Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. PW/Upper Dublin photos courtesy of Larry Small. Neshaminy/CR North photos courtesy of John Gleeson, and New Hope-Solebury/Tennent photos courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for galleries of all three games: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f226313402 (CB East/Souderton photos provided courtesy of Diane Barry/CBE Basketball. Hatboro-Horsham photo provided courtesy of Diane Waeltz/HH basketball)
SOL Patriot Division
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 44, PENNSBURY 41
The Falcons led for the better part of Tuesday night’s contest, but when it mattered most down the stretch, the Golden Hawks came up big, outscoring their visitors 11-4 in the final quarter to earn the big win.
“This was a good win for our program, and I’m really happy for the girls and very proud of them,” Rock South coach Blair Klumpp said. “It’s the first time we beat Pennsbury since Frank (Sciolla’s) first year when I was an assistant for Jay Rapp, so they have had our number for some time.
“It was a tightly contested game throughout. Everyone knows the talent Pennsbury lost through graduation- starting off with Ava (Sciolla) and Nicole (Pompili), but they have always had a calling card of intensity, toughness, and tremendous execution under Frank, and that has remained. They have a lot of talent over there – (Sofia) Vitucci is a headliner, but (Nevaeh) Dash and (Layla) Matthias play with so much effort, energy, and toughness – you always have to account for them as well. Frank always has them prepared, and in order to beat them, you have to – at a bare minimum – match their toughness and intensity while hitting some shots and executing yourself. I thought we did that for some stretches tonight.”
No one hit bigger shots for the Golden Hawks than Jess Mangoni – whose 13 first-half points kept Rock South in it. They trailed by just a 24-22 score at the intermission. In the third quarter, Vitucci erupted for 11 of her game-high 33 points, but Karissa Smedley kept the Hawks close with eight points. Pennsbury took a 37-33 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We had some mental lapses, and Sofia made us pay – she played really well,” Klumpp said. “She had a buzzer beater at the end of the first quarter that was defended so well, and she hit a few other tightly contested shots. Her ability to score at all three levels is really impressive.
“KP (Katie Purpura) drew the tough task of guarding her the majority of the night and played her really tough for the most part. Sometimes good offense beats good defense. Vitucci did that a few times tonight. We had some other girls who also had some runs guarding her – Cam Gregory, Lil Metrick, Lily Bross and Kathryn O’Kane. We just tried to throw some different looks at her, and the rest of the girls had an awareness of where she was too. The few times we didn’t or didn’t communicate she made us pay. I thought Lil Metrick also did a good job on Dash. She is someone who has given us fits in years prior.”
In the pivotal fourth quarter, Metrick and Mangoni both had four points for the Hawks, and Purpura had a big three.
“Our girls did a good job taking care of the ball with a lead and three-plus minutes left,” Klumpp said. “We have worked on that situationally, and the girls executed that well. We have some other things we can still improve on situationally and work on, and the girls have been locked in which is a credit to them.
“We had some timely 3s in the half by Lil Metrick, LB (Bross) and KP that were good shots off ball movement. This was another game where we assisted in over 70 percent of our field goals. Smed (Karissa Smedley) had some big steals in second half that led to transition opportunities as well that helped us get going a little bit, and in a tight game, those spark type plays that she and KP provided at times were big. Metrick also came up with a big loose ball off of press break late in the game that looked like a 50/50 ball. Those are things we constantly emphasize.”
Mangoni’s 17 points and four rebounds led the Indians. Smedley added 12 points and Metrick had six. Smedley also had three steals and two assists. Purpura’s six assists led the Hawks. She also had two steals. O’Kane had three helpers and two steals. Bross also had two steals.
“Jess was REALLY good tonight,” Klumpp said. “I talked to her Saturday about getting her feet under her and letting her game come to her a bit. She certainly did that tonight. She was very efficient in getting to her 17 points. She also led us in rebounding. Her rotational help defense was very good in spots too.
“Jess started as a sophomore and was injured last year. She started earlier this year for us, and I talked to her about finding better ways to utilize her in matchups and maximize her versatility, and we felt this was a matchup in which she could have a strong game with how we wanted to approach it, and all the credit to her – she trusted us and really came through.
“She is locked in to what we say, what we are trying to accomplish daily in practice as well as game plans and is centered on the team goals we laid out prior to the year. Her trust in all of those things paid off for her tonight. Her teammates also did a great job of finding her in good spots, and she played well off them and the trust we all have in her. This was a good win for the group, to be able to win another different style of game and continue to grow in confidence and trust in one another. We told the girls to enjoy it tonight, but we have got to be ready to go for Truman tomorrow night.”
Sciolla tipped his hat to the Golden Hawks.
“Great win tonight for Council Rock South,” the Falcons’ coach said. “Jess Mangoni was unbelievable. I think she only missed one shot, and you have to feel for a kid like that coming off the injury that she had.
“South is really athletic, and they are loaded with basketball talent. They can put five people out at a time that are able to shoot. It makes them difficult to guard.”
Vitucci’s 23 points included two 3-pointers and a 3-for-4 effort at the foul line. Layla Matthias added nine points.
“Sophia was incredible for us tonight scoring from every possible way,” Sciolla said. “We had some people battling some health issues and she really stepped up.
