Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Thursday.
CHELTENHAM 45, DOWNINGTOWN WEST 44
A pair of seniors – Kai Williams and Kelia Holmes – turned in monster performances, leading the Lady Panthers to their first win of the season in an opening round game of the Downingtown West Holiday Tournament.
“It feels good to get in the win column,” coach Ben Bowman said. “If that game was earlier in the year – like the Academy Park game (a 59-53 loss), we probably would have let it slip away. For once we showed a little composure, and we got the win.”
Williams led the Lady Panthers with 19 points and nine rebounds while Holmes had 16 points, six rebounds and five steals.
“Kai is kind of like our number one player – everything we do, we want to go through her,” Bowman said. “She’s a huge force down low. She’s a problem for most teams. Most teams – you talk to them, and they try and double team her and get the ball out of her hands, so if that’s the case, she knows to look for her teammates.
“We haven’t been shooting well, but tonight Kelia came out and played very well. She’s having a tough time – her grandmother passed away. She really stepped up for us tonight and hit some big shots.”
The Whippets led by seven after one quarter, but the Lady Panthers – behind six points from Holmes – outscored their hosts 15-11 in the second quarter to pull to within three at halftime, 25-22.
The game was a battle the rest of the way. The two teams were deadlocked after three quarters, and the Lady Panthers – behind five points from Holmes and four from Williams as well as a three from Yanisha Dormil – outscored their hosts by one in the final quarter.
“They went up by 10, and we started putting more pressure on them – we played full-court man, and we got some steals,” Bowman said. “We just looked to Kai the whole time, and every time she touched the ball, something good happened.
“(The girls) have bought into what I have been trying to preach since day one. We knew we would have some growing pains, especially early on, but they’ve been patient, they have not got down, and they continued to work hard. I know it’s early in the season, but we’ve got to start winning games and we’ve got to leave it out there.
“When things go wrong, they were so used to getting down on themselves and their teammates, but now they’re starting to trust in what – not only myself but the other coaches are preaching to them about just trusting your teammates and yourselves and we can win games.”
Cheltenham (1-6, 0-3 SOL) will face Nazareth Academy in Friday’s title game of the Downingtown West Holiday Tournament (7:15 p.m.).
Cheltenham 7-15-11-12 45
Downingtown West 14-11-8-11 44
Cheltenham (45) – Umayrah Sulayman 4, Yanisha Dormil 6, Kelia Holmes 16, Kai Williams 19.
Downingtown West (44) – Jenna Young 6, Julia Marrone 12, Jillian Arrowsmith 4, Ketlee Staz 8, Jessica Harpel, Shayla Johnson 5, Jess Wills 3.
PENNSBURY 50, OXFORD 29
The Falcons raced out of the gate to a 13-4 lead after one quarter and took a 22-12 lead into halftime. Any doubts about the outcome were put to rest in a third quarter that saw the Falcons go on a 16-2 tear.
“We were very solid defensively,” coach Frank Sciolla said. “We took them out of what they wanted to do, and the girls did a good job with that.
“This is a team that runs a lot of pick-and-rolls, and we were able to take that away. The game was kind of a grind for a little bit because we went through a stretch where we weren’t making shots, but we were getting really good ones.
“In the second half, we just came out – we started knocking shots down. I don’t know if we scored in the last five minutes of the game, but we went on a run where we really were able to execute and knock down open looks. I thought we passed the ball really well. One of the things we’ve been doing a good job of this year is really taking care of the ball and not turning it over, and that was a good thing.”
Freshman Ava Sciolla led a balanced Falcon attack with 16 points, which included four three-pointers. The freshman point guard also had five rebounds. Kate Mix also finished in double figures with 10 points to go along with four assists. Cami Wiegand had nine points, five boards and three steals while Mary Miller added six points and three steals. Bella Arcuri had five assists and three steals to go along with two points.
“Bella Arcuri played a really good floor game,” Sciolla said. “She took care of the ball, she would up with five assists, and she executed well.
“Defensively, our girls up top who create a lot of problems – Mary Miller and Ava Sciolla – did a good job of turning them over. It was just one of those games where once we got away from them it was going to be tough for them to come back.
“Tomorrow night will be a lot different. We get to play the host team, Ridley. They’re a team that is going to play fast and really pressure us, which will be good.”
Pennsbury (6-2, 1-1 SOL) will face Ridley in Friday’s title game of its own holiday tournament at 5 p.m.
Oxford 4-8-2-15 29
Pennsbury 13-9-16-12 50
Oxford (29) – Christina Fernandez 13. Jamie Herin 4, Morgan Eifert 2, Anna Hampshire 5.
Pennsbury (50) – Bella Arcuri 2, Kate Mix 10, Mary Miller 6, Nicole Pompili 5, Ava Sciolla 16, Cami Wiegand 9, Skyler Sulby 2.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 49, ARCHMERE ACADEMY 29
For one half, Archmere hung with the Patriots, trailing by just four at halftime (26-22). The second half was another story. The Patriots set the tone with a 17-7 third quarter. Caroline Pla scored 10 of her game-high 17 points in the quarter, including a pair of three-pointers. All told, the Patriots outscored Archmere 23-7 in the second half.
Also finishing in double figures for the Patriots was freshman Aubrey DeAngelis with 11 points. Gabby Wilga added eight points.
Central Bucks East (3-4, 1-2 SOL) will play in Friday’s title game of the Garnet Valley Tournament at 6:30 p.m.
