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Continental Conference
Central Bucks East 30, North Penn 26
TOWAMENCIN – Defense and rebounding.
According to Central Bucks East seniors Courtney McManus and Melissa Remmey, those were the keys to the Patriots’ big win on North Penn’s home court.
“We have been really working on defense a lot at practice, and I think this was our best defensive effort yet,” Remmey said. “Our defense created our offense.”
“I think rebounding was the key,” McManus said. “They have three six-footers, and we knew we had to work hard to get the rebounds.”
It actually was a combination of the Patriots’ defense and rebounding that effectively negated the presence of North Penn’s Steph Knauer on the low post. The high-scoring junior center was held to just eight points, and as a result, the Maidens never could find their offensive stride.
“I have to give credit to my guards,” East coach Tom Lonergan said. “We rotated them, we tried to keep them fresh. Three of them are freshmen.
“Courtney McManus – for being a guard and being underneath – did a tremendous job. That was an adjustment we made on game day.
“Shannon Devlin did a great job defensively. She was the one that kept 14 (point guard Brenda McDermott) from controlling their offense. When we’re struggling to score, something positive has to happen, and that was the defense.”
Both teams struggled to score. Take away the impressive 18-point effort of McManus, who nailed three three-pointers, and no player scored more than eight points.
While McManus repeatedly came up with the big shot for the Patriots, the Maidens were lost without Knauer.
“If she’s going to be triple-teamed, somebody else has to step up, and that’s not happening right now,” Maiden coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “In the first half, defensively, we just let them run their offense.
“We need to pick up our level of intensity on defense, and I think that will affect our offensive productivity. But if people are going to double and triple team Steph Knauer and no one else steps up, then we’re in trouble.”
The Maidens didn’t get on the scoreboard until sophomore Lauren Crisler buried a trey with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter. Despite their offensive woes, they trailed just 5-3 and actually went on top 8-5 after a bucket by freshman Vicky Tumasz.
That was followed by a Maiden scoring drought of close to eight minutes that saw the Patriots go on top 13-8 after McManus buried a trey. McDermott found Knauer for her first basket of the game in the closing seconds of the second quarter, making it a 13-10 game at halftime.
“For being a young team, we threw all kinds of (defensive) looks,” Lonergan said. “There were times when communication broke down, but they did a tremendous job.
“We threw about six different looks, and for a young team to be able to stay competitive in each of those looks says something.”
The Patriots took an 18-16 lead into the final quarter, but a putback by Knauer knotted the score. McManus gave the Patriots a lead they would not lose (22-20) when she scored on a drive with five minutes remaining. Remmey’s outside jumper after a Maiden turnover gave East a four-point edge, and the Maidens would get no closer than three the rest of the way.
“We’re a very young team,” Remmey said. “They (the younger players) were definitely nervous. We tried to talk about the rivalry we have had with North Penn. The last few years we’ve been the top two teams in the conference, and we tried to stress how important this game was.
“I think they did a really good job. It was good to get a close, intense game like this under our belts.”
While the Patriots improved to 2-1, the Maidens saw their record drop to 2-2.
“Our shots just weren’t falling,” McDermott said. “We’re a young team, and we’re going to work on things we need to work on. We just need to step it up – hit some outside shots and penetrate.”
Central Bucks West 51, Souderton 37
West rallied from a loss to Neshaminy on Wednesday to earn the big win over Souderton. The Bucks received a balanced scoring attack, led by Jen Fabian’s 14 points,
“Jen Fabian has been a monster for us offensively, rebounding and running the floor,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “She has just been an incredible player for us the first two games.”
Sam Calloi and Caitlyn Mautz both added 11 points while Amanda Parker scored nine points for the Bucks, who opened up a 15-4 lead at the end of one quarter and stretched that lead to 37-14 by halftime.
“Caitlyn Mautz was phenomenal tonight,” Rakowsky said. “She’s a real athletic kid, and she hadn’t played basketball for three or four years. We got her to come out last summer, and she’s been with us ever since.
“She’s turned out to be a very, very unsung hero for us. We’re getting some of those athletes to come out. You just give them the ball, and they can do stuff. We’ve been real happy with that.”
Rakowsky lauded the leadership of his three juniors – Fabian, Calloi and Parker.
“They played mature, which is what we expect them to do – score, play defense and lead,” the Bucks’ coach said. “Our kids brought a lot of intensity. Offensively, we were attacking the basket. They came at us with a certain defense, and we had an answer for them.
“We played real hard and with a lot of intensity against Neshaminy, but we weren’t smart. We didn’t run our offense real, real hard. I think our young kids were freezing a little bit. Instead of passing and cutting, we were passing and standing. We never really challenged Neshaminy and made them play defense.
“This game we did a better job but still not as good as we need to, but our defense was smothering.”
