Central Bucks East advanced to Tuesday’s second round of the District One 6A Tournament while CB West saw its season end. CB East/Pennridge photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut and Donna Longacre. Check back for a gallery of photos.
#1-12 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 51, #1-21 PENNRIDGE 39
Elyse Shine has been working on her mid-range jumper. The Patriots’ junior forward didn’t have to go far from the basket on many occasions in Friday’s opening round game, but she was certainly money on her short baseline jumper, repeatedly hitting nothing but net on a shot that’s not nearly as easy as she made it look in the second half.
Shine scored 17 of her game-high 21 points after the intermission. Her 13 third-quarter points provided the spark in an 18-5 tear that gave the Patriots command of the game.
“I try and focus more on my mid-range – that’s what I’ve been focusing on,” Shine said. “We practice shooting every single day. It paid off, it definitely paid off.”
The Patriots took a 27-23 lead into halftime and then seized control of the game in a third quarter that belonged to Shine. It began with a bucket that came with a Gina Russo assist, and after Sophia Mancuso buried a three to put the Patriots on top by nine, Shine – on the receiving end of a Mancuso pass – completed a three-point play to put the Patriots on top 35-23. Bailey McManus capped a 10-0 East run with a bucket before Sam Muredda connected on a pair at the foul line for the Rams.
“You’re trying to keep Mancuso and McManus from getting their 20, and (Shine) ended up shooting really well,” Pennridge coach Mike Elton said.
“It’s really hard to focus on players,” McManus said. “Every person can have a big night on any given night. Anyone can score the ball.
“We know how to work together. We started playing together right from spring open gyms through summer league games through fall league games, so we had a lot of experience together.”
The third quarter was capped with Shine turning a long lead pass from Mancuso on an inbounds at the opposite end of the court into a basket that gave the Patriots a 45-28 lead heading into the final quarter. Mancuso had assists on four of Shine’s baskets in the frame.
“I owe it all to Soph – she had some amazing passes, and she really opened up the offense,” Shine said of Mancuso. “She was finding people really well, which helped get us going.
“We know when teams try and shut down a few of our players that we have other girls who can (score). We’re really hard to guard because we know that everyone on our team can score.”
The Patriots opened the game with a 13-0 run that began with a Russo bucket and was capped by Mancuso burying a pair at the foul line. Any thoughts that the Rams would go down quietly were put to rest when they answered with a 13-2 tear of their own that included a whole lot of Gill Anderson.
The Rams’ senior forward broke a four-plus minute scoring drought to open the game with a bucket and closed out the quarter with six straight points to make it a 15-10 game. Her three to open the second quarter pulled the Rams to within two.
Caroline Pla answered with a three at the other end, and then it was Audrey LaBouliere scoring to put the Patriots on top 20-13.
East led 25-15 when McManus buried a three after a Pla steal, but the Rams used back-to-back threes by Muredda and Corinn Mart to make it a 25-21 game. It was still a four-point game at the intermission. Anderson scored 13 of her team-high 19 points in the half.
“She carried us in the first half,” Pennridge coach Mike Elton said of Anderson. “They’re not used to the playoff experience. We let them get that run on us at the beginning of the game, and we really spent the rest of the game trying to recover from that.”
Also for the Rams, Muredda added 12 points.
For the Patriots, McManus had 10 points while Mancuso added nine.
“The whole thing we talked to them about at halftime was – the defense had to be better because offensively 
we can score the ball,” East coach Liz Potash said. “Anderson didn’t hurt us the first two times we played them.
“What hurt us was the guards driving the middle, so our whole focus – we’ll get the forwards to play a little closer in the paint so they can’t drive and kick out. Anderson comes out on fire, and now you have to change the game plan.”
The Patriots lauded the defensive effort of McManus.
“I thought our guards did a really good job,” Potash said. “(Brooke) Bachtle killed us the first two games. We switched up our matchups and put Bailey on her, and she held her to three.”
The Patriots (15-8, 7-5 SOL) will travel to Abington on Tuesday for a second round game at 6 p.m. Pennridge (4-8 SOL) closed out its season with an 11-12 record.
Pennridge 10-13-5-11 39
Central Bucks East 15-12-18-6 51
Pennridge (39) – Corinn Mart 2 0-2 5; Sam Muredda 4 3-3 12; Brooke Bachtle 1 1-3 3; Gill Anderson 8 2-2 19; TOTALS 15 6-10 39.
Central Bucks East (51) – Sophia Mancuso 2 4-4 9; Gina Russo 2 0-0 4; Caroline Pla 1 0-0 3; Audrey LaBouliere 2 0-2 4; Bailey McManus 4 0-0 10; Elyse Shine 10 1-1 21; TOTALS 21 5-7 51.
3-point goals: Pennridge – Corinn Mart, Sam Muredda Gill Anderson; CB East – Bailey McManus 2, Sophia Mancuso, Caroline Pla.
#1-19 BOYERTOWN 59, #1-14 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 56
The visiting Bears erased a five-point halftime deficit to earn the opening round upset. Boyertown outscored West 14-10 in the third quarter and then added 23 points in the fourth quarter – 20 from the foul line.
The game started out on a promising enough note for the Bucks, who led 9-8 after one quarter and then outscored their visitors 18-14 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 27-22 lead. Maddie Burke and Diane Nicholson led the Bucks with seven points each.
Momentum began to swing in the Bears’ favor in the third quarter, and 30 trips to the foul line in the fourth netted the visitors 20 points and, along with a Julia Smith three, proved to be more than the Bucks could overcome.
Burke led all scorers with 22 points – 15 in the second half. Included in those 22 points were five 3-pointers. Nicholson was also strong in her return to the lineup after being sidelined for several weeks with an injury. The junior guard had 16 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Izzy Treon added eight points.
West (7-5 SOL) closed out its season with an 11-11 record.
Boyertown 8-14-14-23 59
Central Bucks East 9-18-10-19 56
Boyertown (59) – Victoria Boaltonn 2 9-10 14; Amber Marburger 1 1-2 3; Kylie Webb 4 7-10 17; Avery Sweisfort 1 1-4 3; Julia smith 5 6-8 20; Jen O’Connor 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 14 24-34 59.
Central Bucks West (56) – Abbey Spratt 2 1-2 6; Diane Nicholson 6 2-2 16; Jess Broskey 1 0-0 2; Maddie Burke 7 3-4 22; Izzy Treon 3 2-2 8; Lilly Evans 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 20 8-10 56.
3-point goals: Boyertown – Julia Smith 4, Kylie Webb 2, Victoria Boalton; CB West – Maddie Burke 5, Diane Nicholson 2, Abbey Spratt.
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