Seven of eight SOL teams in action in Friday’s opening round of the District One 6A Tournament were winners. Souderton/Manheim and CB South/Cedar Cliff photos provided courtesy of Donna Longacre Photography. PW/Central York photos provided courtesy of Larry Small. Check back for galleries.
#1-1 SOUDERTON 58, #3-7 MANHEIM TOWNSHIP 34
Pick your poison was how coach Lynn Carroll described it, and no matter what choice Manheim Township made, it got burned in Friday night’s state opener.
“They doubled down or tripled down on Kate (Connolly) or Alana (Cardona) every time they got the ball,” Carroll said. “It’s kind of like – pick your poison, and that’s the one they chose.
“Megan (Bealer) and Megan (Walbrandt) shot extremely well from threes in the first half, and that was the difference maker. It set the tone of the game.”
If anyone was concerned the Indians might have a letdown after last Saturday’s triple overtime win over CB South in the District One 6A title game, those worries were put to rest in a hurry. Kate Connolly scored on a putback, and then it was Alana Cardona burying a three-pointer to spot the Indians an early 5-0 lead. The Indians led 8-2 after Megan Bealer connected on her first of three 3-pointers in the frame. A Megan Walbrandt three put the Indians on top 11-4, and Bealer’s third 3-pointer of the frame gave the Indians a 19-9 lead.
“After I hit the first one, my confidence was really brought up,” Bealer said. “Once I hit one, I’ll keep going.”
The Blue Streaks pulled to within five after Alijiah Bonano connected on a three just over a minute into the second quarter, but Sami Falencki answered with a 3-pointer at the other end, and the Indians’ lead ballooned to eight. A three-point play by Walbrandt put the Indians on top 25-14, and when she buried her second three of the contest, the Indians led 28-14. They stretched that to 32-15 after Bealer scored four straight points and 34-15 after a Walbrandt jumper off the dribble.
“We have not been shooting well,” Carroll said. “I know they’ve been a little bit down on themselves about how they’ve been shooting, so for them to show up tonight with confidence that they were going to go in was huge, absolutely huge.”
The Blue Streaks closed out the half with a 6-0 run, trimming the Indians’ lead to 34-21. Bealer accounted for 13 of those points and Walbrandt had 11.
“You can’t just not shoot,” Walbrandt said. “Once we started to shoot, I hit one and Megan hit one, and it was like, ‘Okay, this is our game.’
“The fact that we were able to keep going and they were all falling was a big lift – ‘okay, it’s back.’ It’s really awesome to play when everything is running so smoothly. All five of us on the court – we know what each 
other is going to do. I felt like we just really worked we together.”
The Blue Streaks pulled to within 34-24 before the Indians, who misfired on their first six shots out of halftime, got on the scoreboard on Bealer’s fifth three of the game. For the Indians, the basket brought a welcome end to a scoring drought of more than six minutes.
“It was a little uncomfortable – that stretch to end the first half and start the second half, but we have so many players that can make plays on offense,” Carroll said. “It was just a matter of who it was going to be and when.”
The Indians took a 41-27 lead into the final quarter when Connolly erupted for nine points and Cardona had four. The Blue Streaks never threatened.
Bealer led the Indians with 18 points and completed her double-double with 10 rebounds. Connolly added 17 points and Walbrandt had 13. Cardona finished with seven points, and point guard Tori Dowd had a team-high 11 rebounds and six assists.
Souderton (27-2, 11-1 SOL) will face District 11’s third place team, Easton, in a second round game on Tuesday.
Manheim Township 11-10-6-7 34
Souderton 19-15-7-17 58
Manheim Township (34) – Ali Quinn 1 0-0 2; Katie Bushong 4 3-4 11; Olivia Matto 1 1-2 4; Eden Miler 1 1-2 3; Megan Baldassarre 2 2-2 6; Alexcia Bryant 0 2-2 2; Aliiah Bonano 2 1-2 6; TOTALS 11 10-14 34.
