Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Thursday.
American Conference
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 35, UPPER MORELAND 26
Points didn’t come easily for either Molly Dugan or the Spartans, but in the third quarter of Thursday night’s win, the Spartan senior connected on a foul shot that vaulted her to the elusive 1,000-point plateau.
Dugan – who needed eight points to reach the milestone – is the first player at Springfield to accomplish that feat since Elise DiFilippo did it in 2011. The senior sharpshooter finished with 11 points.
“She didn’t score what she normally scores, but Upper Moreland was double teaming all over the place,” coach Bill Krewson said. “She’s the consummate team player.
“Tonight at times, I think she was battling with getting it over with and getting the ball to her teammates.”
The Spartans trailed 10-6 after one quarter and went into halftime on the short end of a 14-9 score. Noelle Woodman led the Golden Bears with seven points in the half. The Spartans came out of halftime and outscored their hosts 16-5 in the third quarter on their way to the win.
“It was one of the more difficult games to coach because of everything that was going on, but it was a total team effort,” Krewson said.
While Dugan didn’t put up her usual big numbers, she had plenty of help. Mary Kate Smith added 11 points while Siana Wynn had 10.
“Mary Kate Smith really stepped up tonight,” said Krewson of Smith, who sat out her entire sophomore year because of a concussion. “When they start to play with joy and start having fun, that’s when you get excited.
“She’s starting to do that. I believe that we’re all capable of scoring, but you have to get out of your own way.”
Woodman led the Golden Bears with nine points while Caitlin Corr had seven.
Springfield (3-3, 2-2 SOL) will face Sacred Heart on Tuesday in an opening round game of the Robert Hopf Memorial Tournament at Jenkintown. Upper Moreland (0-7, 0-3) will face Jenkintown at 3:45 in an opening round game Tuesday.
Springfield 6-3-16-10 35
Upper Moreland 10-4-5-7 26
Springfield (35) – Molly Dugan 11, Jameson Krewson 3, Mary Kate Smith 11, Siana Wynn 10.
Upper Moreland (26) – Phoebe Longstreth 2, Caitlin Corr 7, Brianna Hughes 4, Noelle Woodman 9, Maura Casey 2, Cassidy Murphy 2.
Non-league
SPRINGSIDE CHESTNUT HILL 36, HATBORO-HORSHAM 28
The Hatters fell behind early and spent the rest of the game playing catch up. They trailed 7-2 after one quarter and saw that deficit grow to 15-6 by halftime.
Bergen Sims led the Hatters with eight points, eight rebounds and seven steals. Julia Thornton added seven points.
Hatboro-Horsham (3-4, 2-1 SOL) will face Archbishop Ryan on Tuesday in the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood.
Hatboro-Horsham 2-4-5-18 28
Springside Chestnut Hill 7-8-12-9 36
Hatboro-Horsham (28) – Bergen Sims 8, Julia Thornton 7, Katie Fisher 5, Kylie Halko 4, Nikki Williams 4.
Springside Chestnut Hill (36) – Chloe Burns 6, Kara Khlezewsi 3, Nya Searight 11, Joelle Bridges 5, Mya Gerlich 2, Caroline Clark 9.
National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 61, ABINGTON 54
It’s been a long time since the Indians celebrated a win over Abington. Close to seven years to be exact. The last Rock North win over Abington came on Feb. 9, 2010, in the second regular season meeting between the two teams. Abington went on to win the district title.
“I actually didn’t even know that, but my senior class informed me after the game – it was the first time they beat Abington,” coach Lou Palkovics said. “I told the girls – you don’t know how tough our non-league schedule is this year.
“Next week we have to go play Red Bank Catholic, who is number six in New Jersey and should have beat the number one. I know Camden Catholic is good. You have North Penn, you have Life Center, and they’re going out and playing every nationally-ranked team they can. It’s real important that you take care of business in the league. Obviously, two of the bigger pieces of business are Abington and Neshaminy. It was nice to get that win.”
The Indians, who led 14-10 after one quarter, took a 23-21 lead into halftime but found themselves on the short end of a 38-37 score heading into the final quarter. They closed out the game with a 24-point fourth quarter, outscoring the Ghosts by eight.
“It’s just one of those things,” Palkovics said. “It wasn’t like we all of a sudden ran something different.
