SOL Girls’ Basketball Wrap (2-6-18)

Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Monday.

SOL National Conference

BENSALEM 51, HARRY S TRUMAN 39
Alayna McSeed collected a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead a balanced Bensalem attack. Haley Keenan also finished in double figures with 10 points. Emily Wineburg added eight points and led the Owls under the boards with 13 rebounds to go along with four blocked shots. Chloe Munyon and Sydney Bawuah both had eight points. Bawuah also had seven rebounds and four steals. Michaela Sit chipped in with four points and seven rebounds.
The Owls, who led 11-6 after one quarter, took a 26-13 lead into halftime. The Tigers edged their visitors 26-25 in the second half. The Owls, according to coach Don Bogan, have been playing excellent defense, and they are using that defensive intensity to help fuel the team’s offense.
“The girls are working hard and playing very well as a team,” Bogan said. “I’m very happy with the way the team has played defensively. The future for the girls is very bright as we look forward.”
The Tigers were led by the all-around play of Haniyyah Jones (20 points) and Daisha Campbell (15 points).
Bensalem (7-12, 2-8 SOL) will be on the road at Council Rock South on Tuesday, and Harry S Truman (2-16, 0-9) will host Neshaminy on Tuesday.
Bensalem 11-15-13-12 51
Harry S Truman 6-7-15-11 39

SOL American Conference

CHELTENHAM 46, QUAKERTOWN 40
Monday’s game started out on a promising note for the visiting Panthers, who – sparked by five points from Samantha Howard – led 14-9 after one quarter. Quakertown took a tenuous 20-18 lead into halftime, but Cheltenham used a 16-7 third quarter surge to take a 34-27 lead. The visitors outscored their hosts 13-12 in the fourth quarter to win three of four quarters, but never could make up the ground they lost in the third quarter.
“We got off to a sluggish start, and Quakertown played very well,” Cheltenham coach Brendan Nolan said. “We settled for a lot of jump shots early but emphasized getting to the basket in the second half.
“Courtney Murray had another great game on defense, and Kai Williams was great on the boards. We are still on the bubble for district playoffs.”
Cheltenham was the 23^rd seed after Monday’s game with 24 teams earning district berths.
“We have two difficult games in the next two days – February madness,” Nolan said.
Murray led the Panthers with 16 points to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Kai Williams added a double-double with 14 points and 20 rebounds. Madison Rorer had nine points.
For Quakertown, Abigail Dickson led the way with eight points while Howard and Veronica Best both added seven.
Cheltenham (11-9, 5-7 SOL) was without Savannah Roberts, who is battling a case of the flu and is doubtful for Cheltenham’s game against Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday. Quakertown (1-19, 0-12) will host Springfield Township on Tuesday.
Quakertown 14-6-7-13 40
Cheltenham 9-9-16-12 46
Quakertown (40) – Brianna Leftkoski 4, Abigail Dickson 8, Kimmy Best 5, Samantha Howard 7, Veronica Best 7, Hannah LaBonge 4, Emma Pizzullo 5.
Cheltenham (46) – Yanisha Dormil 3, Taylor Johnson 1, Courtney Murray 16, Madison Rorer 9, Kelia Holmes 3, Kai Williams 14.

Non-league
ABINGTON 64, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 51
Britney James smiled. Yes, the Ghosts’ junior point guard admitted, life can be very easy when Kassondra Brown is doing her thing in the paint, whether it’s cleaning up misses or turning passes into easy buckets.
“I can just dish the ball to her, and she can just do her work,” James said. “It’s a fun game to play when she’s playing like that.”
The Ghosts’ 6-2 junior center certainly made it look easy in Monday’s non-league win, contributing a monster double-double with a career-high 31 points to go along with 20 rebounds. To put it simply, Brown owned the paint.
“Coming into the game, we knew how bad they wanted to beat us, so I just did what I had to do to get us the win,” Brown said of a contest that was a rematch of last year’s District One 6A title game – a 62-57 Abington win. “They really didn’t have anyone my size, so I had to take advantage of that.”
Coach Dan Marsh, for one, was not surprised to see Brown dominate.
“We knew coming in they had no one to contend with her,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “I didn’t think they could even double her and stop her, and it was true.
“We just kept giving it to her. We didn’t do anything special. We were just dumping the ball in to her and putting Sam (Brusha), the shooter, on the same side. You’re going to have to double from the weak side, and Cam (Lexow) can knock down a shot.
“The sky’s the limit for (Brown). She’s only a junior, and she’s getting better and better. She’s a great kid too – hates to lose, is motivated and a good captain.”
In a preview of things to come, Brown scored 10 first-quarter points, propelling the Ghosts to a 16-11 lead. They opened up a 27-16 advantage after Brown pulled down a defensive rebound and took it the length of the court for a basket, but the Colonials trimmed that lead to three by halftime, 27-24. Brown accounted for 16 of her team’s points while Taylor O’Brien had 13 points to lead the Colonials.
On the Ghosts’ opening possession of the second half, Lexow buried a shot that sparked a 10-0 run. Included in the run were a three-point pay by Miranda Liebtag at the end of a fast break and a putback by Brown. The Colonials pulled to within four (41-37), but another Brown basket sent the Ghosts into the final quarter with a 43-37 lead. Liebtag scored on a drive, and after a Colonial miss, Sam Brusha connected on a fast break basket to give the Ghosts a 47-37 lead. PW made it a 55-49 game after a Lauren Fortescue bucket midway through the quarter. A pair of O’Brien foul shots with 1:55 remaining pulled the Colonials within five, but the Ghosts buried eight straight at the foul line to close it out with Brusha going 6-for-6 in that stretch.
Brusha scored 16 points for the Ghosts while Lexow had eight and Liebtag, seven points.
For the Colonials, O’Brien led the way with 25 points. Fortescue added 13.
“I think Miranda (Liebtag) and Cam (Lexow) did a really good job on O’Brien,” Marsh said. “She missed a lot of shots because we were contesting them, and that was our objective – to make her pass or shoot contested shots, and I thought we did a good job.”
The win was the eighth in a row for the surging Ghosts, who annually seem to save their best for last. A year ago, the Ghosts finished second to Council Rock North in the SOL National Conference but went on to capture the District One 6A title.
“This is something that’s been occurring with the team for so long. January going into February is our time,” Brown said. “We put it all on the court.
“I think everyone just gets more comfortable, and we know how hard we have to work to get what we want.”
“We start playing more as a team and we come together more to get the win,” James said. “I feel that’s a big factor in why we start playing better.”
This year, the Ghosts had to get used to life without all-state center Lizzie Oleary, who is playing basketball at the University of Delaware.
“Lizzie is a rim protector and Kassondra is not, so we got exposed early on with our defense,” Marsh said. “We weren’t keeping kids in front of us, so we were getting Kassondra in foul trouble, so we really got back to the basics defensively, and we were able to start leveling off and doing the things we need to do defensively. Our team defense is much better.”
Abington (15-5, 9-2 SOL) will host Central Bucks East in a non-league contest on Tuesday in a battle of teams seeded fifth and eighth respectively in the latest District One 6A power rankings. Plymouth Whitemarsh (18-2, 12-0) will host Cheltenham on Tuesday.
Abington 16-11-16-21 64
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11-13-13-12 51
Abington (64) – Britney James 2, Cameron Lexow 8, Kassondra Brown 31, Miranda Liebtag 7, Sam Brusha 16.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (51) – Taylor O’Brien 25, Lauren Fortescue 13, Ali Diamond 5, Anna McTamney 3, Sydney Kesselman 5.