Souderton (58) – Tori Dowd 0 0-2 0; Megan Bealer 5 3-4 18; Alana Cardona 2 2-2 7; Megan Wabrandt 5 1-1 13; Sami Falencki 1 0-0 3; Kate Connolly 7 2-3 17; TOTALS 20 8-12 58.
3-point goals: Manheim Township – Olivia Matto, Alijiah Bonano; Souderton – Megan Bealer 5, Megan Walbrandt 2, Alana Cardona, Kate Connolly, Sami Falencki.
#1-2 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 43, #3-5 CEDAR CLIFF 40
Haley Meinel put her name in the record books just over a minute into the second quarter of Friday’s state opener. The play was vintage Haley Meinel as the speedy senior turned a steal into a layup at the other end, a basket that made Meinel the all time leading scorer in program history. She broke the previous mark of 1,048 set by Jordan Vitelli but wasn’t even aware it happened.
“During the game when they announced that I got it, I didn’t even hear what he was saying,” Meinel said. “I was just listening to what coach was saying.
“Everybody was high fiving me, and I was like, ‘What? I just made a layup.’”
“I didn’t warn her because I know she’d rather win than have it be about that,” coach Beth Mattern said.
Meinel – who needed four points to eclipse Vitelli’s record – finished with a game-high 18 points and seven blocked shots. Her final block came when she got a piece of the Colts’ desperation shot for the tie at the buzzer.
“I didn’t want the game to go into overtime, but if I did foul, there’s a chance that it would have,” Meinel said. “Coach told me that afterward, and I shouldn’t have gone for that, but it worked out.”
Nothing came easily for the Titans in Friday’s state opener. They had just two points until Maddie McShane scored with 2:20 remaining in the first period. They trailed 8-6 at the end of one quarter but took a 9-8 lead when Alexa Brodie connected on a three to open the second quarer. The Titans took a 19-15 lead into halftime.
It looked as though the Titans would cruise to the finish line after seven straight points from Meinel put them on top 28-17. The Colts trimmed that lead to seven heading into the final frame, 32-25. A Meinel bucket put the Titans on top by nine, but the Colts refused to 
go away, pulling to within two with three minutes remaining after a Maddie Sitler bucket. A Rachael Reilly three made it a 42-40 game with 7.7 seconds remaining, but Meinel sank one-of-two at the charity stripe and then delivered a deflection to seal the win.
“We couldn’t really execute offensively,” Meinel said. “I don’t know. It was just tough.
“We didn’t have practice the last two days, and that’s no excuse for how we played out there. We should have been ready for that, but they were a good team. I’m definitely happy we got the win, but the next game we have to come out much stronger than we did today.”
The Titans – who were coming off a heartbreaking loss in triple overtime to Souderton in last Saturday’s District One 6A title game – had not practiced since Wednesday because of snow days.
“Saturday (and the loss in the district title game) was rough, and it took a lot out of us, but we came back and had two good practices on Monday and Tuesday,” Mattern said. “On Saturday we played, and we weren’t allowed to practice on Friday because of the snow.
“It wouldn’t be the first time we played after a layoff. You know what, at the end of the day, we’re moving on, and we’re going to try and make the most of this opportunity.”
Central Bucks South (25-4, 10-2 SOL) will face Council Rock North in a second round game on Tuesday.
Cedar Cliff 8-7-10-15 40
Central Bucks South 6-13-13-11 43
Cedar Cliff (40) – Emily Esser 1 0-0 2; ehya Hosey 1 1-2 3; Ashley Hoagland 1 0-1 2; Maddie Sitler 4 2-3 10; Jannelle Robinson 1 4-4 6; Rachel Reilly 3 8-10 16; Sophie Kaercher 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 11 16-22 40.
