Pennsbury, Pennridge, PW, CB East and CB West were winners in Friday’s opening round of the District 1 6A Tournament. Photos of Plymouth Whitemarsh/Bensalem provided courtesy of Larry Small. Check back for action photos of this game.
#1-16 PENNSBURY 48, #1-17 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 45 (OT)
Kate Mix’s eyes sparkled, the smile never left her face. The night was storybook for the Falcon senior, who had just played in her first district game. Last year, when Pennsbury earned its first trip to the postseason in five years, Mix was sidelined with a torn ACL. Three years ago, she was a freshman on a squad that won just four games.
Could she have imagined playing in front of a packed house in a postseason game? Much less winning in overtime?
Never,” Mix said. “Never.
“From going to four wins freshman year to now 18, that’s an incredible jump, but I think that’s just a testament to all the hard work we put in during the offseason as well as our coaching staff who really pushes us to be the best we can be.
“It’s unbelievable to experience this with the teammates that I have. We’re sisters, we’re literally a big family. We all have each other’s back. To get this first playoff home game win under our belt and we’re advancing in the playoffs, it’s the best feeling.”
Falcons’ coach Frank Sciolla acknowledged it had been a very emotional week.
“I almost lost it a couple of times in practice – in a good way, not in an angry way,” he said. “I remember what it was like, and I feel so good for them now.
“Win or lose tonight, to play in this atmosphere against a team with a player like that (Alexa Brodie) who wasn’t going to go down was one of the best experiences I’ve had in coaching – definitely in a handful of them, and it’s all because we feel so great for such a good group of girls.
“How about all the young girls who were in that crowd tonight? All the girls who now get to see something that these girls never did – and dream about being out there. That was the highlight.”
For the Falcons, this is the stuff dreams are made of, but one team’s dream is another team’s heartbreak. Not far away from Mix, a tearful Alexa Brodie emerged from her team’s final postgame meeting.
“This program gave me the best four years of my life,” the all-state point guard said, her voice breaking. “It was everything I could have imagined and more. It’s just so hard to see such a big part of my life end.”
Brodie certainly did her part to extend the Titans’ season, scoring a game-high 17 points -13 after halftime to bring her team back in the game. It’s hardly a secret stopping the senior standout is the key to every team’s game plan when they face the Titans.
“You’re playing a team like this against a girl like (Brodie) – they can play any style they want because of her,” Sciolla said. “You would love to go and double her, and we did throw a number of different defenses at her. Mary Miller did a great job all night on her and at times Bella (Arcuri) and at times Ava (Sciolla), and then the important thing was everybody just being smart hedging out on her. She’s going to take so many shots that you’re on red alert all the time.
“I get asked all the time – how good are people. We had a week to prepare for this girl. We spent 40 minutes every single day on how we were going to guard this kid because she is such a winner. Remember the threes last year in the District One title game? She took a team all the way down to the wire in states. She’s been there before.”
The Falcons – behind eight first-quarter points from Mix – opened up a 13-4 lead at the end of one frame. Freshman Ava Sciolla accounted for the remaining five points.
“Kate Mix got off to a good start, which is always great,” Sciolla said. “We weren’t concerned about Ava, but you understand she’s a ninth grader. They had Allie Burke on her, plus they had a girl behind her. She made some big moves for us.
“All year long – it’s been her passing and her refusal to turn the ball over. She came in tonight with a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and Kate did a good job cutting. She found people.”
Pennsbury took a 23-11 lead into halftime. Mix had 10 points, Sciolla had seven, and Mary Miller added six – all in the second quarter. Freshman Mackenzie Erb had five second-quarter points to keep the Titans in the game.
The third quarter belonged to the Titans, who came out of the locker room and outscored the Falcons 15-4. While the Falcons managed just one field (and all four points by Sciolla), Taylor Hinkle and Brodie were lighting up the net for the Titans. Hinkle scored eight points in the frame, including a pair of threes, while Brodie had seven points –and one three.
When the quarter ended with Brodie scoring on a follow of her on miss, the Falcons were clinging to a 27-26 lead that disappeared when Hinkle hit nothing but net on a three from the top of the circle. Cami Wiegand knotted the score, and when Bella Arcuri turned a steal into a layup at the other end, the Falcons led 31-29.
The Titans – behind back-to-back threes from Erb – went on top 35-31 with 3:40 remaining. The Falcons answered with six straight points of their own, two each from Arcuri and Wiegand at the foul line as well as a baseline drive by Miller.
Brodie answered with a three from well beyond the arc to give the Titans a 38-37 advantage, but with a minute showing on the clock, Mix broke the Titans’ momentum when she banked home a three.
“As a shooter, you have to assume all your shots are going in,” Mix said. “When it left my hands – I don’t normally bank shots in, so I was like, ‘Oh, crap,’ but the way it kissed off the glass – it was perfect.
