Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Saturday.
Non-league
SOUDERTON 51, HATBORO-HORSHAM 33
Casey Harter looked anything but the part of the rookie she is in Saturday’s non-league win. The freshman point guard scored a career high 20 points, 13 in the second half when she was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor.
“Casey is so smart, she’s so composed, she handles the ball like an upperclassman,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “She just really, really played well. She took smart shots and made foul shots down the stretch.
“Offensively, she just controlled the game for us from beginning to end. I think she got a minute break in the second quarter, but other than that, she played the whole game and defended Cam Ryan for 30 minutes. That will wear you down. She was just really, really solid all game for us.”
Carroll paid Ryan a high compliment, comparing her to Tori Dowd, point guard for the Indians’ district championship squad.
“She’s so determined defensively, and she seems like she’s not backing down to anybody – she’s really tough,” the Indians’ coach said. “Offensively, she may not be their leading scorer – she may lead them in steals and nothing else, but she’s their most important player because of what she does on both sides of the ball.”
The Hatters – led by seven points from Alice Hall – took a 19-18 lead into halftime.
“We had three starters on the bench for most of the second quarter with foul trouble, so Mikaela (Reese), Jordan (Zimmerman) and Olivia (Schneider) were all on the bench in the second quarter,” Carroll said. “They each had two fouls, and I’m very stubborn about that stuff.
“Down one at halftime, I’ll take it with three starters on the bench. We had a swing player, freshman Teya McConnaha, who just this week has gotten meaningful varsity minutes for the first time. She went in and gave us good minutes, made two foul shots and had four points in the second quarter.
“Hannah Alderfer and Hayley Fenchel, who don’t get much of the glory, did the little things – they boxed out, they defended hard. It definitely was a group effort.”
In the second half, Carter and company went to work. The freshman point guard scored six points in a 14-point third quarter and added seven more in the fourth as the Indians outscored the Hatters 33-14 in the second half.
In addition to Harter, Reese added 11 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. Olivia Schnieder had eight points. Alderfer pulled down seven rebounds.
Hall’s 11 points led the Hatters. Ava McKinney had nine, Ryan contributed seven and Emily Thomas had six.
“(Emily) Thomas is a good player, (Alice) Hall played really well for them – she goes hard after offensive rebounds,” Carroll said. “When you have to front her defensively, it’s tough to box her out, and she was getting more offensive rebounds than we would have liked.
“They play hard, they’re scrappy, they’re tough, they’re in your face. Defensively, they just want to get you out of your comfort zone. We handled it enough, and eventually, we were able to make enough plays in the fourth quarter.”
Souderton (10-5, 3-4 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Tuesday.
Souderton 10-8-14-19 51
Hatboro-Horsham 9-10-7-7 33
Souderton (51) – Jordan Zimmerman 1 2-4 4; Erin Bohmueller 1 0-0 2; Olivia Schneider 2 4-6 8; Casey Harter 8 4-6 20; Hannah Alderfer 1 0-0 2; Hayley Fenhel 0 0-1 0; Teya McConnaha 1 2-2 4; Mikaela Reese 2 7-8 11; Totals 16 19-27 51.
Hatboro-Horsham (33) – Emily Thomas 2 2-2 6; Cam Ryan 3 1-2 7; Ava McKinney 3 0-0 9; Alice Hall 4 3-6 11; Totals 12 6-10 33.
3-point goals: HH – Ava McKinney 3.
NORTH PENN 51, GLOUCESTER CATHOLIC 50
The Knights took a 43-27 lead into the fourth quarter, looking very much like a team that was going to coast to the win.
But that didn’t happen as the visiting Rams rallied to knot the score in the closing minute. Alaina Mullaly broke the tie when she buried a pair at the foul line that turned out to be the game-winning points, but it took an unusual turn of events to make it happen.
“In a half when we struggled to make foul shots, Alaina knocked down two in a big situation,” NP coach Jen Carangi said. “They had tied it up with 21 seconds left, they had possession of the ball, and they tried to inbound. The girl called a timeout, and they didn’t give her the timeout – they called five seconds.”
The Gloucester Catholic coach was less than thrilled with the call and received a technical.
“We got two shots and the ball, which was huge,” Carangi said. “Talk about momentum swinging from they had the ball, they had come back – we were up at one point by 15, so they had just come back.
“For us, to get two shots, and Alaina knocked down both of them and we got possession of the ball back. We did not play very smart basketball today. I said to them afterwards – sometimes you win games you had no business winning, and today was one of those days so as long as we recognize that was the case and we learn from it.”
The Knights led 16-10 after one quarter. Val McGriff provided the spark, scoring seven of those points. They took that six-point lead into halftime and appeared to put the game out of reach after outscoring the Rams 17-10 in a third quarter that saw seven Knights contribute scoring.