Central Bucks South (43) – Lindsay Scott 1 0-0 3; Haley Meinel 8 2-5 18; Alexa Brodie 4 2-2 11; Maddie McShane 2 0-0 4; Mackenzie Ehresman 1 5-6 7; TOTALS 16 9-13 43.
3-point goals: Cedar Cliff – Rachael Reilly 2; CB South – Lindsay Scott, Alexa Brodie.
#1-5 ABINGTON 59, #3-3 WILSON WEST LAWN 44
Kassondra Brown was all but unstoppable in the paint, scoring a game-high 25 points and leading the Ghosts to the no-doubt-about-it win, but it was not exactly smooth sailing when they traveled to Reading High School for a 6 p.m. game in Friday’s state opener.
“We left at 3:20, and there was a car accident on the 422,” said coach Dan Marsh. “We kept looking at our GPS, and it kept telling us (ETA) 5:50, 5:47, and our game’s at six.
“We ended up getting there at 5:42. The kids got dressed on the bus and ran in there and started playing. You throw the nerves in there and then that.”
It was 8-8 after one quarter and still only a two-point game at halftime that saw the Ghosts – behind 11 points from Brown – leading 25-23. In the third quarter, both Miranda Liebtag and Brown had six points with Liebtag burying a pair of threes. The Ghosts took a 39-36 lead into the final quarter when they closed out the game with a 20-8 tear.
“Eventually, we just wore them down,” Marsh said. “I think Kassondra was just too much.
“They also were taking a lot of time off the clock, and we started pushing it up. We mixed it up defensively on them to try and confuse them and get some steals. It was effective. Once they got behind six or eight, they started forcing up shots, and it got worse from there.”
In addition to scoring 25 points, Brown also had 13 rebounds. Sam Brusha – who also was a force on the backboards – added 10 points, and Miranda Liebtag had seven. Tamia Wessels chipped in eight points.
Abington (21-7, 10-2 SOL) will face District 11 champion Freedom in a second round game on Tuesday.
Abington 8-17-14-20 59
Wilson8-15-13-8 44
Abington (59) – Britney James 2 0-0 4; Tamia Wessels 1 2-2 5; Cam Lexow 3 1-2 7; Kassondra Brown 9 6-9 25; Miranda Liebtag 3 0-0 8; Sam Brusha 3 4-4 10; TOTALS 21 13-17 59.
Wilson (44) – Kaya Burkhart 4 2-2 12; Zakiyah Winfield 9 2-2 20; Erin Doyle 1 0-0 3; Olivia Moyer 1 3-5 5; Erin Shober 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 17 7-9 44.
3-point goals: Abington – Miranda Liebtag 2, Tamia Wessels, Kassondra Brown; Wilson – Kaya Burkhart 2, Erin Doyle.
#1-6 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 58, #3-2 CENTRAL YORK 43
Taylor O’Brien scored 15 of her game-high 20 points in the first half, propelling the Colonials to a 20-18 halftime lead. The senior standout scored just five points after the intermission, but her teammates picked up the slack, and the Colonials won going away.
“They started running a double team at Taylor,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “Ali Diamond hits a three to start the second half. Anna McTamney had two and-ones.
“(Lauren Fortescue) scored seven points in the fourth quarter. Once it got to free throw time – Ali Diamond was 6-for-6 from the free throw line down the stretch.”
Fortescue converted a rare four-point play in the fourth quarter, connecting on a three despite being fouled and burying the free throw.
“Everybody really stepped up,” Dougherty said. “Taylor carried us in the first half, and the rest of the team stepped up in the second half when they were double teaming Taylor.”
Diamond added 12 points and McTamney contributed 11 points.
“One of their better players got into foul trouble, and they had to go to a zone,” Dougherty said. “We had never seen them play zone, so we didn’t really prepare for it.