“You have an open shot – you take it. That’s how coach Sciolla has trained us to be. If you’re open, you shoot if you’re a shooter.”
With the final seconds ticking off the scoreboard clock, Brodie drove to the basket, drew a crowd and dished to a wide open Allie Burke, who laid it in to knot the score with 2.8 seconds remaining.
“You know what was impressive about her – at the end of regulation, she could have forced it,” Sciolla said of Brodie. “She had trust, and she passed it.”
In overtime, the two teams exchanged misses, and when Miller scored on a tough baseline drive, the Falcons had a lead they would not lose. Sciolla twice sank one of-two at the foul line, and the Falcons led 44-40. Miller buried a pair after an Arcuri steal to put the Falcons on top 46-40 with 36 seconds remaining. Brodie cut that lead in half when she buried a three from NBA range. It’s as close as the Titans would get.
“It was like I was back at the district final at Temple,” Mattern said of Brodie keeping the Titans in it with shots from long range. “I don’t normally get too emotional at the end of the season, but this one is going to hurt, saying good-bye to these seniors.
“It’s kind of the end of an era of four years of a team that’s just been unbelievable people who set a precedent. I know the younger girls want to follow that, and that was so nice to see in the locker room how much it meant to everyone to be a part of the team this year. But this one hurts, for sure.”
While Brodie led the Titans with 17, freshmen Hinkle and Erb also came up big, combining for 24 points. Hinkle had 13 – with three three-pointers and Erb added 11 with three threes.
“This was a big test for us,” Mattern said. “I think people, for a number of different reasons, felt a little disrespected this week with a couple of things that happened.
“We started slow, and I understand because some of them had never played in an environment like this. It was something they really wanted to win for those seniors and keep the season alive and kind of prove some people wrong.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been more proud of a team and the way they battled, just to keep fighting and working because there are so many times we could have waved the white flag tonight.”
Mix and Sciolla led the Falcons with 13 points each. Sciolla also had six rebounds and three assists while Mix had four rebounds. Miller added 11 points, six rebounds and two steals. Arcuri had six points, six rebounds, three assists, five deflections and a pair of steals.
“Mary Miller defensively and Mary Miller with that big baseline drive that she finished was really big,” Sciolla said. “She gave us that extra edge.
“Bella Arcuri with a couple of big steals.”
For the Titans, the game marked the end of an era as it represented the final game of Brodie’s career.
“I think this game encapsulated my whole career,” Brodie said. “Nothing was ever easy in my career. We had to work for everything, and I think the fight we showed today – it sucks to lose, but what I showed here for four years, it was on the court tonight.”
While Central Bucks South closed out its season with a 12-11 record, the Falcons (18-5, 8-4 SOL) advanced to Wednesday’s second round game against a familiar opponent – second-seeded Neshaminy.
EXTRA SHOTS: Friday’s game was played in front of the largest crowd of the season in the Falcons’ Nest and – for Sciolla – brought back memories of the years he coached a boys’ team that was among of the best in the district. “Part of the story is the end for one of the best players to come through this area in a long time,” the Falcons’ coach said of Brodie. “The other story is this atmosphere and the things these girls have been able to create in a short time. (Varsity assistant) Jen Sroba said, ‘Think about our attitude last year before we went to districts against Upper Dublin as opposed to tonight where we think we can win.’ We had the place packed on both sides, and the crowd was great.”
Central Bucks South 4-7-15-14-5 45
Pennsbury 13-10-4-13-8 48
Central Bucks South (45) – Taylor Hinkle 13, Mackenzie Erb 11, Allie Burke 4, Alexa Brodie 17.
Pennsbury (48) – Bella Arcuri 6, Kate Mix 13, Mary Miller 12, Ava Sciolla 13, Cami Wiegand 4.
#1-23 PENNRIDGE 51, #1-10 WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 48
The Rams pulled off the upset of the opening round, sending 10th-seeded Rustin home for the season. For a Ram squad that has played teams close in a tough SOL Continental Conference but come up short on many occasions, the win was sweet indeed.
“I believe our coach said this is the first time we’ve won a playoff game in over 10 years, which is amazing,” senior captain Emilee Cramer said. “It’s the first time obviously that I’ve been able to do it in the four years I’ve been here, so I think we’re all really happy.
“It’s made the losses we took in-season feel a lot better now, and that definitely shows the teams we do play really did prepare us, and that was what our coach said going into this. He said, ‘We’re ready for anything they throw at us,’ and I think that really showed.”
Things certainly didn’t look promising when Rustin raced out of the gate to a 17-6 lead after one quarter. Things changed dramatically in a second quarter that saw the Rams go on an 18-6 tear to go into halftime with a 24-23 advantage.
