Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Thursday. UD/Abington photos provided courtesy of Geanine Jamison. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL National Conference
Pennsbury 53, Council Rock North 24
Ava Sciolla scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the first quarter, igniting a 21-2 Falcon tear out of the gate. In addition to leading the Falcons in scoring, the sophomore point guard also was a catalyst on defense, finishing with three steals, five forced turnovers and six deflections to go along with four rebounds and two assists.
“We came out and we had some success in pressure,” coach Frank Sciolla said. “Ava was really active up top – just seemingly deflecting every pass or, if not deflecting it, forcing a bad pass that was stolen.
“She also came out aggressive offensively. She’s been a little bit under the weather in the first couple of weeks and felt a lot healthier. We could tell before the game she had her game face on, and obviously, we need that from her.”
The Falcons went on to open a 39-5 halftime lead en route to their first win over Rock North since Jan. 11, 2014 (51-38).
“It’s not something we’ve talked about a great deal just from the standpoint – let’s be honest, there are a lot of teams we haven’t beaten,” Sciolla said. “In the case of North, they had a coaching change really late. Coach (James) Roynan doesn’t get a chance to get in and work with his team at all in the offseason. They had some workouts in the month of October, but he’s trying to get his system in, and they also lost 90 percent of their scoring. They lost four starters, so when you combine the fact that you don’t have a chance to have an offseason with all those losses, it’s going to be difficult.”
Also for the Falcons, Mary Miller had 13 points, three rebounds, three assists, three forced turnovers, two deflections and a steal. Mia Spinelli added seven points, and Bella Arcuri had four steals, three forced turnovers, three deflections and three assists
“Mary Miller was really active for us,” Sciolla said. “She was really aggressive on the fast break and getting out in transition.
“Bella Arcuri was really tough up top. Those three (Sciolla, Miller and Arcuri) are all givens. They have played a lot, and they were successful. Mia Spinelli, who just had her third varsity start, played very well inside. She bangs and does a good job using her body, and she finished.”
The Falcons’ coach also had high praise for sophomore Nicole Pompili, who scored five points – all in the second quarter – and finished with a team-high five steals to go along with two rebounds and two assists.
“You’re always happy with people who are getting new experiences,” Sciolla said. “In the case of tonight’s game, a lot of it points to people who have experience.
“We’ve had people that have had to come in and get significant varsity playing time and do so early on, starting with Nicole Pompili who has really provided an element of toughness as a 10th grader. She got some time last year as a freshman, but this year she’s really stepped up, reading passing lanes. She understands what we do in our pressure and is also able to knock down open shots, and we really need that because of how we play.”
Anna Cairone led the Indians with nine points while Kristen Polinsky added eight.
“Anna Cairone played tough for them as you would expect,” Sciolla said. “She’s one of the better athletes in the area, and she always battles. Abby Jones played tough – she’s just a really good athlete.
“Experience was the key, and we were really good defensively.”
Pennsbury (3-0, 1-0 SOL) will host Bensalem on Thursday, and Council Rock North (1-2, 0-1) will be on the road at Lansdale Catholic on Saturday for a non-league game at noon.
Council Rock North 2-3-11-8 24
Pennsbury 21-18-7-7 53
Council Rock North (24) – Kiera Katz 0 0-1 0; Anna Cairone 4 0-1 9; Riley Hamilton 0 1-2 1; Kristen Polinsky 3 0-0 8; Emma Benson 0 0-2 0; Jaden Wan 2 0-1 4; Abby Jones 0 2-4 2; TOTALS 9 3-11 24.
Pennsbury (53) – Ava Sciolla 6 2-4 16; Abbi Nassivera 1 0-0 2; Kiley Haws 1 0-2 3; Bella Arcuri 2 0-0 5; Emily Friel 1 0-0 2; Mary Miller 4 5-6 13; Mia Spinelli 3 1-2 7; Niicole Pompili 2 0-2 5; Mackenzie Rooney 0 0-1 0; TOTALS 20 8-17 53.
3-point goals: CRN – Kristen Polinsky 2, Anna Cairone, Pennsbury – Ava Sciolla 2, Kiley Haws, Bella Arcuri.