“Layla Matthias plays impossibly hard. She does everything and more that she’s asked. I would really like to see the hard effort on the backboard and on defense be modeled and followed by as many of our girls as possible. It’s time for us to become more effective on the offensive backboard, and she is a great person to follow
“As I’ve said, before, this type of game it is going to be every night for us this year. I’m happy we were able to hang out all night, but tonight we were not able to get over the hump. Credit Council Rock South for that.”
Council Rock South (5-1, 3-1 SOL) will be on the road at Harry S Truman on Wednesday, and Pennsbury (6-2, 3-1) will host Council Rock North in the Falcons’ Coaches vs Cancer contest on Thursday.
Pennsbury 15-9-13-4 41
Council Rock South 12-10-11-11 44
Pennsbury (41) – Emily Panara 1 2-2 4; Presley Foote 0 0-1 0; Layla Matthias 4 1-1 9; Danielle Sherman 0 0-2 0; Sofia Vitucci 10 3-4 23; Nevaeh Dash 1 0-0 2; Daniella MacDonald 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 16 6-10 41.
Council Rock South (44) – Kathryn O’Kane 1 0-2 2; Liliana Metrick 1 1-2 4; Lily Bross 2 0-0 6; Katie Purpura 1 0-0 3; Karisssa Smedley 5 2-2 12; Jess Mangoni 7 0-0 17; TOTALS 17 3-6 44.
3-point goals: Pennsbury – Sofia Vitucci 2, Daniella MacDonald; CRS – Jess Mangoni 3, Lily Bross 2, Liliana Metrick, Katie Purpura.
NESHAMINY 38, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 34
Sparked by the 17-point effort of Lola Ibarrondo, the Redskins – who took a 16-14 lead into halftime – earned the hard-fought win over a spirited Rock North squad.
“I mentioned in my pre-season comments that SOL games in our division will have ‘razor thin’ margins – tonight we were on the good side of that razor,” Neshaminy coach John Gallagher said. “We had no fouls in the first half, which probably spoke towards our defensive intensity. While we only gave up 14 first half points, Jaden (Wan) had 10 of them.
“At halftime, I moved Reese (Zemitis) on to Jaden, and the players explained to me that their ball swings were so crisp and quick that we could not properly stop Jaden from getting good inside position. So, in addition to moving Reese on Jaden, we did a better job applying ball pressure on the perimeter players, so the ball could not be swung as quickly.”
The change in strategy paid dividends – Wan did not score in the second half, but Delaney McCaffery picked up the slack, scoring all nine of her points in the second half. Lizzie Lustig had a pair of second-half 3s, and Ruth O’Keefe added five points, but Ibarrondo’s 10 points along with six points from Zemitis allowed the Redskins to maintain their edge over the Indians.
“Lola led us in scoring tonight, but more importantly she hit big baskets at critical times,” Gallagher said. “Her back-to-back 3’s in the third quarter were huge when we struggled to score.
“Jack Kelly has North playing with a bunch of enthusiasm and effort. That does not discredit their skill and execution on both ends of the floor tonight. I need to find a way to muster the same effort, enthusiasm and execution from our girls on a more consistent basis.”
In addition to Ibarrondo, Zemitis and Taylor Gurysh each had eight points. Gurysh also had five rebounds, three assists and two steals while Zemitis had four rebounds and two blocked shots.
Only four players contributed scoring for the Redskins while the Indians, who did not take a trip to the foul line, had five players in the scoring column.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well this evening and that was because of the CR North players,” Gallagher said. “While driving home, I thought to myself last year we would have lost that game, and I will take that as a huge positive as we head into the Bensalem game on Thursday.”
Neshaminy (5-2, 3-1 SOL) will travel to Bensalem Thursday, and Council Rock North (5-1, 3-1) will be on the road at Pennsbury on Thursday.
Council Rock North 8-6-10-10 34
Neshaminy 11-5-10-12 38
Council Rock North (34) – Kiera Katz 2 0-0 4; Lizzie Lustig 2 0-0 6; Delaney McCaffery 4 0-0 9; Jaden Wan 5 0-0 10; Ruth O’Keefe 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 15 0-0 34
Neshaminy (38) – Lola Ibarrondo 6 3-6 17, Taylor Gurysh 2 4-4 8, Reese Zemitis 2 3-6 8, Jess Purdy 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 12 10-16 38
3-point goals: CRN – Lizzie Lustig 2, Delaney McCaffery, Ruth O’Keefe; Neshaminy – Lola Ibarrondo 2, Jess Purdy, Reese Zemitis.
BENSALEM 56, HARRY S TRUMAN 22
Amber Howard scored 18 points – 15 in the opening half – to propel the visiting Owls to a 31-13 halftime lead on their way to the win over their neighboring rival.
“Big congratulations to Ariana Jenkins and Victoria Matheiu on their first varsity points,” Bensalem coach Steve Johnson said.
The Owls, who led 9-6 after one quarter, buried eight 3-pointers in the contest – two each by Howard, Kylie Smith, Talia DiMichele and Mikayla Donahue. All three contributed eight points while Sydney McCoy had six.
Shylah McCleve’s eight points led the Tigers.
Bensalem (3-3, 2-2 SOL) will host Neshaminy on Thursday, and Harry S Truman (0-4, 0-3) will host Council Rock South on Wednesday.