“It took us a couple of possessions to get ready, and it really slowed the tempo of the game down. The game was pretty fast paced in the first quarter, but it really slowed down in the second.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (23-5, 14-0 SOL) will do battle with Neshaminy in a second round game on Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12-8-19-19 58
Central York 11-7-10-15 43
Plymouth Whitemarsh (58) – Taylor O’Brien 8 3-4 20; Lauren Fortescue 2 1-1 7; Gia Schweitzer 1 2-2 5; Ali Diamond 2 6-6 12; Anna McTamney 5 1-3 11; Sydney Kesselman 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 18 13-16 58.
Central York (43) – Taylor Marley 1 0-0 3; Niksono Valencik 5 5-7 16; Alison Wagner 1 1-2 3; Sarah Sepic 3 0-2 9; Teirra Preston 6 0-0 12 TOTALS 16 6-11 43.
3-point goals: PW – Lauren Fortescue 2, Ali Diamond 2, Taylor O’Brien, Gia Schweitzer, Sydney Kesselman. Central York – Sarah Sepic 3, Taylor Marley, Allison Wagner.
#1-7 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 47, #11-2 NAZARETH 34
The Indians were minus two of their top four offensive weapons – Dana Bandurick and Sydney Blum – in Friday’s state opener, but their teammates picked up the slack in their absence, earning a convincing win and advancing to Tuesday’s second round.
“I was so proud of them,” coach Lou Palkovics said. “I went two or three deeper (down the bench) in the first half, but I didn’t sub in the second half.
“I saved all five of my timeouts, and I said, ‘If you need a rest, call a timeout,’ and that’s what we did.”
Senior captain Becca Margolis was a catalyst at both ends of the court, scoring a game-high 21 points – which included five threes. She also led the Indians’ defense with four steals and added two assists and four tipped balls.
“Becca was her same old self – stepping back and hitting threes,” Palkovics said. Mackenzie Tinner – despite battling foul woes – added 17 points and six rebounds. According to her coach, the performance was a marked contrast to last year when the senior captain did not score a point in the Indians’ 45-38 opening round win over Nazareth. Her counterpart, Tessa Brugler, had 15.
“I felt Mackenzie needed a little retribution from last year,” Palkovics said. “She played well tonight, and she had four fouls almost the whole second half.”
Camryn Polinsky returned to the lineup after a two-week absence and made her presence felt immediately.
“You might go – ‘Oh, two points,’ but she had 10 rebounds, six tipped balls, three steals and five assists,” Palkovics said. “She did everything on the court.”
Council Rock North (20-7, 10-2 SOL) will face Central Bucks South in a second round game on Tuesday.
Council Rock North 9-10-16-12 47
Nazareth 11-10-8-5 34
Council Rock North (47) – Becca Margolis 6 4-5 21; Juliana Shields 1 0-0 2; Camryn Polinsky 1 0-0 2; Olivia Boyle 1 0-0 3; Emma Benson 0 1-2 1; Kaelin Mealey 0 1-2 1; Mackenzie Tinner 5 7-7 17; TOTALS 14 13-16 47.
Nazareth (34) – Talya Brugler 4 4-4 13; Juliann Duignam 1 0-2 1; Jamie Youngkin 2 0-0 5; Courtney Paulson 1 0-0 3; Amy Madison 2 0-0 4; Amy Morgan 2 2-2 7; TOTALS 12 6-7 34.
3-point goals: CR North – Becca Margolis 5, Olivia Boyle; Nazareth – Talya Brugler, Jamie Youngkin, Courtney Paulson, Amy Morgan.
#1-10 UPPER DUBLIN 42, #12-1 CARDINAL O’HARA 35 (2 OTs)
For those who had penciled in O’Hara for a long playoff run, it’s time to get out the erasers. The Flying Cardinals – who revel in the role of giant killer under coach Morgan Funsten – were at it again, sending the PCL champions home for the season with the opening round stunner.
“It feels incredible,” said Funsten, whose team was sent packing by O’Hara last year. “Things worked this year and they didn’t last year.