In the fourth quarter, the Knights connected on just 8-of-17 at the foul line, opening the door for the Rams to battle their way back into the game.
“I feel like we are trying to find complicated ways to make it so difficult for ourselves,” Carangi said. “We missed 16 foul shots and nine in the last quarter alone, and we’re getting kids on the line who are our seasoned players. These are kids we should want to get fouled.
“We got lucky today. Sometimes you win games you don’t have any business winning, and today was one of those days because defensively we could not pull it together. Offensively, they pressured us, and we turned the ball over. We couldn’t score, we couldn’t make foul shots.”
Ten players contributed scoring for the Knights, who were led by McGriff’s 11 points.
“Val did a nice job – she got a lot of offensive rebounds,” Carangi said. “She was around the basket and was able to finish.
“We got contributions from a lot of different people, which is great.”
Mullaly and Carley Adams both contributed 10 points while Alli Lindsay had six points.
“We need to get our act together fast because our next couple of weeks are going to be rough, so we need to be ready to play,” Carangi said.
North Penn (10-4, 4-3 SOL) will host Pennsbury in a non-league game Tuesday.
Gloucester Catholic 10-10-7-23 50
North Penn 16-10-17-8 51
Gloucester Catholic (50) – Ella VanDine 2 2-2 8; Angelina Barrera 1 3-6 5; Mycala Carney 6 3-4 18; Lynzie Eggers 5 4-4 6; Natalia Barrera 0 1-2 1; Macie Nugent 1 0-0 2; Totals 15-13-18 50.
North Penn (51) – Laynie Doran 1 0-0 2; Ali Johns 1 0-0 3; Abby Plaugher 1 0-1 2; Alli Lindsay 2 1-2 6; Rachel Dunn 1 1-2 3; Imani Plaza 1 0-1 2; Alaiana Mullaly 2 5-10 10; Rachel Strobel 1 0-0 2; Carley Adams 3 4-7 10; Val McGriff 3 5-9 11; Totals 16 16-32 51.
3-point goals: GC – Mycala Carney 3, Ella VanDine 2, Lynzie Eggers 2, NP Ali Johns, Alli Lindsay, Alaina Mullaly.
UPPER MORELAND 39, WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 28
Sparked by the 21-point effort of senior Bean Hughes, the Golden Bears rebounded from a disappointing loss to Cheltenham two days earlier to defeat the visiting Warriors in a non-league game.
“Going into the game we had reasons to be nervous,” UM coach Matt Carroll said. “We haven’t been playing great offensively and it’s taken a toll on us in general. Add that on top of an 11 a.m. start and who knows what happens. Thankfully, we were home so it made it a little easier.”
Behind nine points from Hughes, the Bears opened up an 11-2 lead after one quarter and took a 21-13 lead into halftime. EmmyFaith Wood had a pair of 3s in the second quarter.
The teams exchanged baskets in the second half, and according to Carroll, AbbyEllen Wood might not stand out the box score, but her defense was key.
“Manion for West Chester Henderson is a lights out shooter, and they have a lot of size,” Carroll said. “What we lack in size we make up for in defensive intelligence.
“I can’t emphasis how great AbbyEllen (Wood) is for us. She covers every team’s best offensive option and doesn’t come out a ton. She’s so smart and is rarely out of position. It makes everyone else’s job easier. Our team defense in general was so good today.”
Carroll also lauded the performance of Hughes.
“Bean was been fighting illness the last couple weeks and was ridiculous for us today,” the UM coach said. “I know she took the Cheltenham loss personally and today she more than made up for it.
“On top of her 21 points, she had 10 rebounds and 8 steals. We almost take what she does for granted because she does everything on the court. We have two big conference games against Abington and Hatboro-Horsham. I think the Cheltenham loss led to today’s win. Hopefully this win leads to many more.”
EmmyFaith Wood added 11 points for the Bears.
Upper Moreland (8-7, 4-4 SOL) will host Abington Tuesday.
West Chester Henderson 4-9-9-6 28
Upper Moreland 11-10-9-9 39
West Chester Henderson (28) – DePrisco 0 0-2 0; Forcine 5 0-0 12; Nanni 4 0-0 8; Manion 1 2-2 5; Shea 0 3-7 3; Totals 10 5-11 28.
Upper Moreland (39) – EmmyFaith Wood 3 3-5 11; Kaitie Opferman 1 0-0 3; Emma Meakim 1 1-4 3; AbbyEllen Wood 0 0-2 0; Bean Hughes 9 2-3 21; Hannah Finn 0 1-2 1; Totals 14 7-16 39.
3-point goals: WCH – Forcine 2, Manion, UM – EmmyFaith Wood 2, Kaitie Opferman, Bean Hughes.
WEST CHESTER EAST 46, WISSSAHICKON 33
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