Bensalem 9-22-19-6 56
Harry S Truman 6-7-7-2 22
Bensalem (56) – Talia DiMichele 3 0-0 8; Mary Beck 0 0-2 0; Victoria Mathieu 0 2-2 2; Mikayla Donahue 3 0-0 8; Mackenzie Kramer 1 2-4 4; Sydney McCoy 3 0-0 6; Kylie Smith 3 0-1 8; Ariana Jenkins 0 2-2 2; Amber Howard 6 4-8 18; TOTALS 19 10-19 56.
Harry S Truman (22) – Saniya Blount 1 0-0 2; Camille Monroe 1 0-0 2; Secret McCleve 2 0-0 4; Shylah McCleve 3 2-2 8; Ya’mazijah Thomas 0 1-2 1; Patricia Monroe 2 1-2 5; TOTALS 9 4-6 22.
3-point goals: Bensalem – Amber Howard 2, Kylie Smith 2, Mikayla Donahue 2, Talia DiMichele 2.
SOL Colonial Division
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 50, PENNRIDGE 44
The Bucks received contributions up and down their lineup, opening up a 31-21 halftime lead and then holding off every Ram comeback attempt in the second half to notch the important road win.
“It was a great win,” West coach Zach Sibel said. “I think this was the team win that we needed. We had Ty Henkels step up huge against South (in a win on Friday), and I think that really got our momentum going.
“One thing we told the girls this week – ‘Be ready to answer the bell. When your name is called or when we need you, be ready to go.’”
The Rams came out firing on all cylinders, opening up a 7-2 lead with Katie Yoder accounting for five of those points, but by the end of the quarter, the Bucks led 12-9 and extended that by halftime.
“We just moved the ball,” Sibel said of his team’s strong finish to the quarter. “We have some experience, we went through some growing pains of playing some different roles early, and tonight we saw girls really own their roles.
“This was one of our better wins in the last several years just because of the way we did it. I have to give Pennridge a lot of credit – they have players. Their coach is doing a great job with them, and they play hard every possession. Even when we were up a little bit, we knew they were going to throw some punches.”
The Rams outscored the Bucks 9-4 in the third quarter to make it a 35-30 game heading into the final quarter that saw the Bucks hold a 15-14 edge.
Acccording to Sibel, this win was the consummate team effort.
“We got great post play out of (Alexis) Castro tonight,” the Bucks’ coach said. “She got the monkey off her back. She’s been sitting at nine rebounds a game, and she finally broke into the double-double today. She had 10 points and 12 rebounds.
“Ava Longo was solid. She’s been that rock solid senior that we need. She had nine points and seven rebounds, and that’s huge when you get that kind of production, and Katie Finnan stepped up. I said it last week – it’s good to get her back in the starting lineup. Tonight she really settled in. She played under control, she commanded the offense.
“Tai Henkels was getting face guarded from Anna Croyle, who had just done an incredible job on Anna Berry, which is no easy task. The coolest thing with that is – Katie stepped up, and Tai was a leader. Instead of saying, ‘Okay, I’m not getting shots tonight,’ she found some baskets in transition, and she defended. We can put Tai Henkels on anybody, and we know she’s going to play with incredible effort.
“Mia Perry came off the bench and hit a huge three to tie it at seven when we really needed some bench play, and then Gabi Senior got things going. She had some foul trouble early – a clerical error by our coaching staff, and we left her play with three fouls unknowingly, and she picked up her fourth. We sat her all the third quarter, but when she came in in the fourth, she played great – hit some big free throws for us, so it was really neat to see the maturity of this team.”
Finnan’s 13 points led the Bucks. Castro added 10, Longo had nine and Henkels finished with six points.
Yoder led all scorers with 24 points, which included four 3-pointers. Anna Croyle added seven points, and Ella Brown had six.
“Yoder hit some incredible shots down the stretch to make it a close game at the end, and Anna Croyle is just a stud,” Sibel said. “She’s a great athlete. Both of those two kind of killed us getting to the rim a little bit but not because a lack of effort. I thought our girls were playing solid defense, but there’s a reason why no basketball games end 0-0 – good offense sometimes beats good defense. I thought those two did a really good job tonight, and their coach put them in good positions for that.
“It was cool to see our girls respond. Instead of taking a step back, continuing to throw punches and move forward. We got the baskets we needed tonight.”
Central Bucks West (3-3, 2-2 SOL) will host Souderton on Thursday, and Pennridge (4-3, 1-3) will travel to Central Bucks South on Thursday.
Central Bucks West 12-19-4-15 50
Pennridge 9-12-9-14 44
Central Bucks West (50) – Gabi Senior 2 1-2 5; Tai Henkels 2 2-2 6; Katie Finnan 5 1-2 13; Nia Perry 1 0-0 3; Alexis Castro 4 2-3 10; Ava Longo 2 4-4 9; Gabby Reichner 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 18 10-13 50.
Pennridge (44) – Ella Brown 2 1-2 6; Grace Rosica 2 0-0 4; Anna Croyle 3 1-1 7; Katie Yoder 9 2-3 24; Olivia Poole 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 17 4-6 44.
3-point goals: CBW – Katie Finnan 2, Nia Perry, Ava Longo; Pennridge – Katie Yoder 4, Ella Brown, Oliva Poole.
