CB East & Pennsbury were winners in SOL girls’ basketball action Friday. CB East/New Hope-Solebury photos courtesy of Emily Barry. (Emily Chmiel photo provided by CB East basketball)
Non-league
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 39, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 35
With an opportunity to add an extra game to their regular season schedule, the Patriots hosted neighboring New Hope-Solebury on Friday.
“(Coach) Steve (Polinsky) and I talked – neither of us wanted to have a week off between games,” East coach Liz Potash said. “We were looking to get some good competition.
“New Hope came ready to play, and we’ll take a game any time over a week of practice. We wanted to play some good competition, so it worked out well for both of us.”
The Patriots notched a win, but the story of this one was Emily Chmiel surpassing the 1,000-point mark. The senior forward entered the game needing 11 points. She scored 15, connecting on the historic basket in the third quarter.
“Emily didn’t know she was so close, but our girls did,” Potash said. “She told me at the beginning of the season she didn’t want to know if she got close, so we never told her.
“This is a kid that didn’t play varsity basketball until her sophomore year. By the end of her sophomore year, she was doing a lot scoring-wise, and she had a monster year last year and scored over 500 points.”
Chmiel scored the milestone basket on a short jumper after an inbounds pass under the Patriots’ basket and was mobbed by her teammates.
“She was shocked,” Potash said. “After she made that shot, the girls ran up to her, and she had no idea why. They were really excited for her.”
As for the game, the Patriots – behind six points from both Emily Barry and Mia Salvati – opened up a 14-5 lead after one quarter, and although they scored just four points in the second quarter, they took an 18-12 lead into halftime. Chmiel scored six points in a third quarter that saw the Patriots edge the Lions 12-11 to go on top 30-23 on their way to the non-league win.
“I’m glad we got to play such a solid team today,” NHS coach Steve Polinsky said. “They are well coached and talented. I thought we played pretty well against them.
“Emily (Chmiel) is very tough and hard to defend. We tried to help on her, and they moved the ball nicely and hit shots. Overall, I liked our defense tonight.”
Chmiel’s 15 points led all scorers. Salvati – who had a pair of 3s – and Barry both finished with eight.
For the Lions, Reagan Chrencik led the way with 14 points – 10 in the second half. Rachel Saxton added seven.
Central Bucks East (15-1, 10-0 SOL) will return to action Wednesday in a second round game of the District One 6A Tournament, taking on the winner of Saturday’s #19 Central Bucks South at #14 West Chester Henderson contest. New Hope-Solebury (15-4, 9-1 SOL) will host third-seeded Pope John Paul II in a District One 4A semifinal contest on Tuesday.
New Hope-Solebury 5-7-11-12 35
Central Bucks East 14-4-12-9 39
New Hope-Solebury (35) – Rachel Saxton 2 1-2 7; Madi Fasti 1 0-0 3; Kate Dougherty 2 0-0 4; Juliana Covino 1 0-0 2; Reagan Chrencik 5 4-4 14; Emma Ives 2 1-2 5; TOTALS 13 6-8 35.
Central Bucks East (39) – Devon Burns 1 0-0 2; Anna Barry 1 0-0 3; Mia Salvati 2 2-2 8; Elise Duffy 1 1-3 3; Emily Chmiel 6 3-3 15; Emily Barry 4 0-0 8; TOTALS 15 6-8 39.
3-point goals: NHS – Rachel Saxton 2, Madi Fasti, CBE – Mia Salvati 2, Anna Barry.
PENNSBURY 36, UPPER MORELAND 23
A pair of SOL champions took advantage of the chance to add an additional game to their schedules, and it was the Falcons earning the non-league win.
“I have a strong affinity for people who take over struggling programs and Matt (Carroll) has done one of the best jobs around in creating a really good program at Upper Moreland,” Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla said. “I’m also happy that we were able to get a game especially against a good team like that.
“We’ve had a really difficult time getting non-league games because our district didn’t want us playing anyone outside of District One, and they wanted us to stay in county up until last week. I texted many people to get a non-league game, but I recently got a new phone and I just think that maybe they didn’t recognize my number because I just wasn’t successful in getting return texts even from people that I’ve known for a long time and often helped out on and off the court. But I’ll chalk that up to the confusion of the iCloud.”
The Falcons took control with a strong first quarter that included six points from Ava Sciolla and five each from Kiley Haws and Bella Arcuri. They led 18-2 after one quarter and took a 26-7 lead into halftime. They never looked back.
Sciolla’s 18 points led the Falcons. No other player had more than five.
“We jumped out to an early lead,” coach Sciolla said. “Ava didn’t take many shots, but it seemed like she made all of them. We got strong contributions from our three freshmen. Sofia Vitucci, Layla Matthias and Dani Sherman.”
EmmyFaith Wood’s 11 points led the Golden Bears.
“Emmy Faith Wood is a really nice player with great footwork, and she plays with a great deal of moxie,” coach Sciolla said. “I like her game and she’s going to be somebody to watch down the road. Upper Moreland stayed committed to running their offense, and you can see why they’re successful and that they will be dangerous in the 5A playoffs.”
Pennsbury (15-4, 9-1 SOL) will travel to #6 Ridley for a second round district game on Wednesday. Upper Moreland (12-4, 9-1), the fourth seed in 5A, will host fifth-seeded Bishop Shanahan in a second round game Wednesday.
Pennsbury 18-8-5-5 36
Upper Moreland 2-5-11-5 23
Pennsbury (36) – Sofia Vitucci 2, Ava Sciolla 18, Abbi Nassivera 2, Kiley Haws 5, Bella Arcuri 5, Layla Matthias 2, Dani Sherman 2.
Upper Moreland (23) – Kat Morrow 3, Kaiya Herb 4, EmmyFaith Wood 11, Holly Guhl 5.
3-point goals: Pennsbury – Ava Sciolla, Kiley Haws, Bella Arcuri, UM – Kat Morrow, EmmyFaith Wood.
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