just missing, and that led to the frustration on defense. It just didn’t work out well.
“We can’t have any more letups like that. We have to play like the first half all the time and just improve every quarter. We usually rely on our defense when our shots aren’t going in, and tonight we couldn’t even do that.”
Freshman Allison Harvey led the Redskins with 13 points, which included three three-pointers. Mullin, also a freshman, finished with 11 points, which included a perfect 7-for-7 effort at the foul line. Harvey scored all of her points in the final three quarters while Mullin did all of her damage in the second half as the underclassmen warmed to the task. Storms also added 11 points.
“I don’t want to put too much emphasis on playing freshmen, but Allison Harvey and Brooke Mullin are a big part of what we’ve done all year long,” Lally said. “We had to get them off a little bit, get Devon Storms going to the basket a little bit.
“I think it was a combination of things. It was clear to see they wanted to pressure Morgan (Goldenbaum) and make it tough for her to start the offense. It was an adjustment.
“We’re happy with the last three quarters of the game. We just would have rather played better in the first quarter, but it’s a great prime for districts. We had the utmost respect for North Penn coming into that game. They’re experienced too, and don’t think coming down the stretch in a five-point game their experience doesn’t help them.”
Giuliani led the Lady Knights with 17 points while Carangi added 10 and Hewlett, nine points.
“The effort was there,” deMarteleire said. “The kids worked hard, but we didn’t play smart.
“We were not mentally prepared, and our mental toughness wasn’t what we’d like it to be. Neshaminy – in the second half – showed a lot of grit.”
North Penn (21-2, 14-0 SOL) will face conference rival Central Bucks West in Monday’s title game at Bensalem High School (6 p.m.). Neshaminy (18-5, 14-0) will prepare for next weekend’s District One AAAA Tournament.
Neshaminy 0-8-13-18 39
North Penn 13-9-10-12 44
Neshaminy: Morgan Goldenbaum 2, Emily Alexis 2, Brooke Mullin 11, Allison Harvey 13, Devon Storms 11.
North Penn: Irisa Ye 3, Mikaela Giuliani 17, Bri Hewlett 9, Sam Carangi 10, Jess Huber 5.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 28, UPPER DUBLIN 25
In a contest where baskets didn’t come easily for either team, the Flying Cardinals – holding the five-point lead it had at halftime and at the end of three quarters – appeared to have the upper hand in Saturday’s SOL Tournament semifinal game.
After all, the Cardinals still led 23-18 when Allison Chernow buried one-of-two from the foul line with 3:54 remaining.
The Bucks, however, had other ideas, making the plays when it mattered most down the stretch and rallying for a win that propelled their squad into the tournament’s title game.
“We’ve worked really hard,” junior Maggie Rakowsky said. “Our team is just so high intensity – it was just fun.
“It was a little frustrating but fun. We were right there the whole game, and I had a feeling we would come back and tie just because we hadn’t scored all half.”
The Bucks – after scoring seven points in the opening 12 minutes of the second half – found a way to score 10 in the final 2:49. It was Rakowsky igniting the rally when she came up with a steal and – after getting hammered going to the hole – connected on a pair of foul shots to make it a 23-20 game.
With just under two minutes to play, the Cardinals had a chance to add to their lead but misfired on the front end of a one-and-one, and just seconds later, Tori Abelson found Makenzie Mason for a bucket that made it a one-point game. That was followed by missed opportunities on both sides.
When Abelson turned a steal into a basket with 1:08 remaining, the Bucks had their first lead of the second half. Afterwards, the freshman forward didn’t have a ready explanation for her clutch play.
“It was just in the moment,” Abelson said. “The ball just got in my hands, and you’ve got to make the play when it happens.”
The Flying Cardinals responded with some clutch plays of their own when Allison Chernow sank both ends of a one-and-one to put her team on top 25-24 with 47 seconds remaining.
Again, the Bucks answered. This time it was Abelson finding Rakowsky for a short jumper that put the Bucks on top by one with 32 seconds remaining. After a UD turnover, a stack play at midcourt out of a West timeout saw freshman Izzy Treon find a wide open Mason breaking to the basket for a layup that put the Bucks on top 28-25.
The Cardinals had 15 seconds to figure out a way to knot the score, but a pair of shots from beyond the arc fell short – the second as time expired after a West turnover on an inbounds play.
“It’s little things,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “Even at the end, we had enough time to draw up what we wanted and drew it up, but we didn’t execute it at the end. It’s the youth.
“We had a million opportunities and so did they, but when we had to, we made that one play or two plays that you went – ‘Wow, okay.’ There were 20 left out there we didn’t make, but we made that one or two.
“We’ll take it. It’s definitely a learning experience, and hopefully they learn from it, which I think we will.”
Earlier in the game, the two teams were knotted 2-2 at the end of one quarter, and behind five points from Josie Barrett, the Cards outscored the Bucks 14-9 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 16-11 lead. It was a 21-16 game heading into the final quarter when things changed in a hurry.