SOUDERTON 36, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 34
Lynn Carroll could hardly be blamed if she felt a sense of déjà vu during Tuesday’s division battle at Central Bucks East. The defending division champion Indians trailed by three at halftime and still found themselves on the short end of a 36-33 score heading into the final quarter.
The Indians coach and her players hadn’t forgotten last year’s only league loss – 30-27 – at CB East. This time, however, they regrouped, outscoring their hosts 13-8 in the final quarter to escape with the win.
“I expected this to be a game that we were just going to have to gut it out and find a way to win,” Carroll said. “Liz (Potash) is very good at figuring out strengths and weaknesses of the other teams, and she gets her kids to buy into what she wants them to do defensively.
“At the end of the game, we were walking back to the locker room, and (assistant coach) Ed (Holzer) said, ‘Good teams find a way to win these games,’ and he’s right. A step further than that – last year we lost this game. It was very, very similar.
“The fear is when you’re supposed to win a game, and all of a sudden we’re down at halftime. It’s a close game, it’s back and forth. You can start to tighten up and doubt yourself and doubt the system and doubt a lot of things. I think we pushed through that and made the plays at the end of the game to win it.”
The Indians received clutch plays from several players down the stretch.
“Erin (Bohmueller) hit two huge, huge 3s in the second half, and her fourth quarter three gave us the lead for the first time since the end of the first quarter,” Carroll said. “That put us up two, and then we went back and forth and swapped baskets.
“Teya McConnaha scored in the paint which gave us the lead for good, but down the stretch when we missed two front ends of a one-and-one up one (point), Teya both times got the offensive rebounds. Both times it was under 30 seconds. She got the offensive rebound, got the ball out, we got fouled, 
missed the second front-end of a one-and-one, and she got the offensive rebound. Teya got fouled, made one of two. There was under 10 seconds left. I believe they were out of timeouts, and they pushed the ball – they got a good look that didn’t fall.”
McConnaha led the Indians with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
“Teya got a double-double, and two of those rebounds and two of those points were just crucial in the win,” Carroll said. “Who knows what happens up one and we don’t get those offensive rebounds.
“Always, always you have to give credit to Liz and what she does. I’m proud of our girls for finding ways to get stops at the end and making enough plays to win it.”
Bohmueller finished with 10 points and three assists. Brooke Fenchel added four assists. Casey Harter had eight points.
The Patriots were led by the 11-point efforts of Erin LeRay and Kendall Gregor. Anna Barry added six points. LeRay had seven in the first half while Gregor had six and were instrumental in the Patriots jumping out to a halftime lead.
“East had kids that stepped up and played very well,” Carroll said. “Erin LeRay had a really good game. She hit a three, she was going to the basket hard, and Kendall Gregor had a solid game for them offensively.
“They executed their game plan very, very well, and we have to do a better job of just playing basketball. We’re running plays a little bit too much. I have a team of really smart basketball players. We just need to continue seeing options outside of plays.”
East coach Liz Potash lauded the defensive effort of Barry on Harter and Chantal Van Dongeran’s post defense despite giving up six-plus inches.
“Erin LeRay’s help defense was tremendous,” Potash said.
Souderton (5-1, 4-0 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Thursday, and Central Bucks East (4-2, 2-2) will be on the road at North Penn Thursday.
Souderton 10-5-8-13 36
Central Bucks East 8-10-8-8 34
Souderton (36) – Erin Bohmueller 4 0-0 10; Brooke Fenchel 1 0-0 2; Mikayla McGillian 2 0-0 5; Casey Harter 4 0-2 8; Teya McConnaha 4 3-6 11; TOTALS 15 3-8 36.
Central Bucks East (34) – Erin LeRay 5 0-0 11; Natalie Berndt 1 0-0 3; Shayne LeRay 0 1-2 1; Anna Barry 1 4-6 6; Chantal Van Dongeren 1 0-0 2; Kendall Gregor 4 1-4 11; TOTALS 12 6-12 34.
3-point goals: Souderton – Erin Bohmueller 2, Mikayla McGillian; CBE – Kendall Gregor 2, Erin LeRay, Natalie Berndt.
NORTH PENN 62, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 45
The Knights have shown a remarkable ability to put points on the board, averaging 50 points a game through six games. That trend continued in Tuesday night’s win as three players once again scored in double figures. They also threw some defense at the Titans, allowing just six points in each of the first two quarters on their way to a 24-12 halftime lead.
In the first half, Olivia Stone had the hot hand, scoring nine points in the second quarter. In a 23-point third quarter, Abby Plaugher’s seven points led five players who scored. South’s Yoyo Samayoa had a huge quarter of her own, scoring 13 points.
Heading into the fourth quarter, the Knights had a 46-27 lead on their way to the big win.
Plaugher’s 19 points – which included a pair of 3s – led the Knights. Stone also had a pair of 3s and finished with 14 points while Caleigh Sperling, who had points in all four quarters, added 13. Sperling was a perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line. Kelly Donnelly added eight points.
Samayoa led all scorers with 23 points, burying four 3-pointers in a glittering offensive effort. Mia Klein, who was 4-for-4 at the foul line, added eight points, and Jules Tropea had seven.
North Penn (4-3, 3-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks East on Thursday, and Central Bucks South (1-5, 0-4) will host Pennridge on Thursday.
