Truman and Cheltenham were winners in SOL girls’ basketball non-league action on Wednesday.
HARRY S TRUMAN 41, PENNRIDGE 40
The visiting Tigers staged a gutsy late game comeback, outscoring the Rams 10-3 in the final quarter to eke out the win. Senior Sabria Lytes stepped into the hero’s role, burying a pair of foul shots with 12 seconds left to turn a one-point deficit into a one-point lead.
“She made two clutch free throws to put us up one,” Truman coach Collette Munford said. “We played tight defense. They tried to draw a foul and threw the ball up, but the buzzer had already gone off, and we came up with a ‘W.’”
Lytes finished with an impressive double-double to lead the Tigers, scoring a game-high 18 points to go along with 15 rebounds. Lytes was 8-for-12 from the foul line.
The Tigers led 10-7 after one quarter, but the Rams rallied and took a 20-19 lead into halftime. The Rams picked up where they left off in the third quarter, outscoring their visitors 17-12 to go into the final quarter with a 37-31 lead only to watch the Tigers come back to steal the win.
“Don’t get me wrong, Pennridge played great,” Munford said. “Our girls started off good, and then we got in this lazy mode.
“I don’t know what it was. I tried to get them out of it. We came out and got four quick points (in the third quarter), they called a timeout, and after that timeout, they jumped on us. It was one of those games – back and forth, back and forth. We fought back and came out with a ‘W,’ but it was just ugly.”
Senior Daeja Moore – who measures in at 5-3 – had a big game on the boards for the Tigers, pulling down 11 rebounds and also contributing three assists and three steals.
“She also played great ‘D’ today,” Munford said.
Truman sophomore Alexis McCoy added nine points and two rebounds.
For the Rams, Sam Muredda led the way with 13 points while Brooke Bachtle and Gillian Anderson both added nine points.
Harry S Truman (7-3, 1-3 SOL) will host Council Rock North on Thursday, and Pennridge (5-9, 1-5) will face Abington at Central Bucks West in Saturday’s SOL Challenge at 1 p.m.
Harry S Truman 10-9-12-10 41
Pennridge 7-13-17-3 40
Harry S Truman (41) – Roneisha James 2, Briana Cliney 2, Alexis McCoy 9, Sabria Lytes 18, Daeja Moore 4, Daisha Campbell 1, Jayda Campbell 5.
Pennridge (40) – Samantha Muredda 13, Brooke Bachtle 9, Gillian Anderson 9, Madison Stolarski 4, Rose McCormick 3, Claire Podraza.
CHELTENHAM 51, INTERBORO 34
Mia Leonard turned in another monster performance for the Lady Panthers, finishing with a double-double that included 22 points and 10 rebounds to go along with eight blocked shots.
“She’s just getting more and more confidence,” coach Brendan Nolan said of his senior center. “She really knows how to defend – she knows how to defend in the post, and she knows how to help on penetration.
“She times (her blocks) really well. Like we told her when she was young, ‘Just put your hands in the air and wait for the ball to get up there.’ She doesn’t go down and try to get it out of the girl’s hands. She waits for it to get up to her level, and she just gets her fingers on balls all the time.”
The Lady Panthers actually found themselves in an early 8-2 hole but responded with a 17-0 tear to close out the first quarter and take control of the game.
“They really jumped out – they were full of excitement, they were fired up,” Nolan said of Interboro. “Their best player hit a three right away, and they were really feeling it.
“Then we played about as good a five-minute stretch as I’ve seen all year. Courtney Murray, our point guard, was really attacking and penetrating. Caitlin Wallace hit two threes, and Mia was just Mia down there. She had an and-one, and we fed her the ball and she scored.”
The trio combined for all 19 of the Lady Panthers’ first quarter points. Leonard led the way with seven while Wallace and Murray both had six. The Lady Panthers took a 26-19 lead into halftime and went on to win the second half 25-15.
Murray finished with eight points while Wallace, Danielle Brown and Nashira Brown each added six points.
Cheltenham (7-6, 4-2 SOL) will travel to Upper Dublin on Friday night.
“They’ve been a tough matchup for us over the years, but this team approaches things the right way,” Nolan said. “They’re confident in each other, they’re willing to let whoever has the best opportunity take the shot, and we’ll get out and defend as a unit better than what we’ve done in the past.
“We’ll see how it goes. It’s a tough task going to Upper Dublin and trying to get out with a win, but no matter what happens, these girls will stick together.”
Cheltenham 19-7-12-13 51
Interboro 8-11-10-5 34
Cheltenham (51) – Mia Leonard 22, Caitlin Wallace 6, Courtney Murray 8, Taylor Johnson 3, Danielle Brown 6, Kelia Holmes 6.
Interboro (34) – Amanda Floyd 5, Madison Diehl 2, Chrissy Caruso 3, Amber Seaman 6, Riley Szatny 2, Jaila Zaccaria 2, Gina McNamee 6, Marta Walewska 8.
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