Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Thursday. PW/Lower Merion photos provided courtesy of Michael Rice Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos. (CB East/Chester photos courtesy of Diane Barry/CB East basketball)
Non-league
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 34, LOWER MERION 31
The Colonials displayed a flair for the dramatic in Friday’s season opener.
With the score deadlocked at 31, Eliza Meersman buried a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Colonials a lead they would not lose.
“With 16 seconds to go, we called a timeout,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “We set up a play to get the ball in our senior point guard, Kenna Winland’s hands. She drives, the defense collapses, she turns and hits a wide open Eliza Meersman at the top of the key, who drills a wide open 3.
“(There was) still 10 seconds left – we played great D, cause a turnover and win the game.”
The game was a roller coaster ride of emotions for both sides. The Colonials, who led 21-17 at halftime, opened up a 28-20 advantage only to watch the Aces rally to knot the score 31-31, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.
“It was a very back and forth game – typical first game nerves,” Dougherty said.
–Props: “I really want to compliment the play of Olivia Patete. She played all 32 minutes, had four points, eight rebounds, three steals and made a clutch three to stop a Lower Merion run.”
Key players: Eliza Meersman was the catalyst on offense for the Colonials with 18 points. She also had eight rebounds. Grace Harvey had five points and five steals. Olivia Patete added four points, eight rebounds and three steals.
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh will host Lincoln in a non-league game Friday.
Lower Merion 10-7-10-4 31
Plymouth Whitemarsh 10-11-7-6 34
Plymouth Whitemarsh (34) – Liv Patete 1 1-2 4; Kenna Winland 1 0-0 3; Eliza Meersman 8 0-2 18; Brooke Peduzzi 2 0-0 4; Grace Harvey 2 1-2 5; TOTALS 14 2-6 34.
Lower Merion (31) – Ava Shippen 2 0-0 4; Arryannah.Glover 1 0-0 2; Natalia Kasmer 4 0-0 9; Joanna Lu 4 2-2 11; Ella Liberatoscioli 2 1-2 5; TOTALS 13 3-5 31.
3-point goals: LM – Kasmer, Lu; PW – Meersman 2, Winland, Patete.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 62, CHESTER 36
Talk about a ‘tale of two halves’ – this was it.
The Patriots went into halftime trailing the visiting Clippers 25-24, and it looked as though they were in for a dogfight, but then came a 23-5 third quarter by the Patriots that blew the game wide open. All told, they outscored their visitors 38-11 in an inspired second-half performance.
“We went down one to being up 19 going into the fourth quarter,” East coach Liz Potash said. “We played good defense, and it was obviously all on the defensive end, and, of course, once you hit a couple of shots and you see a couple go through – Jess (Lockwood) hit two 3s, Nat (Berndt) had two 3s and Emma (Penecale) had a 3. Once that happened, it opened up the game.
“It was really good competition. We were excited about the game when we got it on the schedule because we got ourselves a really tough non-league schedule. We wanted to make sure we saw every style of play.”
The Patriots buried eight 3-pointers – six in the second half.
Key players: Haley Moran led the Patriots with 18 points, which included two 3s. Jess Lockwood finished with 15 points (3 3s), 9 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists, and Payton Williams added 14 points – 10 in the second half. Natalie Berndt had 10 points with a pair of 3s.
Central Bucks East coach Liz Potash:
–On the game: “It was Chester’s first game of the year. I knew what they had last year, and we only had a game from last year to look at them. We knew they returned four starters. They had a really good year last year – 19 wins on the season. They lost a big starter, but we knew they were returning a lot.
“We were up one at the end of the first, we were down one at the half, and we knew we weren’t playing the way we needed to play to beat them with the style of play they have. The halftime talk was – get back to the way we need to play. Giving up 25 points at
halftime is very uncharacteristic for us. We came out and had a 38-11 second half.
“We had five 3s in the third quarter, which really blew the game open. In the first half, we had a lot of good looks, but we really had trouble finishing.
“Chester’s a good team, and I think they’re going to win a lot of games. We put together a really strong second half, so it was a good one.”
Up next: Central Bucks East (2-0) will host Easton in a non-league game Saturday at noon.
Chester 12-13-5-6 36
C B East 13-11-23-15 62
Chester (36) – A.Naylor 1 0-0 2; I.Dorsey 6 0-0 14; Z.Vann 4 3-8 11; J. Dennis 2 0-3 5; Z.Clark 1 0-0 2; A.Stewart 1 0-2 2; TOTALS 15 3-10 36.