North Penn 11-13-22-16 62
Central Bucks South 6-6-15-18 45
North Penn (62) – Cameron Crowley 1 0-0 2; Caleigh Sterling 3 6-6 13; Abby Plaugher 8 1-1 19; Kelly Donnelly 3 1-2 8; Olivia Stone 5 2-2 14; Olivia Stevens 1 0-0 2; Tallie Smink 1 2-4 4; TOTALS 22 12-15 62.
Central Bucks South (45) – Ella Wheeler 2 0-0 4; Casey Balker 1 0-0 2; Jules Tropea 3 1-2 7; Yoyo Samayoa 8 3-5 23; Gabby Tropea 0 1-4 1; TOTALS 16 9-15 45.
3-point goals: NP – Abby Plaugher 2, Olivia Stone 2, Caleigh Sperling, Kelly Donnelly; CBS – Yoyo Samayoa.
SOL Liberty Division
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 33, UPPER DUBLIN 29
Defense is the calling card of Upper Dublin under coach Morgan Funsten, and in Tuesday’s Liberty Division showdown, his young Cardinal squad made life very uncomfortable for a PW squad that averaged close to 52 points a contest through six
games.
“It was a very classic Upper Dublin game,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “He (Funsten) had six days to get ready, and his girls incredibly well prepared and fired up. Our girls just found a way to win at the end.”
The Colonials won because Erin Daley – whose 14 points led all scorers – was unstoppable during a key stretch in the second half. It came after the upstart Cardinals opened up a seven-point lead early in the second half (25-18).
“This was our first huge game, and you’re wondering how they’re going to respond,” said Funsten, whose team trailed 18-17 at halftime. “They came out played great, focused. They followed the game plan, made some shots to start the third quarter and got up by seven.
“Following that, we probably had our three worst defensive possessions of the game. We had done a great job of keeping Daley off the offensive glass – she’s such a great offensive rebounder, and she gets so many of her points that way.
“Not only does she rebound, she also scores immediately after she gets offensive rebounds. Their next six points came from Daley off offensive rebounds – two baskets, and she made two foul shots when she got fouled after an offensive rebound. You take those three possessions away – there’s not much else that our girls did wrong defensively throughout the entire night.”
Despite Daley’s strong showing in the quarter, the Flying Cardinals still took a 27-24 lead into the final quarter when it was Abby Sharpe’s turn to take center stage. The UPenn commit scored eight points in a quarter that saw the Colonials outscore their visitors 9-2 to eke out the win.
“You look at the fourth quarter – Sharpe made three unbelievable shots,” Funsten said. “We said before the game – ‘Girls, it’s going to be a battle, force them to make tough shots.’ After the game, I asked the girls, ‘What did you think about your defense in the fourth quarter. They made some shots. Did we force them to take tough shots like the game plan was?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah.’
“I said, ’All right, sometimes you have to tip your cap.’ We know how good Sharpe is. A lot of credit to her. There were very few possessions in the fourth quarter. They possessed the ball at one point for over three minutes towards the end. Our girls stayed disciplined. We ended up getting a shot to tie the game with 10 seconds to go – a clean look from Megan Ngo at the top of the key down three. You can’t ask for much more than that. I’ll bet money next time she has that shot she’s making it. There’s a lot of positives to take from this game.”
The Colonials – according to their coach – simply found a way to win in the second half.
“We were up by two, and AJ Avery hit a huge free throw to put us up by three,” Dougherty said. “Once we went up by three, there was 40 seconds to go. We had three fouls to give, so we would let the ball get in and try to trap or tie them up. We were able to take about 30 seconds off the clock doing that. But just because a kid misses doesn’t mean you played good defense. We had a complete breakdown mentally, and Megan Ngo has a wide open three that would have tied the game.
“Upper Dublin outhustled our kids, outrebounded us. It was incredibly frustrating. Erin Daley really bailed the team out tonight. It was a good test. We keep telling the girls – we’re trying to build to February. We want to be playing our best basketball in February. We were incredibly lucky to have won that game. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky that good.”
Early on, the Cardinals served notice that they were going to make life difficult for the Colonials, and they trailed by just a 9-8 score after one quarter and still were down by just one at halftime. Daley – who had a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter – led the Colonials with eight points while freshman Colleen Besachio had eight – including two 3s – for the Cardinals.
“In the first half, we were attacking the basket but not finishing towards the basket,” Dougherty said. “We were taking some bad transition shots, and we missed a couple open looks too.
“Their number 35 (Besachio) also had a couple of nice blocks in the first half. (Megan Ngo) did an excellent job running the point. They have two Brady sisters (Nora and Brighid) that were glued to Abby Sharpe.
“I thought we gave up some buckets to Upper Dublin, especially early in the game, off of defensive breakdowns that were really frustrating to watch happen.”
Daley’s 14 points led the Colonials.
“Erin Daley was spectacular tonight,” Dougherty said. “Erin Daley wanted that game tonight. She was fantastic offensively, defensively.”
Sharpe added 11 as the two veterans carried the offensive load for the Colonials.
Besachio’s 11 points led the Cardinals while Ngo added nine. Besachio also had 11 rebounds, four blocked shots and two assists while Ngo had six rebounds. Alaina Sanders added five rebounds.
