Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams who competed in the Maggie Lucas Scholastic Play-by-Play at Philadelphia University on Sunday.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 53, NESHAMINY 41
A year ago Maddie Burke met Maggie Lucas while she was a spectator at the Scholastic Play-by-Play Classic named after the former Germantown Academy and Penn State star who is now playing professionally.
On Sunday, the West freshman found herself at midcourt accepting a t-shirt from Lucas as the player of the game for the Bucks, who outscored the Redskins 17-9 in the third quarter to put some distance between themselves and the ‘Skins.
Burke accounted for seven of those points, including a buzzer beater from well beyond the arc that hit nothing but net.
“That was fun – I just shot it up there hoping for the best,” said Burke, who shared team scoring honors with Izzy Treon – the first to greet her with a hug after she received the postgame recognition.
The Bucks fell behind 8-0 after a Kristin Curley drive less than three minutes into the game, and they trailed the Redskins – who were sparked by a pair of Brooke Mullin threes – 12-10 after one quarter. They took their first lead (17-15) when Maggie Rakowsky buried a 3-pointer with just over two minutes remaining in the second quarter.
West led 19-17 at the half, but a three-point play by Mullin to open the third quarter put the ‘Skins back on top, 20-19. Burke answered with a baseline drive to give the Bucks a lead they would not lose. Burke’s basket ignited a 9-0 West run that included a three-point play by Abbey Spratt as well as baskets by Diane Nicholson and Kaili Carey. A three-point play by Treon after a Nicholson steal gave the Bucks their first double-digit lead (33-23).
“We played really good defense today, and that helped a lot – (we got) a lot of turnovers on the press,” Burke said.
Burke’s three at the buzzer sent the Bucks into the final quarter with a 36-26 lead.
“I thought we handled their pressure well at times, and at times, we didn’t,” Neshaminy coach Joe Lally said. “They did amp it up in the second half and forced some more turnovers in the second half.
”Coming into this environment and playing a team like that as well coached as they are and with the talent they have, you have to give them credit. I thought we broke them down at times, but they just made shots and made plays. They’re very well coached, and when they needed it, they got buckets.”
The Redskins made it a 40-34 game when Mullin sank a pair at the foul line, but that’s as close as they would get.
“I thought they were a very good team,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “They’re well coached, they move the ball on offense, they make you move on defense. They play good defense. If you give a couple kids open shots, they’ll knock them down. They’re aggressive to the rim. He’s got them playing really well, and he does a really good job with them.
“They won’t beat themselves. You’ve got to force them, you’ve got to push the issue. (In the second half) we picked up the intensity, and we were pushing a little harder.”
Tori Abelson added 10 points for the Bucks while Nicholson and Rakowsky both had seven.
Mullin, the player of the game for the Redskins, led all scorers with 17 points. The sophomore standout was assigned the task of defending Burke.
“I always like a good challenge,” said Mullin. “It motivates me when they give me a job and say, ‘Don’t let her score.’
“We played really good defense today. We just have to keep working on boxing out and closing out.”
Central Bucks West (11-2, 5-1 SOL) will host North Penn in a battle of the SOL Continental Conference’s top squads, and Neshaminy (10-3, 5-1) will be on the road at Bensalem on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 12-5-9-15 41
Central Bucks West 10-9-17-17 53
Neshaminy (41) – Emily Alexis 4, Brooke Mullin 17, Kristin Curley 8, Allison Harvey 5, Meghan Ansel 5, Emily Tantala 2.
Central Bucks West (53) – Abbey Spratt 3, Maddie Burke 12, Tori Abelson 10, Maggie Rakowsky 7, Izzy Treon 12, Diane Nicholson 7, Kaili Carey 2.
UPPER DUBLIN 45, ARCHBISHOP RYAN 30
Take away what opposing teams do best.
The Flying Cardinals, under coach Morgan Funsten, have all but turned that into an art, and they were back at it again on Sunday against an Archbishop Ryan squad that came into the finale at the Maggie Lucas Classic with a perfect 10-0 record.
The Ragdolls – who averaged close to 65 points a game – had to know they were in trouble from the outset. They managed just four points in the first quarter and the same number in the second and found themselves staring at an unlikely 23-8 deficit at the intermission.
“They seemed extremely confused,” Funsten said. “If you’re a good team and you’re well-prepared and you take away their strengths – we played our best game of the year. We played really, really well.
“They have major weapons.”
Topping the list of weapons, according to Funsten, is Annie Cashman, who shoots 52 percent from beyond the arc and had 34 threes in 13 games.
“They have girls that can get to the basket,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “They have seven or eight girls who can score 20 on any given night.
“They are very talented, and I thought we did a great job of taking them out of their comfort zone tonight. This was by far the best we’ve executed a defensive game plan. It was nice that some shots fell in the first half for us. That’s always key. I said to the girls in the past that shot making can hide some bad things you do, and missing shots can hide some good things you do.
“Our non-league schedule is crazy, and we’ve proved we can compete with teams. It was time to cap it off with a win. We actually went in with a lot of confidence that we would win the game.”
That confidence translated into a 14-4 lead after one quarter. The Ragdolls never threatened, and Funsten admits his team couldn’t have played any better than it did.
“The first half was close to a perfect game,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “We made some early shots. We were getting what we wanted offensively.”
According to Funsten, junior Maggie Weglos and freshman Jackie Vargas played their best games of the year.
“They didn’t light up the box score with points, but Maggie is really starting to settle into her role as point guard of our team,” he said. “We talked about controlling the pace of the game because they average close to 65 points a game.