Central Bucks East (62) – Delaney Long 1 0-0 2; Haley Moran 6 4-5 18; Emma Penecale 1 0-0 3; Nat Berndt 3 2-2 10; Payton Williams 7 0-0 14; Jess Lockwood 6 0-0 15; TOTALS 24 6-7 62.
3-point goals: Chester – Dorsey 2, Dennis; CBE – Lockwood 3, Moran 2, Berndt 2, Penecale.
SPRINGFIELD TWP 52, CHICHESTER 25
The outcome of this one was decided early as the Spartans roared out of the gate to a 26-3 lead after one quarter. It was a 41-12 game at halftime, and the second half belonged to the reserves.
Key players: Karly Hartman’s 10 points – all in the second quarter – led the Spartans. Ava Culler scored all nine of her points in the first quarter.
Springfield Twp coach Dave Giordano: “We went into halftime with a big lead, and our reserves played the second half of the game. It was balanced scoring. We shot the ball well from the field and played solid defense.”
Up next: Springfield Twp (4-0) will host Central Bucks West in a non-league game Thursday.
Springfield Twp 26-15-6-5 52
Chichester 3-9-8-5 25
Springfield Twp (52) – Maddie Decker 1 0-0 3; Chloe Kaczor 3 0-0 8; Mary Kate Garry 3 0-0 7; Keira Brandon 2 0-0 4; Ava Culler 5 0-2 10; Maddy Wilson 4 0-2 8; Cosen Powell 1 1-4 3; TOTALS 23 2-10 52.
Chichester (25) – Z.Hayes 1 0-0 3; J.Lyles 4 1-4 11; A.Vancleve 1 0-0 3; M.Shade 0 2-2 2; J.Anderson 1 0-0 3; R Gaye 1 1-3 3; TOTALS 8 4-9 25.
3-point goals: S – Chloe Kaczor 2, Mary Kate Garry, Maddie Decker; C – Lyles 2, Hayes, Anderson, Vancleve.
PENNSBURY 78, NAZARETH ACADEMY 19
Sammie Haws could not miss or at least that’s what it must have seemed like to a Nazareth Academy squad that had no answer for the Falcons’ sharpshooter.
Haws buried five 3-pointers and scored 23 points in a torrid offensive display in the opening half. She finished the game with 25 points.
For the game, the Falcons connected on 14 3-pointers.
Kay players: Sammie Haws scored 25 points, which included six 3-pointers. Keira Socha added 13 points with three 3s, and Alyssa Thomas also finished in double figures with 11 points, which included two 3s. Joley Hohman added eight points with a pair of 3-pointers.
Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla:
–On the game: “We started off really hot again today with a quick three-pointer from Joley Hohman. We did a really good job finding Sammie Haws in transition who did all of her scoring in about 14 minutes. Our pace and space were strong, and for a while we just couldn’t miss. We shot 14-for-26 from 3 and all were assisted. Nazareth just graduated a really good class of players, and they are filling in a number of new people. Our experience in our back court was the difference.”
–Props: “We are really happy with the energy that Milan Reeves brings to us starting the games with her defensive energy and work on the backboards. We also got great contributions off the bench from Keira Socha and Shea Quenzer. and that’s going to be really important for us.”
Up next: Pennsbury (2-0) will host Conwell-Egan in a non-league game Saturday (1:30pm).
Pennsbury 30-17-18-13 78
Nazareth 8-3-4-4 19
Pennsbury (78) – Emily Panero 2 0-0 4; Grace Schaffler 1 0-0 2; Bridget McGonigle 1 0-0 2; Bella Stewart 1 0-0 2; Sammie Haws 11 1-1 25; Alyssa Thomas 4 1-2 11; Shea Quenzer 2 0-0 4; Joley Hohman 3 0-0 8; Keira Socha 4 2-2 13; Milan Reeves 3 0-0 7; TOTALS 30 4-5 78.
Nazareth (19) – McCormack 0 1-2 1; Seravalli 1 4-6 6; Martyn 1 0-2 2; Thomas 1 0-0 2; Bass 2 0-0 6; O’Neill 0 0-2 0; Dalton 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 6 5-12 19.
3-point goals: Pennsbury – Sammie Haws 6, Keira Socha 3, Alyssa Thomas 2, Joley Hohman 2, Milan Reeves; Nazareth – Bass 2.
UPPER PERKIOMEN 38, QUAKERTOWN 16
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