“Colleen Besachio had another double-double tonight with 11 points and 11 rebounds,” Funsten said. “Megan Ngo was the steadying force against their press, which is such an effective press. Alaina Sanders did a great job on Erin Daley. Nora Brady did a great job on Abby Sharpe.
“It’s always a team effort. You can’t guard Abby Sharpe one-on-one. It’s not just Nora, but Nora did a good job of keeping her in front. Alaina did her best to try keep Daley off the glass. A few possessions we would like back defensively. It’s a great learning experience for us.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (6-1, 3-1 SOL) will travel to Wissahickon on Thursday, and Upper Dublin (3-2, 2-1) will host Hatboro-Horsham on Thursday.
Upper Dublin 8-9-10-2 29
Plymouth Whitemarsh 9-9-6-9 33
Upper Dublin (29) – Brighid Brady 2 0-0 5; Alaina Sanders 1 0-0 2; Megan Ngo 3 2-2 9; Colleen Besachio 4 0-0 11; Nora Brady 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 11 2-2 29
Plymouth Whitemarsh (33) – Angelina Balcer 2 1-1 5; AJ Avery 1 1-2 3; Erin Daley 5 2-2 14; Abby Sharpe 4 1-1 11; TOTALS 12 5-6.
3-poing goals: UD – Colleen Besachio 3, Brighid Brady, Megan Ngo; PW – Abby Sharpe 2, Erin Daley 2.
QUAKERTOWN 46, HATBORO-HORSHAM 24
Carolyn Sipprell turned in another monster performance for the Panthers, scoring a game-high 26 points and pulling down 19 rebounds. For good measure, she also had five steals.
“Eleven of her rebounds were offensive – she works hard finding those and converting them into easy buckets even with multiple girls around her,” Quakertown coach Brittany Bamford said.
Katie Catalano added 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Kayla Sicher added six points in a contest that saw just three Panthers put their names in the scoring column. Sicher also was a force under the backboards.
“Kayla grabbed 11 rebounds for us tonight and took quality shots that went in at important moments,” Bamford said. “Katie Catalano’s offense has been steady for us as she has been shooting the ball really well.”
The Hatters – behind eight points from Leah Harrington – held a 13-12 lead after one quarter. The two teams were deadlocked 19 apiece at halftime. Sipprell’s 11 points led the Panthers while Catalano had six.
The second half belonged to the Panthers, who outscored their visitors 20-4 in the third quarter. Sipprell was impossible to guard in the frame, scoring 13 points. The Hatters scored just five points in the second half.
“We were able to switch up our defenses against them,” Bamford said. “In the second half, we were much more patient on offense. Hatboro did a great job on their offensive rebounds which we need to get better at grabbing those defensive rebounds. This was a good win for us tonight.”
Harrington’s eight points led the Hatters.
“It was a disappointing game for us,” HH assistant coach Nicole Miletto said. “Not so much because of the outcome, but the effort wasn’t there from the girls tonight.
“We played two tough games last week that the girls gave their all at both ends. Tonight, it wasn’t there. Credit goes to Quakertown. They’re a good team -they have some nice players and they outhustled us in every category. They beat us on the offensive and defensive boards. They were getting second and third shots and knocking down jump shots. We didn’t go hard to the basket and didn’t get to the line.
“Our shots just weren’t falling tonight. We handled their pressure as the game went on, but they just outplayed us. To say we struggled in the second half would be an understatement. You’re not going to compete let alone win games if you only score five points in the half. We have to quickly look past this and hopefully learn from our mistakes as we get ready for another tough battle against Upper Dublin.”
Quakertown (4-4, 2-2 SOL) will travel to Abington Wednesday, and Hatboro-Horsham (3-4, 1-3) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Thursday.
Hatboro-Horsham 13-6-4-1 24
Quakertown 12-7-20-7 46
Hatboro-Horsham (24) – Caroline Shegogue 1 1-4 3; Abby Waeltz 1 3-4 5; Kitty Randa 3 0-0 6; Allie Hewish 1 0-0 2; Leah Harrington 3 0-0 8; TOTALS 9 4-8 24.
Quakertown (46) – Carolyn Sipprell 8 9-12 26; Katie Catalano 4 2-2 14; Kayla Sicher 2 2-2 6; TOTALS 14 13-16 46.
3-point goals: HH – Leah Harrington 2; Quakertown – Katie Catalano 4, Carolyn Sipprell.
ABINGTON 75, WISSAHICKON 36
The Ghosts turned in another torrid offensive performance, burying 10 3-pointers and scoring 20 or more points in three of four quarters on their way to the decisive win.
Cire Worley led the Ghosts with 18 points, which included three 3-pointers. Abril Bowser also had three 3s and finished with 14 points. Harper McGinley contributed nine points, including two 3s, and Jordyn Reynold, who connected a pair from beyond the arc, added eight points. Maya Johnson and Sarah Oleary both had six in a contest that saw the Ghosts open up a 20-6 lead after one quarter.
The Trojans answered with a 17-point second quarter and trailed 31-23 at halftime. The Ghosts put the game out of reach with a 23-6 third quarter.
Kaitlyn McGeary collected a double-double to lead the Trojans, finishing with 12 points, 11 rebounds, one assist and one block. Kylie Friedman also had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists. Claira Baldasano added six points and two rebounds.
Abington (6-1 3-0 SOL) will host Quakertown on Wednesday, and Wissahickon (2-4, 0-4) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday.