Archmere Academy 11-11-7-0 29
Central Bucks East 11-15-17-6 49
Archmere Academy (29) – Belle Angiullo 3, Isabelle Gioffre 7, Julia Jogani 2, Sydney Niumataiwalu 4, Kylie Lutz 6, Catherine McGonigle 7.
Central bucks East (49) – Mia Salvati 3, Gabby Wilga 8, Caroline Pla 18, Emily Chmiel 4, Skylar Krause 5, Aubrey DeAngelis 11.
LANSDALE CATHOLIC 60, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 47
The Golden Hawks found themselves staring at an early 7-0 hole but rallied to go on top 16-13 after one quarter. Nicole Blaustin accounted for eight of those points and Hannah Binder added six. Jenna Culp buried a shot just inside the arc to close out the quarter.
In the opening minute of the second quarter, Blaustein drew the defense and dished off to Culp for a basket. Things looked promising when the Golden Hawks led 23-17 midway through the second quarter after a putback by Binder, but the Crusaders closed out the half with a 15-2 tear to go into halftime with a 32-25 lead.
“We knew coming in they could score, so we had to be dialed in on defense and execute effectively on the offensive end,” said Klumpp, noting LC scored 84 points in its win over Springfield Township and put 70 points on the board earlier in the year. “The end result wasn’t good, but I really felt the first 14 minutes of game time was the best we played combined on both ends of the floor at any point in time during my tenure.
“The execution, communication and focus on defense was really good. On offense, we were practicing what we preached – we were sharing the ball and moving really well, giving ourselves up for a teammate to get a better shot. We got away from that and lack of transition ‘D’ hurt us at end of that half.”
The Crusaders picked up where they left off in the third quarter, outscoring the Golden Hawks 15-5 to go on top 47-30. The Golden Hawks battled to the final horn, thanks to the gutsy effort of Blaustein who scored 11 of her game-high 22 points in the quarter. They pulled to within nine (54-45) when Blaustein buried a short jumper with 1:40 remaining. The Crusaders closed it out with a mini 6-2 run.
“There’s a lot of good to take from this and move forward,” Klumpp said. “We got away from some things offensively in the second half but that’s all part of the learning experience and changes we made this year.
“When this group executes and plays how we emphasize in practice, we play really well. I know Nicole will get a lot of recognition for scoring 22, but I told her in the first half I was most proud of her jump stop and kick that led to Jenna’s jumper because at the end of the day, that’s what we work on every day. It makes us tougher to guard and it opens things up for everyone. Several girls did that tonight (Carley) Irvin, (Jenna) Culp and (Bailey) Vetter did it, and others were ready to catch and shoot or attack. We just need to play that way consistently.”
While Blaustein led the way with 22 points and four steals, Binder added 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Culp had six points and two assists. Vetter added six rebounds and Broaddus had four.
“Although it was a tough loss, I think it shows a lot that we hung with them and we didn’t give up,” Blaustein said. “We kept our heads up and played through the entire game.
“We worked hard to make good passes while breaking the press. We really tried to move the ball, drive and kick it so we were able to get good opportunities.”
For the Crusaders, sophomore Timaya Lewis-Eutsey had 19 points and 14 rebounds in a dominant effort. Emily Smith and Kristin Finkelston both added 13 points.
“LC deserves credit – they’re really sound with the ball and knocked down (foul shots),” Klumpp said. “Their sophomore (Lewis-Eutsey) really impacted the game both ends of the court. (She was a) physical presence on ‘D’ and on the glass and aggressive offensively. I thought she really energized them during their run.
“With Vetter and Binder in foul trouble, Culp and (Madison) Broaddus both had to battle down low defensively against some physical players and played really well. Jenna has been really good on both ends of the court all year, and Maddie has her best all around game tonight. We have a lot to build on and the girls have been working hard daily. The good thing about a tournament is you have a short turnaround and we play tomorrow.”
Council Rock South (3-4, 1-1 SOL) will face Norristown in the consolation round of the George Snear Holiday Tournament on Friday (6 p.m.).
Lansdale Catholic 13-19-15-13 60
Council Rock South 16-9-5-17 47
Lansdale Catholic (47) – Timaya Lewis-Eutsey 19, Maile Erwin 4, Emily Smith 13, Riley Devitis 4, Caitlin Rosenberger 5, Kristina Finkelston 13, Jenna Babb 2.
Council Rock South (47) – Jenna Kulp 6, Madison Broaddus2, Nicole Blaustein 22, Hannah Binder 12, Montanna Chambers 5.
STROUDSBURG 58, QUAKERTOWN 21
Stroudsburg – which led by 10 after one quarter – took a commanding lead into halftime on its way to the non-league win. Emily Strunk, who finished with a game-high 21 points, scored 13 points in the first half.
Abigail Dickson’s six points led the Panthers.
Quakertown (1-7, 0-2 SOL) is off until Friday, Jan. 4, when the Panthers will travel to North Penn.
Quakertown 9-5-2-5 21
Stroudsburg 19-16-13-9 58
Quakertown (21) – Alexis Miccuci 5, Brianna Lefkoski 2, Abigail Dickson 6, Kimmy Best 5, Morgan Sipprell 1, Fallon Grandinetti 3.
Stroudsburg (58) – Emily Strunk 21, Avery Francis 6, Nyana Barro 4, Kayla Worsley-Wooten 6, Lindoll Trimmingham 2, Sierra Holbert 2, Kaylie Hock 3, Mahogony Worsley-Wooten 6, Taylor Tretheway 2, Kiara Joseph 4.
LAKE TAYLOR 54, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 22
About the Author