“All of a sudden, the shots started falling. “It’s nice to be able to extend zones. They tried to play us in a zone in the beginning, and we jumped out 11-2.”
Momentum began to swing in the Indians’ favor – according to the veteran coach – came after Camryn Polinsky buried a three-pointer from the corner. She also connected on four clutch foul shots.
“This is our first game getting Cam back,” Palkovics said. “She’s just so important to this team. She can do everything.
“There were three or four possessions – Cam hit a three, Becca (Margolis) hit a three and Megan Haggerty got fouled on a three. All of a sudden, you were down one and now you’re up six or seven.”
Margolis led the Indians’ fourth-quarter tear with nine of her team-high 20 points.
“Becca played great,” Palkovics said.
Dana Badurick added 13 points and nine rebounds. Polinsky and Emily Mackin both had nine points.
“It’s so important having Emily Mackin back,” Palkovics said. “She was a starter as a sophomore, and to lose her all last year (with a torn ACL) – now she’s back, and she’s stronger. You’d think losing a year would be tough on her, but she’s way better.
Kassondra Brown led all scorers with 22 points. Britney James added 10 and Lizzie O’Leary, eight points. Jordyn Allen had six.
“O’Leary got into real early foul trouble, but what killed us was Kassondra Brown,” Palkovics said. “She killed us inside. She was tough to handle. When we started getting beat up inside, we said – we need offside help from the guards. We were lucky they missed some shots, and we started hitting a lot of big shots.”
Sam Brusha, who torched the Indians for 28 points in a game last year, scored five.
“We definitely wanted to keep an eye on her,” Palkovics said. “We scouted them a couple of times this year, and it wasn’t one of those things where we could say – you can help off this girl, or you can help off that girl because they could all shoot it.”
Council Rock North (5-1, 3-0 SOL) will face Red Bank Catholic on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Boardwalk Classic at Wildwood, N.J. Abington (3-3, 1-2) will take on Villa Joseph Marie on Wednesday at 5:15 p.m. in the Upper Dublin Holiday Tournament.
Abington 10-11-17-16 54
Council Rock North 14-9-14-24 61
Abington (54) – Britney James 10, Lizzie O’Leary 9, Tamia Wessles 2, Kassondra Brown 22, Jordyn Alen 6, Sam Brusha 5.
Council Rock North (61) – Becca Margolis 20, Camryn Pulinsky 9, Megan Haggerty 2, Emily Mackin 9, Dana Bandurick 13, Hannah Weiler 5, Mackenzie Tinner 3.
HARRY S TRUMAN 61, BENSALEM 50
In the Tigers’ very own version of ‘Sister Act,’ siblings Jayda and Daisha Campbell both scored 15 points to lead Truman to a win over its neighboring rival. It was Daisha – just a freshman – scoring six points in the fourth quarter to lead the Tigers.
“She really turned it up in the fourth quarter after playing a whole jayvee game,” coach Collette Munford said. “We only have five girls on jayvee, and she played the whole game.
“In the fourth quarter, she was a key factor, just the things she did along with the six points.”
The Owls trailed by just a 29-25 score at halftime, but the Tigers came out of halftime and outscored the Owls 18-6 in the third quarter to go on top 47- 31. Bensalem didn’t go down quietly, outscoring the Tigers 19-14 in the final quarter.
“We made a lot of mistakes that if we don’t fix it’s going to cost us,” Munford said. “It cost us the other night (in a 42-38 loss to Council Rock South).”
After burying 13-of-16 from the foul line in the loss to Rock South, the Tigers connected on just 8-of-22 from the charity stripe. Bensalem was 15-of-22 from the line.
“They weren’t missing tonight,” Munford said. “We missed a lot of easy in-and-out layups, and we had a lot of turnovers.
“To be able to still pull it off – it’s not going to work that way against other teams if we don’t fix this stuff. We’re going to have practice tomorrow. We have two tough games next week.”
Jayda Campbell, who buried four three-pointers, also had four steals. Daisha Campbell contributed four assists and two steals. Alexis McCoy added 11 points and six rebounds, and Briana Cliney had eight points and nine rebounds.
The win was the fourth of the season for the Tigers, who won just four games all season last year.
Harry S Truman (4-1, 1-1 SOL) will face Souderton on Wednesday in the opening round of he Penncrest Holiday Tournament. Bensalem (1-5, 0-3) will compete in the Marple Newtown Tournament next week.