“We came into the weekend – it’s a no-pressure weekend,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “It doesn’t affect power rankings, but we really wanted to win the tournament. That was our mindset.
“We prepared like a playoff game. We were ready, we wanted to win bad. I told the girls afterwards that I thought we deserved to win the game defensively with the way we played, but we didn’t deserve to win the game with the decisions that we made.”
Funsten pointed to the Bucks’ experience in tight games as significant. While the Flying Cardinals won their last six games in conference play by an average of 23 points, the Bucks were scratching and clawing for their conference wins, which included back-to-back wins over neighboring Central Bucks East and Central Bucks South this week. Thursday’s win over South gave the Bucks an opportunity to compete in the SOL Tournament as they moved above the Titans in the District One AAAA power rankings.
“They’re used to being in the close games,” Funsten said. “If you want to take positives out of it, you want to play close games against good teams, so you’re ready for it when it really, really matters.
“In the big picture, this weekend is designed to get ready for playoffs, at least that’s how we view it. We’re going to try to take all the negatives from the game – especially in the fourth quarter – and turn them into positives moving forward.
“Chernow showed a lot making both ends of a one-and-one to put us up by one, but they made the last shot. It seemed like the only shot for both teams. We made one field goal in the second half.”
That field goal – a three-pointer by Demi Balasa came with 4:54 remaining in the third quarter. The Flying Cardinals, who connected on 1-of-21 shots after halftime, did not connect on a field goal in the final 12:54.
“Their defense wears on you,” Funsten said. “They’re so good defensively. They make you work for it.
“We just have to find ways to close games out better. We were up five with three minutes to go, Rakowsky got a big steal, they made their foul shots. Maybe they deserved to win a little more than us. I don’t know if either team deserved to win, but they deserved more than we did.”
In addition to scoring 11 points, Rakowsky also had five rebounds and three steals. Mason finished with nine and eight rebounds. No other player had more than four. Abelson had a team high nine rebounds.
For the Flying Cardinals, Chernow’s nine points led the way. Ashley Barber had a team high 10 rebounds while Maggie Weglos had nine.
Central Bucks West (16-6, 11-3 SOL) will face Continental Conference champion North Penn in Monday’s SOL Tournament title game at Bensalem High School (6 p.m.).
“It’s really great because no one thought we’d be here the whole season,” Abelson said. “But we just played with heart.
“When you’ve got that and you’ve got a good group of girls – just keep playing, have fun and letting the basketball take care of itself. Just playing hard every time.”
Upper Dublin (18-5, 14-0 SOL) will return to action in next weekend’s District One AAAA Tournament.
Upper Dublin 2-14-5-4 25
Central Bucks West 2-9-5-12 28
Upper Dublin: Josie Barrett 5, Allison Chernow 7, Demi Balasa 5, Ashley Barber 4, Alison Gouveia 4.
Central Bucks West: Makenzie Mason 9, Tori Abelson 4, Izzy Treon 2, Maggie Rakowsky 11, Bailey Tracy 2.
PENNRIDGE 48, LANSDALE CATHOLIC 46
Brooke Bachtle had a breakout performance, scoring a game high 18 points to lead the Lady Rams to the hard fought win in Saturday’s Community Day game. She also had a pair of steals and two rebounds as the Lady Rams solidified their position in the District One AAAA Tournament’s field of 32.
The Crusaders opened up a 17-13 lead after one quarter, but the Lady Rams rallied to knot the score 28-28 at halftime. Pennridge took a tenuous 37-36 lead into the final quarter, and the Lady Rams battled their way to the two-point win.
Senior Lydia Konstanzer added 15 points, nine rebounds, two steals and two assists while Devan Rimmer had six rebounds and four steals. Gillian Anderson contributed six points and five rebounds.
Pennridge (5-9 SOL) closed out its regular season with a 12-10 record.
Lansdale Catholic 17-11-8-10 46
Pennridge 13-15-9-11 48
Pennridge: Brooke Bachtle 18, Gillian Anderson 6, Devan Rimmer 9, Lydia Konstanzer 15.
PYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 47, HAVERFORD 24
The Colonials closed out their regular season with a no-doubt-about-it non-league win over the Fords. They seized control of the game early, opening up an 11-4 lead after one quarter. PW led 14-10 at the half. A 17-9 third quarter set the stage for a 33-14 second half surge by the Colonials.
Junior Taylor O’Brien scored 21 points to lead the way. Ali Diamond added 12 points, and Lauren Coscia had eight points.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (10-4 SOL) closed out its regular season with a 16-6 record.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11-3-17-16 47
Haverford 4-6-9-5 24
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Taylor O’Brien 21, Ali Diamond 12, Sarah Putsch 2, Laurel Scuhsland 4, Lauren Coscia 8.
Haverford: Reynolds 7, Blair 2, Murphy 8, Doherty 5, O’Reilly 2.
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