Abington 20-11-23-21 75
Wissahickon 6-17-6-7 36
Abington (75) – Cire Worley 6 0-0 15; Maya Johnson 3 0-0 6; Harper McGinley 3 1-1 9; Abril Bowser 5 1-2 14; Mikiaya Durham 3 2-4 9; Jordyn Reynolds 3 0-0 8; Piper McGinley 2 0-0 5; Sarah Oleary 3 0-0 6; Maura Day 0 0-2 0; Florence Ajunwa 1 1-4 3; TOTALS 29 5-13 75.
Wissahickon (36) – Kaitlyn McGeary 3 6-8 12; Julia Lettieri 1 0-0 2; Kylie Friedman 6 0-2 12; Chloe Acuna 1 0-0 2; Claira Baldasano 3 0-0 6; Skye Sydney 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 15 6-10 36.
3-point goals: Abington – Cire Worley 3, Abril Bowser 3, Harper McGinley 2, Jordyn Reynolds 2, Mikiaya Durham, Piper McGinley.
SOL Freedom Division
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 53, WILLIAM TENNENT 42
Reagan Chrencik was in some kind of groove.
The New Hope senior buried four 3-pointers and scored 18 first-half points, propelling the Lions to a commanding 37-17
halftime lead. The Panthers didn’t go down quietly, pulling to within seven, but they would get no closer as the Lions held on for the win.
“It was a tale of two halves,” New Hope coach Steve Polinsky said. “I thought we played well in the first half and did not in the second half.
“I thought Tennent totally carried the play in the second half. Kudos to Laura (Whitney) and her team. They kept coming at us, and we did not respond well at all. Win or lose, it’s about playing the right way, and we did not do that in the second half. We need to learn from this and get ready for a tough UM team.”
Chrencik had plenty of help in the first half. Sophomore Izzy Elizondo scored all 10 of her points in the opening half, and freshman Gabby D’Agostino – who finished with 12 points – added seven.
Alyssa Lewicki’s six points led the Panthers in the first half.
The Panthers came to life in the second half, outscoring their hosts 25-16. Morgan Volz’s nine points led the charge.
“I said – if a loss could ever feel like a win, if there are moral victories, this would be one, for sure,” Tennent coach Laura Whitney said. “Steve (Polinsky) is such a great coach. His teams are always so prepared. They’re such a talented team. They can score points in bunches quickly, and they have so many offensive weapons. It’s like – ‘Pick your poison, who are you going to take away?’
“Coming into this game, our focus was on trying to put a complete 32 minutes together. Some of the earlier games we
played this season where we played some higher caliber teams – we’ve only been able to put a great performance or a great effort together for a first half. We never were able to compete with them in the second half, so coming into tonight, that was really our focus, trying to see if we could put a full game together and just try to compete and see what happens.”
What happened was the Panthers turned a rout into a game that threatened to get very interesting. Ella Mednick had a pair of 3s in the second half – she had three in the game and finished with nine. Halie Staub and Alyssa Lewicki each had six points.
Whitney pointed to a stretch in the first half that was pivotal in determining the outcome.
“First quarter was kind of back and forth,” the Panthers’ coach said. “It was close, but the last two minutes of the first quarter and the entire second quarter – for that 10-minute run right there, New Hope just went off on us. Our girls kind of put their heads down a little bit, kind of took themselves out of the game, stopped playing a little bit.
“At halftime, we really challenged the girls to take some pride and just be tougher with the ball, execute better offensively. I have to give our girls a ton of credit. The way they responded in the second half, to come out the way they did, they played with so much more confidence, and we were able to mix up our defenses to kind of throw them off a little bit, forced them into some quicker shots – it kind of worked to our advantage, and offensively, we had better ball movement, better looks.
“We got the shots we wanted. It was like a complete turnaround from the first half to the second half. We were able to get the game to seven, and with a little over a minute left, we had to play the foul game just to give ourselves a chance to get the ball back. I’m extremely proud of the way our girls fought to come back and. It’s a shame we could play like that the whole game. Who knows what the outcome would have been. Nonetheless, I’m really, really happy with our effort and performance tonight.”
New Hope-Solebury (5-2, 4-0 SOL) will host Upper Moreland in a battle of the division’s lone unbeaten squads on Thursday. William Tennent (4-3, 2-2) will travel to Lower Moreland on Thursday.
New Hope-Solebury 18-19-7-9 53
William Tennent 10-7-10-15 42
New Hope-Solebury (53) – Izzy Elizondo 5 0-0 10; Emily Wilson 2 0-0 4; Reagan Chrencik 8 6-6 27; Gabby D’Agostino 3 5-6 12; TOTALS 18 11-12 53.
William Tennent (42) – Ella Mednick 3 0-0 9; Avery Kocur 1 0-0 2; Halie Staub 2 2-4 6; Alyssa Lewicki 3 0-0 6; Haley Dickson 1 0-0 2; Jess Whisler 2 0-0 5; Morgan Volz 5 2-4 12; TOTALS 17 4-8 42.
3-point goals: NHS – Reagan Chrencik 5, Gabby D’Agostino; WT – Ella Mednick 3, Jess Whisler.