Harry S Truman 19-10-18-14 61
Bensalem 12-13-6-19 50
Harry S Truman (61) – Briana Ciney 8, Roneisha James 2, Alexis McCoy 11, Sabria Lytes 4, Daeja Moore 5, Daisha Campbell 15, Jayda Campbell 15.
NESHAMINY 32, PENNSBURY 20
Brooke Mullin scored 11 points to lead the Redskins to the hard-fought win over the pesky Falcons. The Redskins led 9-5 after one quarter and took a 17-7 lead into halftime. They edged the Falcons 15-13 in the second half.
Meghan Ansel and Allison Harvey both added six points for the Redskins. For the Falcons, Katie Mix and Mary Miller led the way with six points each.
Neshaminy (4-1, 3-0 SOL) will face Methacton on Thursday in an opening round game of the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood. Pennsbury (2-3, 0-2) is off until the New Year.
Pennsbury 5-2-8-5 20
Neshaminy 9-8-12-3 32
Pennsbury (20) – Sydney Buell 5, Katie Mix 6, Mary Miller 6, Meredith Webber 3.
Neshaminy (37) – Devon Storms 3, Emily Alexis 2, Allison Harvey 6, Brooke Mullin 11, Krisstin Curley 4, Meghan Ansel 6.
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 52, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 49 (OT)
Maggie Rakowsky has spent her career making life miserable for the opposing team’s big gun, but in Thursday’s overtime thriller, it was the senior point guard’s contributions offensively that proved to be the difference in the game.
After an East turnover on a five-second call with 10.5 seconds remaining in OT and the score deadlocked 49-49, it was Rakowsky burying a baseline three-pointer that turned out to be the game winner as East’s desperation shot at the buzzer fell short.
Rakowsky scored 10 of her team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, giving the Bucks a huge lift on a night when their top scorer – Maddie Burke – did not have a field goal and scored just two points.
“I was really happy for Maggie,” coach Terry Rakowsky said. “We’re asking her to play defense on the other team’s best kid all the time.
“She’s coming in a little bit tired, and her shot is a little flatter. If she gets her legs underneath her, she makes those shots. She’s probably our second best shooter statistically. We’re asking a lot of her to play the point, play defense on the best kid and be the scorer.”
Adding to the drama of yet another classic battle between the neighboring rivals was a raucous crowd that packed the house for the girls/boys doubleheader.
“It doesn’t matter what because they’re never quitting,” Rakowsky said of the Patriots. “These kids all know each other. It was just an incredible game.”
The Bucks led 9-8 at the end of one quarter and took a 26-21 lead into halftime only to watch the Patriots came out of halftime looking like a team on a mission.
Bailey McManus buried a three-pointer from the top of the circle, and after Alex Burkauskas answered with a trey at the other end, the Patriots went to work. Sophia Mancuso converted a three-point play, and senior Bri Talbot buried a pair of foul shots. Just like that, the two teams were deadlocked, 29-29.
A three-pointer by Bridget Birkhead gave the Patriots their first lead since the opening quarter, and after a McManus steal, Abby Charlton drained a foul line jumper to put the Patriots on top 34-29. After a West miss, Birkhead buried a pair at the foul line, giving East a 36-29 lead with 3:18 remaining in the quarter.
The Bucks answered with a 7-0 tear to close out the quarter. Izzy Treon’s three-point basket highlighted the run. In the fourth quarter, neither team led by more than two. With 1:11 remaining in regulation, McManus – after coming up with a steal on the defensive end – sank a pair at the foul line to knot the score 46-46. West held for the final shot and had three shots for the win in the final 22 seconds but came up empty. East misfired on a pair of foul shots in the closing seconds, and the two teams were staring at overtime.
Rakowsky broke a 47-47 tie when she connected on a pair of foul shots. Talbot – who spent the game successfully attacking the basket – scored on a drive to knot the score 49-49 with 1:40 remaining. West missed on a shot for the lead, the Patriots were whistled for a five-second violation, and the stage was set for Rakowsky’s game winner.
Talbot led all scorers with 20 points, which included a 12-for-15 effort at the foul line. The Patriots kept themselves in the game by burying 21-of-26 foul shots.