Council Rock South 60, Harry S Truman 47
Nicole Blaustein scored 32 points in a standout offensive effort, and teammate Hannah Binder contributed a double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Golden Hawks to the win in Thursday’s SOL opener. Both players also had three steals and Binder had four blocked shots.
“First of all, I want to say how proud I am of the girls for the mental toughness and composure they showed throughout this game,” Rock South coach Blair Klumpp said. “No one could really get into a rhythm – there was less than ten minutes in between jayvee and varsity, there were 50 fouls called and over 70 free throws attempted, stoppages for multiple other reasons.
“And I think as players it’s tough to get into a rhythm and flow. So I think both teams deserve credit for battling and making it an interesting game, especially in the second half. When we got consecutive stops and scores, we were playing well together. We just continue to have girls step up.”
The Golden Hawks, who led 8-3 after one quarter, took a 25-16 lead into halftime. They took a 42-32 lead into the final quarter where they outscored the Tigers 18-15.
“Some girls were in different roles tonight, and they did what I asked of them – stayed within themselves,” Klumpp said. “I don’t think it was our crispest game decision making and shot selection-wise, but we really stuck together late in the game.
“Hannah (Binder), Nicole (Blaustein) and Karissa (Smedley) all made foul shots in the fourth. Carley Irvin had a big play in the fourth – broke down her girl, kicked out to Nicole for a three, and it gave us a little bit of breathing room. Carley did a good job staying engaged in the game mentally when she sat a long stretch due to foul trouble. And while she was out Nicole, Kim (Speiser), Karissa and Hannah handled the ball well and got us some sound possessions.”
Smedley added 10 points and six rebounds. Speiser had five rebounds and three assists.
“Nicole shot well from the foul line (12-16),” Klumpp said. “Hannah had a double-double and just made some big plays late. Our assistant coaches (Tom Dingui and Nick Heim) did a rebounding drill with our inside players earlier this week, and I think that helped tonight especially Hannah. We also had two freshmen (Smedley and Speiser) combine for 11 rebounds.
“Karissa (Smedley) has made impactful plays off the bench in all four games for us. And Kim (Speiser) did a really nice job making extra passes and defending. Riana (Szydlik) did some nice things to keep possessions alive, gave solid effort on the defensive end of the floor. And another freshman, Amy Loving, in her first varsity minutes gave us some good energy and effort off the bench.
“Nicole’s offensive output will get a lot of attention when looking at the box score, but she also made some good decisions in transition – whether to throw ahead, attack, or slow us down a little. I think Nicole, Carley, Jenna and Karissa are all doing pretty well with that. This was another game where everyone contributed. It wasn’t the prettiest of wins but it was a win. We still need to improve some with some decisions and shot selection but I’m very pleased with how well we are playing together and the consistency of our effort.”
Daisha Campbell led the Tigers with 23 points, and Hannah Smith added 17 as the duo combined for 40 points.
“We did a really good job on Daisha Campbell,” Klumpp said. “She had 23, but she had to really work and she deserves some credit. She hit some contested step-back threes and got to the line a lot. But we did a really good job
“We threw four different girls at her (Carley, Nicole, Kim, and Karissa), and I think all did well on her for spurts. You just have to make someone like that really earn it. She’s a player I’ve had a lot of respect for in her four years of going against our team.”
Council Rock South (3-1, 1-0 SOL) will host Neshaminy on Tuesday, and Harry S Truman (1-3, 0-1) will travel to Villa Joseph Marie on Monday for a non-league game at 5:15 p.m.
Council Rock South 8-17-17-18 60
Harry S Truman 3-13-16-15 47
Council Rock South (60) – Kim Speiser 2, Carley Irvin 2, Hannah Binder 13, Riana Szydlik 1, Nicole Blaustein 32, Karissa Smedley 10.
Harry S Truman (47) – Nai Nai Keys 5, Daisha Campbell 23, Hannah Smith 17, D’Andrea Woods 2.
SOL Continental Conference
North Penn 46, Souderton 38
Never underestimate the value of veteran experience.
The Knights have it, and the Indians – who lost four starters to graduation from last year’s conference championship squad – don’t, so when the Knights found themselves on the short end of an 18-13 score at halftime, they extended their defensive pressure full court. They outscored the young Indians 33-20 in the second half.