“Maggie offensively and defensively really did a good job of controlling the pace. She had the tough task of guarding Cashman and also withstanding pressure. Ryan’s strength is they love to get up and down the floor because of how athletic they are, so we knew they were going to be pressuring us. Maggie really did a great job of staying under control and finding people in spots where we needed her to find them.”
Weglos scored eight points while limiting Cashman to just five. The junior point guard also had five rebounds and four assists.
Vargas, a 6-3 freshman, was a presence in the paint, finishing with six points, nine rebounds and eight blocks.
“Jackie Vargas has, at times, gotten into foul trouble this year, but when she’s out on the court, she’s an absolute force,” Funsten said. “She was close to a triple double.
“She’s starting to move her feet more defensively and go straight up. When Ryan attacked the basket, which they do really, really well, Jackie altered or blocked countless shots tonight. She continues to just improve dramatically since the beginning of the year.”
Nicole Kaiser led the Cardinals with 18 points to go along with five rebounds while Josie Barrett added 11 points, four rebounds and two steals.
“Nicole has been so consistent for us, and Josie is starting to heat up also,” Funsten said. “It was really a great team effort.”
Although Demi Balasa didn’t get her name in the scoring column, she made important contributions with seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
“And she shut down their most dangerous girl attacking the basket, Monee Moore,” Funsten said. “We had a talk before the game, and we said – it’s time, it’s time for us to turn the corner. I had a lot of confidence coming into tonight’s game.
“I didn’t want to sound cocky that we were going to win this game, but I wanted our girls to get it in their heads early – this team has a great resume, but we’re pretty good too. We can compete with teams.
“I thought we matched up well with them. It was time to get a high quality win against a really good team, and the girls came out and were really focused in practice, and we had a great result tonight.”
Upper Dublin (9-4, 5-1 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Tuesday.
Archbishop Ryan 4-4-12-10 30
Upper Dublin 14-9-14-8 45
Archbishop Ryan (30) – Amanda Lawson 3, Caela Russell 12, Annie Cashman 5, Monee Moore 8, Danielle McCurdy 2.
Upper Dublin (30) – Meghan Barbera 2, Nicole Kaiser 18, Barrett 11, Maggie Webos 8, Jackie Vargas 6
NORTH PENN 62, EPISCOPAL ACADEMY 49
Sparked by eight points from Jess Huber, the Knights opened up a 22-7 lead over the Churchwomen after one quarter, and they never looked back.
When it was over, coach Maggie deMarteleire was more concerned about getting her team home and healthy than anything else.
“You can hear them all hacking away,” the Knights’ coach said in the hallway outside of the arena at Philadelphia University. “It was just kind of like a gut check – play as tough as you can.
The Knights – who have several players battling illness – led by as many as 22.
“Overall, I’m very pleased,” deMarteleire said. “Offensively, that’s a nice amount of points to score, and defensively, it wasn’t our greatest performance, but they can knock down shots.
“We just have to fix a few things, and we will tomorrow at practice.”
The Knights were led by Huber’s 20-point effort. The University of the Sciences-bound senior was named player of the game. Irisa Ye and Bri Hewlett both added 12 points, and Sam Carangi had nine in a contest that saw deMarteleire go deep down her bench.
“Jenny (Hulmes) hit a big shot, and Carley (Adams) is a good defender – she’s a nice solid player,” deMarteleire said. “Jess McKenzie – I had to keep her in the game today because she’s our most experienced big, and number 25 (Elodie Furey) is a good rebounder and active under the basket, and I thought Jess did a nice job today.”
North Penn (10-2, 4-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Tuesday night.
Episcopal Academy 7-13-13-16 49
North Penn 22-8-22-10 60
Episcopal Academy (49) – Reilly Wright 7, Luca Mamula 9, Seanna McNamara 14, Katie Weaver 5, Elodie Furey 6, Olivia Dirks 4, Raeleen Keffer-Scharpf 4.
North Penn (60) – Jenny Hulmes 4, Irisa Ye 12, Jess Huber 20, Sam Carangi 9, Jess McKenzie 12, Bri Hewlett 12.
LIFE CENTER ACADEMY 59, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 58
Sophomore Dana Bandurick scored 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds in a standout effort at both ends of the court. Teammate Mackenzie Tinner also came up big, contributing 13 points and eight rebounds.
And it looked as though the Indians were going to eke out the win when – with 3.7 seconds remaining – Camryn Polinsky sank one-of-two from the foul line to give North a 58-56 lead. Life Center, however, pulled down the rebound of the miss, and Tyasis Lewis hit a buzzer beater from midcourt to give her team the dramatic win in a game that included double-digit lead changes.
The Indians, who led 9-7 after one quarter, found themselves on the short end of a 30-29 halftime score. They came back to take a 46-44 lead into the final quarter.
Becca Margolis added nine points and Polinsky had eight. The Indians connected on 23-of-39 free throws, misfiring on six in the final quarter. Life Center buried 9-of-11 from the line.
Council Rock North (9-4, 6-0 SOL) will be at Council Rock South on Tuesday.
Life Center Academy 7-23-14-15 59
Council Rock North 9-20-17-12 58
Life Center Academy (59) – Mario DeVencenzo 5, Amaya Brown 4, Kaiya Burnett 12, Deja King 10, Tyasis Lewis 6, Jhordan Gardner 2, Aliyah McFarlane 2, Imani Lewis 17.
Council Rock North (58) – Becca Margolis 8, Camryn Polinsky 8, Megan Haggerty 3, Olivia Boyle 2, Emily Mackin 1, Dana Bandurick 21, Hannah Weiler 1, Mackenzie Tinner 13.
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