The Indians were led by the 12-point effort of sophomore Elizabeth Wetzler while junior Carley Kendall added 10 points. No other player had more than five points.
Central Bucks South 65, Pennridge 27
National Conference
Abington 37, Neshaminy 34
It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t pretty, but it was a huge win for the defending district champs in a game that might well have been defined by its physicality.
“It was very, very, very physical,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “It was a typical Suburban One war.
“I know it’s cliché, but it’s a shame somebody had to lose. I’m glad we came out on top. It was a war from start to finish. They’ll be a tough team to beat.”
Senior Jessica Schmidt spearheaded the Ghosts’ come-from-behind win, scoring nine of her game-high 16 points in a third quarter that saw Abington outscore Neshaminy 17-9. The Ghosts’ third-quarter outburst negated a strong start by the Redskins, who led 7-2 at the end of one quarter and 19-11 at the intermission.
“We made adjustments and had a great third quarter,” Marsh said. “As soon as we got the lead, they got more aggressive.”
An altercation at the end of the game did not help matters for either team, but the Ghosts were able to hold on for the win.
“They had a three-pointer at the buzzer that they missed, and we got the rebound,” Marsh said. “They’re good. They’re a lot better than they’ve been in the past.
“Going to their place is obviously very difficult. They’re solid, and they’re well-coached. In my opinion, she (Joanne McVey) is one of the better coaches around. She always gets the most out of her players.”
Aiyannah Peal added 10 points for the Ghosts while Shannon Barlow led the Redskins with 13 points.
Council Rock North 59, William Tennent 41
Emily Grundman and Devin Gold both scored 17 points to lead the Indians to the convincing win. Included in Gold’s 17 points were five three-pointers. She also had five assists and three steals. Lauren Gold added 11 points, eight assists and seven steals in a standout supporting role.
The Indians opened up a 14-7 lead at the end of one quarter and extended that lead to 28-18. They put the game out of reach with an 18-10 third-quarter effort.
Senior Ashley Alden turned in a dazzling 22-point effort for the Panthers, but it wasn’t enough.
Pennsbury 47, Bensalem 39
Kelsey Moulton scored 11 points while Sajanna Bethea added 10 points and seven rebounds. Molly Phillips contributed six points, seven rebounds, five steals and three assists. The Falcons connected on 10-of-16 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
Council Rock South 54, Harry S. Truman 26
Alex Wheatley paced the Golden Hawks with 16 points and 12 rebounds in Friday’s big win.
American Conference
Cheltenham 56, Upper Dublin
Tiffany Johnson turned in a glittering 23-point effort to lead the Lady Panthers to the big win. The West Chester-bound senior guard scored 14 of those points in the first half.
“She was carrying us in the beginning,” coach Bob Schaefer said. “She was penetrating and drawing fouls, and she really improved her foul shooting.”
Junior Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews added 15 points while junior Austen Hamler added 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Schaefer knew Friday night’s game between the perennial American Conference powers could go a long way toward determining the conference champion.
“This was very big,” the veteran coach said. “We could lose to anybody – we proved that last year, but I told the kids if we want to have a chance to win a league championship, we can’t go there and lose that game.
“Our kids rose to the occasion. We only got seven of them in the game, but they all played hard. Five of them scored. It was a very hard-fought game. We handled the ball pretty well at the end of the game and burned out the clock.”
The Lady Panthers opened up a 13-8 lead at the end of one quarter, but the Flying Cardinals cut that lead to 31-29 by halftime. The Panthers – sparked by 10 points from Andrews - outscored the Cardinals 14-10 in the third quarter before the two teams battled to an 11-11 draw in the fourth quarter.
Taylor Bryant led the Flying Cardinals with 18 points, which included a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line. Curtrena Goff added 10 points.
“That Goff kid only had 10 points, but it seemed like every time you turned around she was making some kind of impossible shot,” Schaefer said. “She’s amazing.
“We knew it was going to be tough, and it was. They have a lot of talent, they really do. I was impressed with their team both when I saw them and when I played them. They are not a team without talent, but we did a lot of things right.”
Norristown 53, Upper Merion 42
The Eagles – with head coach Ashlee Harrison heading to hospital to deliver a baby – notched a huge win, sprinting out to a 25-13 halftime lead and never looking back.
Sierra Gordon and Precious Tempson both scored 13 points to lead the Eagles while Cassidy Koenig and Kristina O’Sullivan led the Vikings with 16 points each.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 49, Wissahickon 30
The Colonials opened SOL play with an impressive win over the Trojans. Alyssa Butcher and Lex Borkowski both scored 14 points for the Colonials. Borkowski also pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds while Butcher had seven boards. Gabby Schumacher added 11 points while Erin Martin had five points and seven rebounds.
Butcher, Schumacher and Martin led PW defensive with two steals each. Martin also had a blocked shot.
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