“Honestly, that’s the way we really want to play this year, but we have to be smart – we can’t get in foul trouble,” North Penn coach Jen Carangi said. “We got into foul trouble in the first half.
“I told them at halftime – ‘If you had told me we’d give up 18 points, I would have thought that I’d be real happy. We just came out and played so flat in the first half, and it’s a credit to Souderton because Lynn (Carroll) does such a great job of getting her girls ready.
“I know they’re young, but they’re going to play the right way. We just did not respond at all. We talked at halftime, made a few adjustments, came out in the second half and definitely did play better defense, but we got lucky. We really got lucky. We can’t dig ourselves a hole like we did tonight and expect that we’re going to beat many teams. If you want to be a good team, you have to come out ready to play.”
A three-pointer by Imani Plaza gave the Knights a 29-28 lead heading into the final quarter. They led the rest of the way, but the Indians didn’t go down quietly and trailed by just three, 41-38, after Jordan Zimmerman buried a three with 45 seconds remaining.
Alli Lindsay – who scored seven points in the pivotal fourth quarter – buried a pair at the foul line, and after a Souderton miss, Rachel Dunn connected on a pair of foul shots to give the Knights a seven-point lead on their way to the conference win.
“I think we all knew we needed this win,” Lindsay said. “This was our first league game. We wanted to start off strong, but the first half – we were a little slow.
“We knew with the pressure we could stop them because they have a lot of freshmen, they have a lot of youth. We have a lot of seniors and juniors, and we knew that our bench – if we pushed it, they would push it.”
Val McGriff led a balanced Knight attack with 10 points, Lindsay had nine, Dunn added seven points while Plaza and Mullaly both had six.
“Because of the new style, really getting up and pressing, we have to play more people because the girls we’re starting can’t go a whole game,” Carangi said. “Rachel Dunn, in particular, has given us huge minutes. All week she’s given us huge minutes. Just key plays – she’s knocking down foul shots. When everyone else is not making the foul shots, she’s making them.”
The Knights connected on 13-of-21 at the charity stripe – 9-of-14 in the fourth quarter.
“We’ve talked a lot about foul shooting, and really it just makes a difference in the game,” Carangi said. “Against (Archbishop) Carroll, we did not shoot the ball from the foul line very well, and tonight I thought we did better.
“I feel like we make it so much harder than it has to be. If just would make foul shots in the beginning, we’d give ourselves a little breathing room, but we don’t. We work so hard, let’s make it pay off for us by finishing and doing those easy things.”
Zimmerman led the Indians with 11 points, which included three threes. Freshman point guard Casey Harter added eight points while Mikaela Reese had seven and Hayley Fenchel, six points.
“We were down a possession with under a minute to play, and we had 19 turnovers in the game,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “We’re showing that we can compete with high level teams. At this point in the season, I’m really happy about that.
“Even if we had won tonight, tomorrow we were going to get better. We have a lot of things to improve on. I think in the long run, we’re going to learn from this. This is not a devastating loss at this point in the season against a team that’s going to have a really good year and contend for the conference championship. We were right there with them – we have to do a lot of stuff better, but we did a lot of things well.”
The Knights are hoping their 3-1 start is an omen of things to come after back-to-back sub-.500 seasons.
“The experience definitely helps,” Lindsay said. “We’ve been playing together since we were really little. We used to play travel together.
“We have a lot of girls who know how to play basketball. Our IQs on the court help us a lot, and just working together for a long period of time. This is our seniors’ last season. We want them to have the best season. The last two have been a struggle, so we know this year is our year. We’re working as hard as we possibly can.”
North Penn (3-1, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks East next Friday for a 4 p.m. contest. Souderton (2-2, 0-1) will be on the road at Central Bucks West on Tuesday.
Souderton 8-10-10-10 38
North Penn 6-7-18-15 46
Souderton (38) – Jordan Zimmerman 4 0-0 11; Erin Bohmueller 1 2-2 5; Olivia Schneider 0 1-4 1; Casey Harter 3 2-4 8; Hayley Fenchel 2 2-2 6; Mikaela Reese 2 3-4 7; TOTALS 12 1-16 38.