UPPER MORELAND 51, CHELTENHAM 26
EmmyFaith Wood and Holly Gohl proved to be double trouble for the Lady Panthers. The duo combined for 36 points with Wood’s 19 points leading all scorers. Both players buried three 3-pointers.
Alyssa Wiley added seven points – five in a first quarter that saw Gohl score six as the Golden Bears opened up a 13-6 lead and extended that to 23-11 by halftime.
“Offensively, I thought we shot the ball very well,” UM coach Matt Carroll said. “EmmyFaith was active and getting into transition and getting some easy baskets. Alyssa got us started early as she has done a couple times this year. Holly got a couple easy baskets too.
“Our biggest issue was our turnovers. We tried to make the perfect pass too many times to girls who were kind of open. We have to be more patient and just let it get easier. We have five skilled players on the court at all times. There’s no reason for us to try to make miraculous plays when we will eventually get a high-percentage shot. When we settled offensively, we were able to start to pull away. EmmyFaith solidified that with a strong third quarter.”
Wood was unstoppable in the third quarter, scoring 11 points while Gohl added five as the Golden Bears put the game out of reach with an 18-7 burst.
“Defensively, I thought we were solid,” Carroll said. “Our post players, mainly Marie (Meyers), Allie (LaRocco), and Holly, played really good help defense. I don’t know for certain, but Holly had to have at least six blocks.
“(Jiah) Price, (Paige) Powell, and (Maya) Simmons for Cheltenham are tough covers. They can really attack the basket and are athletic and strong. They got to the free throw line a little too much, but we were able to limit the damage. Cheltenham is coming. They have good young talent, and no one works harder than Coach Bo (Ben Bowman). They’re going to put it together, and the next time we play them will be much different. Now our focus can be 100 percent on New Hope, and I know both teams are excited for this game.”
Simmons led the Lady Panthers with 10 points, and Price added seven.
“Upper Moreland is a well-coached, talented team, and we are trying to get on that level,” Bowman said. “Right now, things aren’t working for us on either end of the court.
“As a team, we shot 13 percent tonight and that has to get better. We need to refocus and find our identity quickly so we can get back on track.”
Upper Moreland (7-0, 4-0 SOL) will travel to New Hope-Solebury for an early-season division showdown. Cheltenham (3-4, 1-3) will be on the road at Springfield Township Thursday.
Upper Moreland 13-10-18-10 51
Cheltenham 6-5-7-8 26
Upper Moreland (51) – Mikel Lancit 0 0-2 0; Lianna Adames 1 0-0 2; Alyssa Wiley 3 0-2 7; EmmyFaith Wood 8 0-0 19; Lilly Hansen 1 0-0 2; Holly Gohl 7 0-0 17; Marie Meyers 1 0-0 2; Allie LaRocco 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 22 0-4 51.
Cheltenham (26) – Jiah Price 2 2-2 7; Paige Powell 0 2-2 2; Maya Simmons 3 4-7 10; Ijeoma Ojukwu 0 2-2 2; Cassie Bugg 0 3-7 3; Marguerite Reimer 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 6 13-20 26.
3-point goals: Cheltenham -Jiah Price; Upper Moreland – EmmyFaith Wood 3, Holly Gohl 3, Alyssa Wiley.
LOWER MORELAND 40, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 20
Liz Neeld scored 16 points and Brianna McFerran added 11 to lead the Lions to their first division win of the young season.
“We’re finally getting close to being healthy and it showed,” LM coach Rich Becker said. “Our conditioning is still off, but I think we’re getting close to where we were before strep and the flu made its way through our team.
“Brianna is starting to look like herself again, both offensively and defensively. I thought Liz Neeld had one of her better games, she was a beast on the boards tonight and led our team with 16 points. Overall, it was a solid effort by our girls.”
Sparked by seven points from Neeld and five from McFerran, the Lions opened up a 14-4 lead after one quarter, and they took a 21-4 lead into halftime on their way to the win.
“We were able to beat Springfield tonight, but the score is not indicative of where Springfield is as a team,” Becker said of a Spartan squad dealing with the tragic passing of a fellow student. “They are dealing with a lot, and it showed, I give their girls a lot of credit for playing through adversity, and my hats off to Dave (Giordano) for how he’s handling his team and their emotions. We wish them the best.”
Lower Moreland (3-4, 1-3 SOL) will host William Tennent on Thursday, and Springfield Township (2-4, 0-4) will host Cheltenham on Thursday.
Springfield Township 4-0-5-11 20
Lower Moreland 14-7-11-8 40
Springfield Township (20) – Samiyyah Thompson 2 0-0 4; Grace Daily 1 0-0 2; Paige Robinson 1 0-0 2; Delaney Lake 1 0-0 2; Kayla Parsons 1 2-2 4; Devan Nolan 0 0-2 0; Ashley Jenkins 1 0-0 2; Ava Culler 1 2-8 4; TOTALS 8 4-12 20.
Lower Moreland (40) – Brianna McFerran 5 0-1 11; Maddy Rossiter 1 0-0 2; Jess Shein 1 0-0 2; Liz Neeld 7 0-1 16; Nikki Sahl 1 2-4 4; Keira Huber 0 1-2 1; Alexis MacPhee 1 0-0 3; Kayla Quirk 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 16 4-10 40.
3-point goals: LM – Liz Neeld 2, Brianna McFerran, Alexis MacPhee.
About the Author
