Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Sunday at the Blue Star Tournament at Jefferson University.
UPPER DUBLIN 44, CONRAD SCHOOL (Del.) 31
There were no surprises when the Flying Cardinals took on the defending Delaware DIAA state champions, who returned their entire starting lineup from last year. One look at the boxscores from the team’s most recent games told coach Morgan Funsten who his team would have to stop, and for a Cardinal team whose calling card is defense, it was just another day on the hardwood.
“They’re kind of a three-headed monster,” Funsten said. “They have two Kulesza sisters. The junior – Julie Kulesza – is going to Bucknell, and the sophomore (Stefanie Kulesza) may have an even higher upside. They have a 6-4 girl (Ja’Nylah Whittlesey) who’s extremely talented too.
“We had to key on them. Sarah Eskew had to play Julie Kulesza, and Kara Grebe played Stefanie Kulesza, and Jackie Vargas played Whittlesey. They all did a great job. The defensive game plan wasn’t perfect, but it was very close to perfect.”
Julie Kulesza was coming off a 31-point game and had scored 53 points in the last two games combined. Eskew, who earned game MVP honors, limited her to 13 points with six of those points coming at the foul line. Stefanie Kulesza managed just eight while Whittlesey had six.
“Those (Kulesza) sisters average over 30 points a game combined,” Funsten said. “We wanted to keep them under 20, and we came close. We kept them to 21.
“Jackie Vargas was dominant, not necessarily putting the ball in the basket, but she finished with 17 rebounds and five assists. She really dominated the game rebounding, and she’s a great passer. Five different times she found people for layups.”
The two teams were deadlocked at 10-10 after one quarter, but the Cardinals dominated play in the next two, outscoring Conrad 31-16 to open up a commanding 41-26 lead.
“It was the last game of a really long day at the showcase,” said Funsten of a contest that didn’t start until after 8:30 p.m. “There weren’t many people around.
“I think it was hard for both teams to create energy, but I thought our team did a great job of coming out with great energy. On the offensive end, we did a great job executing, and honestly, some shots that normally fall weren’t falling, but the girls were executing the game plan perfectly other than making shots.”
Eskew led a balanced Cardinal attack with 11 points – all in a first half that saw UD open up a 22-17 lead. Grebe added 10 points – eight in the second half. Jess Polin had nine points, including a pair of three-pointers. She also had six rebounds. Vargas added seven points.
“It was a great team effort,” Funsten said. “Jess Polin was solid, as always, at the point. We’ve gotten great balanced scoring all year, and we continued to do that again.
“We know we have a much bigger game on Tuesday against PW than tonight was, but this was a fun game to play in. It was very challenging that they had their entire starting five back from a team that won a state championship last year. They’ve had a lot of success, and we played a really solid game tonight.”
Upper Dublin (8-2, 4-0 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday.
Conrad (Del.) 10-7-9-5 31
Upper Dublin 10-12-19-8 44
Upper Dublin (44) – Anajae Smith 3, Jess Polin 9, Kara Grebe 10, Sarah Eskew 11, Dayna Balasa 4, Jackie
Vargas 7.
Conrad (31) – Alyssa Faville 3, Jordan Rook 1, Ja’Nylah Whittlesey 6, Julie Kulesza 13, Stefanie Kulesza 8.
URSULINE ACADEMY (Del.) 34, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 31
The Titans – behind seven points from Alexa Brodie – led 9-7 after one quarter, but they managed just four points in the second quarter and trailed 18-13 at the intermission. They were on the short end of a 27-20 score heading into the final frame, and their late-game comeback fell just short.
Alexa Brodie had a big day for the Titans, leading all scorers with 23 points. No other Titan had more than four.
Central Bucks South (4-5, 2-2 SOL) will host Council Rock North in a non-league game Tuesday.
Central Bucks South 9-4-7-11 31
Ursuline Academy 7-11-9-7 34
Central Bucks South (31) – Taylor Hinkle 2, Mackenzie Erb 4, Kirsten Schaller 1, Alexa Brodie 23, Sofia Sonnet 1.
NATIONAL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (Md.) 53, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 27
National Christian Academy was 14th in last week’s MaxPreps Top 25 basketball rankings after occupying the ninth spot the preceding week. The Bucks had their hands full from the outset, falling behind 18-8 after one quarter and 31-16 by halftime. Making National Christian such a challenging opponent was their ability to connect from long range – the team had eight 3-pointers in the first three quarters with five different players connecting from beyond the arc.
Maddie Burke led the Bucks with 11 points and scored all eight of her team’s points – which included a pair of threes – in the opening quarter. Jess Broskey added eight points.
Central Bucks West (5-4, 2-1 SOL) will host North Penn on Tuesday.
Central Bucks West 8-8-7-4 27
National Christian Academy 18-13-16-2 53
Central Bucks West (27) – Jess Broskey 8, Maddie Burke 11, Emily Spratt 1, Izzy Treon 4, Lilly Evans 2, Tori Abelson 3.
National Christian Academy (53) – T.Skinner 7, S.Smith 13, A.Rivera 8, M.Bumbray 5, J.Mayfield 6, D.Douglas 4, P.Cunningham 10.
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