“We were pretty confident going into this game that we could compete with them, but boy, were they hot going into this game. Their last loss was when (Maura) Hendrixson was injured and they lost to Southern Lehigh (44-36 on Jan. 19). They reeled off 13 in a row, and the teams they beat – beating consecutive state champions with Archbishop Wood and then Neumann-Goretti. This was definitely the biggest win in my six years at Upper Dublin.”
Things certainly didn’t look promising early on in Friday’s contest. The Lions – thanks to eight points from Mackenzie Gardler – opened up an 11-3 lead after one quarter.
“Every little mistake we made defensively was magnified because they made three threes,” Funsten said. “Gardler had two threes and made a step-back two-point shot close to the buzzer, and O’Hara is just so good with the lead, and they’re so good at executing at the end of a quarter.
“We couldn’t feel much worse about ourselves at the end of the first quarter. I thought the first quarter was so important tonight to get a lead against them, and we didn’t.”
Maggie Weglos gave the Cardinals life in the second quarter, burying a pair of threes and scoring eight points, but the Cardinals still trailed 19-12 at the intermission.
“Maggie Weglos made two huge threes, but we still weren’t getting stops because they were getting offensive rebounds,” Funsten said. “Our offense started picking up.
“With a minute and a half to go, we were able to score the last three points of the half. We got a good defensive stop at the end of the second quarter and went into halftime with some momentum.
“Credit to our girls, especially in the second quarter when we were down. They did not panic, and they did not stray from the game plan. They just stayed disciplined defensively, and that’s hard to do. When nothing’s going your way and you can stay patient defensively and you’re down 10 to a team – you ask anybody in the state, who do you not want to be down 10 points at any point because of how difficult it is to come back against them, most coaches would tell you O’Hara because of how disciplined, patient and experienced they are.”
The Cardinals turned up the defensive pressure after the intermission – allowing just three field goals the rest of the way. They outscored the Lions 10-4 in the third and trailed by just one heading into the final quarter, 23-22.
“We went on a nice run and tied it up in the third quarter,” Funsten said. “We wanted to limit their offensive rebounds – we thought they got too many for the night, but we were working so hard on defense. If they kept a stat of time of possession, O’Hara probably had the ball in their hands 75 percent of the game, and that’s no exaggeration. They’re extremely disciplined, they’re extremely patient. What our girls did such a great job of was matching their patience defensively.
“O’Hara gets their best stuff offensively when defenses take chances and pressure. We just played knowing what their strengths and weaknesses were. The girls followed the defensive game plan absolutely flawlessly, and that results in – I’m not exaggerating – multiple times where they had two-minute possessions.
“We just chipped away, we matched their patience and we made some big shots in the second half. After we tied it at 20 in the third quarter, Gardler made a three and swung the momentum back toward them. Nicole Kaiser threw up a three with four seconds to go. It bounced out and was going out of bounds, and Dayna Balasa sprinted, jumped out of bounds, saved it to Jackie Vargas underneath the basket, and (she) put it in for a layup at the buzzer to cut it to one. That was a huge play by Dayna.”
The Cardinals still trailed by four with three-and-a-half minutes remaining.
“Maggie Weglos stepped out and made another three to get it to one,” Funsten said. “Every single one of her baskets tonight – they were all huge baskets.
“Jess Polin hit a three that put us up. Honestly, we made some mistakes down the stretch. We had chances to close the game out, but we were unable to.”
The Lions got a reprieve when – trailing by three with six seconds remaining – Hendrixson was fouled shooting a three. She buried all three foul shots to knot the score.
“It was a close-out sell-out with six seconds to go on Hendrixson, and we were a little disappointed that they were able to free her up in that situation,” Funsten said. “It was kind of a hard close-out gone bad. She made us pay with all three free throws.”
The Cardinals were whistled for a violation on the inbounds pass, and all of a sudden the Lions have a chance to win.