“We’re fouling too much,” coach Rakowsky said. “We work on it. Our high energy kids don’t know when to back off.
“We want them to play hard and fast, but we want them to play smart. We’re just giving them so many easy shots at the rim. We talk to our kids all the time because it goes against what we want to do. Good fouls I get, but I don’t know how many good fouls we had tonight – maybe two. All the rest were slaps, grabs and holds. If it was seniors, I would say it’s lazy defense, but with young kids, I think it’s just maturity.”
Also for the Bucks, Tori Abelson added 11 points, and Burkauskas added 10. Burke had just two points but was a force on the defensive end, finishing with six blocks.
Central Bucks West (4-1, 2-1 SOL) will travel to Hampton, Va., for the Boo Williams Holiday Classic next week.
“We’re a little lucky right now. We just beat East, and our main scorer – Maddie Burke – had a couple of foul shots,” coach Rakowsky said. “When you think about it, we came through North Penn, South and East 2-1. I would have taken that before the season started if someone said that to me.”
Central Bucks East (1-4, 1-2) will take on Friends Central on Thursday at 3:30 in the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood.
Central Bucks East 8-13-15-10-3 49
Central Bucks West 9-17-10-17-6 52
Central Bucks East (49) – Bridget Birkhead 11, Abby Charlton 4, Sophia Mancuso 3, Bailey McManus 11, Bri Talbot 20.
Central Bucks West (52) – Alex Burkauskas 10, Diane Nicholson 4, Molly Rodebaugh 2, Maddie Burke 2, Tori Abelson 11, Maggie Rakowsky 12.
SOUDERTON 42, PENNRIDGE 31
The Rams hung tough for three quarters, trailing just 26-23 heading into the final frame, but the Indians found their offensive stride in the fourth quarter, outscoring their hosts 16-8.
Kate Connolly led a balanced attack with 13 points while Tori Dowd had 10, Megan Walbrandt chipped in with seven. Gillian Anderson led the Rams with eight points. Rose McCormick added seven while Brooke Bachtle and Emilee Cramer both had six points.
Souderton (5-0, 2-0 SOL) will face Harry S Truman in the opening round of the Penncrest Holiday Tournament on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. Pennridge (3-4, 0-3) will face Boyertown on Thursday in the opening round of the Boyertown Holiday Tournament.
Souderton 9-9-8-16 42
Pennridge 5-9-9-8 31
Souderton (42) – Tori Dowd 10, Megan Bealer 5, Alana Cardona 4, Megan Walbrandt 7, Erica Stephens 3, Kate Connolly 13.
Pennridge (31) – Brooke Bachtle 6, Gillian Anderson 8, Madison Stolarski 2, Rose McCormick 7, Claire Podraza 2, Emilee Cramer 6.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 34, WILLIAM TENNENT 16
The Titans opened the game with a 7-0 run and led 11-6 after one quarter, but the Panthers closed out the half with an 11-3 run to pull to within three at the intermission (14-11) .
It was still just an 18-15 game with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, but the Panthers managed just one point the rest of the way.
“Despite the final result, the Panthers took a huge step in the right direction tonight,” coach Laura Whitney said. “We have continued to improve and get better each game.
“It wasn’t the complete game that we were looking for, but we played extremely well and hung tough for two-and-a-half quarters. Late turnovers and the inability to get any quality shots proved to be (the) downfall. This was a great learning experience for our team and will benefit us greatly later in the season.”
Alexa Brodie led the Titans with nine points. Lexi Edwards added eight, and Meghan Kuypers had six points.
Emma Stanfield led the Panthers with seven points, and Bryn Evans had six.
Central Bucks South (6-0, 3-0 SOL) will face Nazareth Academy on Tuesday in an opening round game of the Downingtown West Holiday Tournament. William Tennent (1-5, 0-2) will face New Foundations on Tuesday in the opening round of its own tournament.
William Tennent 6-5-4-1 16
Central Bucks South 11-3-10-10 34
William Tennent (16) – Jenna Rodebaugh 2, Emma Stanfield 7, Bryn Evans 6, Paige Schmidt 1.
Central Bucks South (34) – Lindsay Scott 2, Natalie DiSandro 1, Melissa Veal 4, Meghan Kuypers 6, Haley Meinel 2, Alexa Brodie 9, Maddie McShane 2, Lexi Edwards 8.
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