“I don’t know why we always get down, but we have learned very well how to fight back,” Cramer said. “Even though we weren’t able to finish in a lot of our conference games, one of our greatest things – when we dig ourselves into a hole, we’re really good at getting ourselves back.
“I think what made a difference this time was we didn’t get out of control on fouling, and we didn’t make as many turnovers as we would in-season. We talked about that – how we needed to improve on that all season, and it clicked a lot better today.”
“We got off to a slow start,” coach Mike Elton said. “The second quarter we went off. We changed our defense, we went into a press and pressured the ball.
“We got really hot. Sophie Cweiber came in and scored eight points on two threes and a two. (Sam) Muredda scored four, Cramer had four, and Ashley Gordon had two, so we shot extremely well in the second quarter, and I think our defense hurt them a little bit, caused some turnovers and basically changed the game.”
The Rams led 37-33 heading into the final quarter, but the outcome was not decided until the final horn sounded.
“It was pretty even all the way to the end, and it came down to the last shot,” Elton said. “They were down three, and they took a shot from the corner.
“The interesting thing is – I feel like we’ve been in games like this all year. It’s kind of nice to get out of the conference and play some other teams. We certainly were prepared with what we faced through the conference. There were a number of games where we got down and ended up coming back and maybe not quite finishing it. This was just a good solid win.”
Muredda led the Rams with 13 points, which included a 4-for-6 effort at the foul line. Cweiber finished with 12, and Cramer had 10. Gordon finished with eight, including a 3-for-4 showing at the foul line.
“It really was a team win,” Elton said. “We went probably seven or eight deep. Everyone contributed and we had a couple of highlights.
“Sophie Cweiber came in and got us (going) in the second quarter. Everyone kind of did their job, and in the fourth quarter, we were 7-for-10 from the foul line and that helped to nail it.
“I’m so proud of them. They’ve really worked hard. We went through a really tough schedule, and it was really great to see them come together like that.”
Pennridge (10-12, 2-10 SOL) will travel to seventh-seeded Council Rock North for Wednesday’s second round game.
“I’m hoping we can keep going now – I think that was the wall, that first game,” Cramer said. “Now we got over the wall, and we just have to keep going.”
Pennridge 6-18-13-14 51
West Chester Rustin 17-6-10-15 48
Pennridge (51) – Corinn Mart 5, Sam Muredda 13, Sophie Cweiber 12, Evelyn Loughery 1, Ashley Gordon 8, Emilee Cramer 10, Megan Kriney 2.
#1-17 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 66, #1-16 KENNETT 57
The Patriots went into the postseason battled tested after some early-season games against some of the district’s top teams. Their record may have suffered, but they reaped the dividends with a resounding opening round win on the road.
“I told them, ‘You guys play a tough schedule. That 3-7 start was to prepare you for tonight. You should feel confident going into a game knowing that you’ve seen this competition and better,’” East coach Liz Potash said.
The Patriots have advanced out of the first round of districts in five of six seasons with Potash at the helm. In Friday’s win, they were once again without Aubrey DeAngelis (injury) and Jefferson University-bound Elyse Shine, who underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL Friday.
Behind six points from Caroline Pla, the Patriots opened up a 14-9 lead after one quarter, and they led by five at halftime, 26-21. Skylar Krause’s nine points led the Patriots’ attack. East scored 20 points in both the third and fourth quarters and led 46-37 heading into the final frame.
Pla had Mia Salvati both had 10 second-half points and Gabby Wilga had eight. Krause added six.
“They had a four-point play with under two minutes to go that made it a one-possession game,” Potash said. “We were up 12 with three minutes to go, and we were getting to the foul line, and we were missing. We were just giving them opportunities to hang around. We finished the game 6-for-6 at the foul line to put it out of reach.
“I was really pleased at the end – I thought we showed a lot of maturity. We were playing with a lead, and in the past, we might have taken shots from the outside, but we pulled the ball back and ran some clock.”
Friday’s win was a team effort with four East players finishing the game in double figures. Pla led the way with 18 points while Krause added 15. Salvati had 13 and Wilga added 12. Chmiel had six points and team-high 11 rebounds – seven offensive and four defensive.
“We were really balanced offensively, which always helps,” Potash said. “Emily Chmiel was big inside and did a great job rebounding. Sky Krause did a great job rebounding. Mia Salvati had some huge takes to the basket. They played all zone, and she just did a great job of getting in and finishing layups.
“It was a five-point game at halftime, and Gabby (Wilga) came out real strong in the second half and had some real good takes around the basket. Caroline (Pla) was our leading scorer as she’s been for a lot of games this year, and she was steady. It was a team effort.”
“We knew we going to have advantages on the offensive end, but then we had trouble on the defensive end. We gave up 11 threes, and we knew this was a three-point shooting team. We knew there were going to be challenges on both ends. In all honesty, if we make foul shots the way we’re capable of making foul shots, the game is over a lot sooner.”