North Penn (46) – Abby Plaugher 1 0-0 3; Alli Lindsay 3 3-4 9; Rachel Dunn 2 3-4 7; Imani Plaza 2 1-1 6; Alaina Mullaly 2 2-3 6; Kate Early 1 0-0 2; Carley Adams 1 1-3 3; Val McGriff 3 3-6 10; 15 13-21 46.
3-point goals: Souderton – Jordan Zimmerman 3, Erin Bohmueller, NP – Abby Plaugher, Imani Plaza, Val McGriff
SOL American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 59, ABINGTON 50
A young Ghost squad threw a scare into the defending SOL American Conference champions, opening up an early 15-5 lead and keeping it close until the Cardinals closed it out with a 10-0 run to notch the hard-earned win.
“They came ready,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “The first five possessions on offense they made a three. We scouted their first three games, and they made 10 combined threes in the first three games, and they hit 12 tonight.
“They were in the zone. We made some mistakes defensively, but also, they made some really tough shots. They punched us in the mouth. I think in the long run our experience really paid off.”
The Ghosts – behind 11 points from Amanda Jackson (three three-pointers) and six points from both Khalis Whiting and Cire Worley – took a 29-26 lead into halftime. The Flying Cardinals took a one-point lead into the final quarter, 40-39, but closing it out was anything but easy.
“In the third quarter, we jumped on them early, and we got up seven,” Funsten said. “They came back and tied it. We got up six – 48-42, and with about two-and-a-half minutes to go, they went up 50-49 on a breakaway layup by Whiting.
“She picked up a loose ball and went the length of the floor and laid it in. It went from things were bad for us, things seemed to get under control, they made a run and things were under control again, and then all of a sudden, they were winning.”
The Flying Cardinals responded with a late run of their own to win it with Jackie Vargas and Jess Polin each contributing five points.
“Credit to our girls – they didn’t panic,” Funsten said. “Jackie Vargas got an and-one on that ensuring possession, and we went up by two. We scored the last 10 points.
“The game was closer than the score indicates. We knew Abington had a lot of talent, and it was on full display tonight. A lot of credit to them, a lot of credit to our girls for being able to withstand the pressure because we know we have a bulls eye on our chest.”
Vargas led the Flying Cardinals, stuffing a stat sheet with 19 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots. Jess Polin added 12 points, including three threes, and four assists. Dayna Balasa also had three three-pointers and contributed 11 points, four assists and three steals. Kara Grebe and Bliss Brenner both had six points.
“Jackie dominated the game on both ends of the floor,” Funsten said. “Jess Polin did a great job at point guard.
“Dayna Balasa hit some timely threes. Kara Grebe played very solid. Sarah Eskew and Bliss Brenner both spent some time on Whiting, and they both did a nice job on her. Sometimes she seems more likely to make a shot when she’s triple-teamed than when she’s wide open. She’s just a gamer. She brings so much energy to the game, and I think it’s contagious with her teammates. I have nothing but positive things to say about Khalis Whiting. I think she inspires her teammates.”
Whiting led the Ghosts with 17 points – 11 in the fourth quarter. Jackson, who finished with four three-pointers, added 14 points, and Worley – who also had four threes – added 13 points.
“Tonight our youth showed some of their potential,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “We took Upper Dublin to the wire.
“We played great, but we’re just not ready to beat them yet. Their experience paid off in the end.”
Upper Dublin (1-1, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Friday for a 7 p.m. contest, and Abington (1-3, 0-1) will be on the road at Springfield Township on Friday at 8 p.m.
Abington 17-12-10-11 50
Upper Dublin 10-16-14-19 59
Abington (50) – Jada Helm 1 0-0 3; Amanda Jackson 5 0-0 14; Khalis Whiting 6 3-5 17; Abril Bowser 1 0-0 3; Cire Worley 4 1-2 13; 17 4-7 50.
Upper Dublin (59) – Bliss Brenner 2 2-4 6; Jess Polin 3 3-4 12; Kara Grebe 3 0-0 6; Sarah Eskew 2 0-0 5; Dayna Balasa 4 0-0 11; Jackie Vargas 7 5-6 19; TOTALS 21 10-14 59.
3-point goals: Abington – Amanda Jackson 4, Cire Worley 4, Khalis Whiting 2, Jada Helm, Abril Bowser, UD – Jess Polin 3, Dayna Balasa 3, Sarah Eskew.
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