“With six seconds to go, we had to defend an out-of-bounds play in order to force overtime,” Funsten said. “It went from – how do we wrap this up to how do we survive to get to overtime. We had a nice defensive stop. Maggie Weglos made a nice defensive play, forced overtime. I think each team had the ball twice in the first overtime. Both were long possessions.”
Neither team scored in the first, but the Cardinals – sparked by six points from Polin – outscored O’Hara 11-4 in the second OT to earn the dramatic win.
“In the second overtime, we won the tip,” Funsten said. “They had done a great job on Jackie Vargas all night. We were able to free her up. She went one-on-one with a girl and just made a power move, got fouled and an and-one. We kind of rode the momentum from there.
“They tied it up at 33, and with 1:50 to go in the second overtime – we made an entry pass to Jackie Vargas. Jess Polin relocated on the perimeter, Jackie made a nice simple play, recognizing the double – she was actually getting tripled when she caught the ball, kicked it back out to Jess Polin, and Jess Polin drained the three. She scored the next three points on foul shots. Jess Polin stepped up and made some big plays. You can go down the list – Maggie making huge shots, Maggie and Nicole defending the way they did.”
O’Hara connected on just 3-of-25 two-point shots in the game.
“That’s not all that weird for teams against us because of how intimidating Jackie Vargas is underneath the basket,” Funsten said. “She altered so many shots.
“You look at it, ‘Oh, Vargas had a tough game tonight with only seven points,’ but she had seven points, six rebounds, five assists, four blocks. She just left the game come to her because every time she touched the ball there were three or four girls around her. She really made great decisions in the post and had such a high impact on this game.
“Maggie Weglos had the job of defending Gardler, and Nicole Kaiser had the job of defending Hendrixson, and you have your hands full with those two.”
Weglos led the Cardinals with 13 points. She also had five rebounds. Polin had 12 points, and Kaiser had seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.
“The will to win by Maggie Weglos and Nicole Kaiser has become contagious,” Funsten said. “This is not a game we would have won three weeks ago. Now it is a game that we win, and we’re looking forward to more like this.”
Gardler finished with a game-high 15 points, and Hendrixson added 13.
Upper Dublin (23-5, 12-2 SOL) will face Garnet Valley in a second round game on Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 3-9-10-9-0-11 42
Cardinal O’Hara 11-8-4-8-0-4 35
Upper Dublin (42) – Nicole Kaiser 2 3-7 7; Jess Polin 2 6-8 12; Maggie Weglos 4 2-2 13; Dayna Balasa 1 1-2 3; Jackie Vargas 2 3-7 7; TOTALS 11 15-26 42.
Cardinal O’Hara (35) – Molly Paolino 1 0-0 3; Mackenzie Gardler 4 4-4 15; Steph Huesby 2 0-0 4; Erin Welde 0 0-2 0; Maura Hendrixson 2 7-10 13; TOTALS 9 11-16 35.
3-point goals: Cardinal O’Hara – Mackenzie Gardler 3, Maura Hendrixson 2, Molly Paolino; UD – Maggie Weglos 3, Jess Polin 2.
#1-10 NESHAMINY 41, #2-1 HAZLETON 28
The Redskins made the long road trip to Berwick worth their while, advancing to the second round of the state tournament with a convincing win over the District 2 champions. Neshaminy, which led 10-6 after one quarter, took a 25-12 lead into halftime and led the rest of the way.
“They like to pressure teams, and we went with pressuring them too – we thought that was key for us giving them fullcourt pressure,” coach Joe Lally said. “The kids played hard.”
Emily Tantala led a balanced Redskin attack with 12 points, which included a three and a perfect 3-for-3 effort at the foul line. Brooke Mullin and Allison Harvey each added eight points while point guard Kristin Hurley had six. Mullin scored all eight of her points in the opening half.