Central Bucks East (14-9, 7-5 SOL) will travel to top-seeded Garnet Valley for a second round game Wednesday. The Jaguars defeated the Patriots 57-23 in a regular season meeting on Dec. 28.
Central Bucks East 14-12-20-20 66
Kennett 9-12-16-20 57
Central Bucks East (66) – Mia Salvati 13, Gabby Wilga 12, Caroline Pla 18, Emily Chmiel 6, Skylar Krause 15, Emily Barry 2.
Kennett (57) – Gina Lusvardi 15, Katie LaCosta 3, Andrea Prestianne 19, Ellie Matthews 1, Madeline Fowler 19.
#1-12 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 45, #1-21 BENSALEM 32
The Colonials raced out of the gate to a 16-4 lead after one quarter and took a 25-13 advantage into halftime. They maintained that lead the rest of the way.
“I’m so proud of these girls,” coach Dan Dougherty said. “It was a tough shooting night, but the girls settled their nerves and got the win in front of a huge doubleheader crowd.”
Freshman Lainey Allen’s 15-point effort led the Colonials. Point guard Kate Flanagan had nine while Anna McTamney had eight. Jordyn Thomas had seven points and Gabby Cooper had six.
“Kate Flanagan and Lainey Allen made plays whenever Bensalem made a run,” Dougherty said. “Jordyn Thomas scored the first seven points of the game to set the tone. Now we’ve got to find a way to compete with Upper Dublin.”
For the Owls, junior Chloe Munyon led the way with 15 points. Haley Keenan added 10.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (19-4, 10-4) will travel to Upper Dublin for Wednesday’s second round game. It will represent the third meeting between the two schools. The conference co-champion Flying Cardinals won both games. Bensalem closed out its season with a 13-10 record (6-6 SOL).
Bensalem 4-9-12-8 32
Plymouth Whitemarsh 16-9-12-8 45
Plymouth Whitemarsh (45) – Kaitlyn Flanagan 9, Gabby Cooper 6, Anna McTamney 8, Lainey Allen 15, Jordyn Thomas 7.
Bensalem (32) – Maddie MacDougall 3, Michael Sit 2, Haley Keenan 10, Chloe Munyong 15, Pooja Singamneni 2.
#1-14 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 75, #1-19 UPPER DARBY 38
The Bucks owned Friday’s district opener from the outset, opening up a 19-5 lead after one quarter and extending that to 32-14 by halftime. A 22-point third quarter sealed their visitor’s fate.
Izzy Treon was one of three players in double figures, finishing with a team-high 15. Jess Broskey added 14 while Maddie Burke had 11 on three three-pointers and a pair of foul shots. Olivia Irons added eight points. Paige Gilbert, Anna Blue and Lilly Evans each had six points.
Central Bucks West (15-8, 9-3 SOL) will travel to Abington for a second round game on Tuesday as the opening game of a girls/boys doubleheader.
Upper Darby 5-9-13-11 38
Central Bucks West 19-13-22-21 75
Upper Darby (38) – Aubrey Ennis 4, Gabby Liberio 7, Jasmine Forrester 16, Kaitlyn Johnson 3, Angelina Koskinas 3, Natalie Koskinas 4, Hannah Asaka 1.
Central Bucks West (75) – Paige Gilbert 6, Olivia Irons 8, Anna Blue 6, Jess Broskey 14, Maddie Burke 11, Emily Spratt 5, Izzy Treon 15, Lilly Evans 6, Tori Abelson 3, Abby Lineman 1.
#1-13 HAVERFORD 51, #1-20 NORTH PENN 36
The visiting Knights hung with the Fords for one half, trailing by just a 19-17 score at halftime. The Fords used an 18-11 third quarter to open up a 37-26 lead on their way to the win.
“We gave up two big shots in the third quarter,” coach Jen Carangi said of a pair of three-pointers by Erin Doherty. “We started pressuring them and cut it to five in the fourth quarter, but then had to foul.
“I’m so proud of my girls and am looking forward to getting back at it next season.”
Val McGriff led the Knights with eight points while Alli Lindsay, Rachel Dunn and Alana Mullaly each had seven points.
North Penn closed out its season with a 10-13 record (6-8 SOL).
North Penn 7-8-11-10 36
Haverford 10-9-18-14 51
North Penn (36) – Cayla Sharkey 3, Laynie Doran 1, Alli Lindsay 7, Rachel Dunn 7, Alana Mullaly 7, Val McGriff 8, Imani Plaza 3.
Haverford (51) – Christina O’Halloran 4, Arden Gilfoil 3, Erin Doherty 6, Annalena O’Reilly 16, Erin Kelly 2, Sara Walsh 12, Lindsey Lane 8.
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