“Brooke (Mullin) played really well, hit the boards really hard for us,” Lally said. “The bench play of Emily Tantala – she gets 12 points. Her decision making, her ability to beat the press – she was really big for us tonight.
“We got some really good minutes off the bench from our only senior, Taylor Kelly. Meghan Ansel, one of our bench players, had sprained her ankle, so she couldn’t play.”
Lally lauded his team’s defensive effort.
“We made a concerted effort to shut down their best player (Maddie Mrochko), who’s a 1,000-point scorer,” the Redskins’ coach said.
Mrochko, who averages 16 points a game, scored just seven in the final game of her high school career.
Neshaminy (19-8, 10-2 SOL) will face Plymouth Whitemarsh in an all-SOL second round contest on Tuesday.
Neshaminy 10-15-7-9 41
Hazleton 6-6-7-9 28
Neshaminy (41) – Brooke Mullin 2 3-6 8; Alison Harvey 3 0-0 8; Kristin Curley 0 6-6 6; Olivia Scotti 2 0-0 4; Kelli Kowalick 1 0-0 2; Emily Tantala 4 3-3 12; TOTALS 12 12-15 41.
Hazleton (28) – Marissa Trivelpiece 1 5-8 7; Maddie Mrochko 2 1-3 7; Olivia Wolk 0 0-1 0; Brooke Boretski 0 2-2 2; Veronica Pecora 2 0-1 4; Faith Grula 2 0-3 4; Diamond Truluck 2 0-2 4; TOTALS 9 9-20 28.
3-point goals: Neshaminy – Allison Harvey 2, Emily Tantala, Brooke Mullin; Hazleon – Maddie Mrochko
#3-1 CENTRAL DAUPHIN 33, #1-11 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 28.
The Patriots picked the wrong time to have their lowest point output of the entire season. Despite their struggles, they still found themselves very much in the game until they were forced to foul in the game’s closing minutes.
“We did a really nice job defensively,” coach Liz Potash said. “Thirty-three points – that was (because of) some fouls at the end. We gave up the lead on a turnover with two minutes to go, and that’s when they took their first lead of the game. We couldn’t stay out of our own way to get shots off, so then we’re fouling.
“We lost by five, but that was a one-point game either way. Going into the game, we anticipated it being a low scoring game because of the way that they play, and we anticipated it being a close game but not the way that it was. We struggled to take care of the ball. They don’t do anything defensively that would cause us to have a lot of turnovers, so that was the frustrating thing about the game. You do your job of holding them to 33, and we were still in the game despite all of that but not enough.”
The Patriots – who could not practice Thursday or Friday because the school was closed – led by one after one quarter and took a 15-14 lead into halftime. They still led by one heading into the final quarter when they were outscored 12-6.
“They have one player, number 14 (Samantha Gress), who’s a really nice shooter,” Potash said. “We went into a zone pretty early, which we were going to mix in, but their zone offense – they were really struggling, so we stayed in the zone.”
Elyse Shine’s 13 points led the Patriots. No one else scored more than four points. Gina Russo had a big game on the boards, pulling down 12 rebounds.
“They had a great season, they had a great run,” Potash said. “They played them really tough tonight. It was a winnable game, and it didn’t go our way.
“I thought the seniors did an outstanding job of leading the team. We have four kids that played significant minutes for us this year, and three were never on varsity before and one didn’t get much time. What the girls were able to accomplish this year is incredible.”
Central Bucks East (7-5 SOL) closed out its season with a 17-11 record.
Central Bucks East 9-6-7-6 28
Central Dauphin 8-6-7-12 33
Central Bucks East (28) – Sophia Mancuso 4, Skylar Krause 2, Gina Russo 2, Caroline Pla 3, Bailey McManus 4, Elyse Shine 13.
Central Dauphin (33) – Carol Weber 4, Haleigh Lackner 6, Samantha Gress 16, Grace Long 2, Jamie Brann 5.
About the Author
