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Continental ConferenceSouderton 41, Central Bucks South 40
Carley Kendall was – in a word – unstoppable in Tuesday night’s game against the Titans. The Indians’ junior center turned in a career performance, scoring a game-high 24 points to go along with seven rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Kendall was a dazzling 9-for-15 from the floor and scored 15 of her points in the first half – including Souderton’s first 10 points of the game - to send the Indians into halftime deadlocked with the Titans 21-21
“Carley was just phenomenal,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “She was just unbelievable. She did everything. She had her back to the basket and was scoring, she was getting the ball at the foul line and was driving and scoring, and she hit a three.
“We were really having a tough time starting our offense. South did such a good job of getting in your face and tried to disrupt things, and it was working in terms of setting up an offense, but Carley just stepped up. She just played really great.”
Kendall scored just one point in the third quarter, and the Titans, who led 35-30 after three quarters, found themselves on top by eight when Carroll called a timeout with 5:47 remaining in regulation. The Indians still trailed by five with 1:48 remaining.
“It felt like the kind of situation where you keep fighting, keep battling, keep trying to make plays, force them into uncomfortable situations,” Carroll said. “But it felt like a big, big five points.
“Considering how we were struggling to score in the second half, it felt more like a 10-point deficit than a five-point deficit. We intentionally fouled, and they missed some foul shots. Carley had a huge steal on the wing on the other end for a layup and foul. Libby Wetzler hit a big jumper from the foul line that pulled us within a couple, and then Carley made some foul shots that eventually put us up one with 40-some seconds left.”
The Titans misfired on a shot to take the lead, the Indians rebounded with just seconds remaining, and although the Indians missed the front end of a one-and-one, the Titans didn’t have time to run a play.
The huge win over previously undefeated South (3-1, 1-1) came on the heels of a lopsided 51-37 loss to Central Bucks West in the Indians’ SOL opener on Friday night.
“After Friday night – we were down 23 at halftime against West (37-14) – just hoping that was not a sign of things to come,” Carroll said. “In a lot of ways, South plays with a similar kind of intensity.
“To be able to bounce back and play well enough to win – it says a lot about these girls. I can’t stress enough how much Carley did everything in her power to pull her team along with her and gut out this win. It was a really impressive performance by her.”
Kendall’s big effort came on the heels of a foul-plagued performance against West that saw her sit the better part of the first quarter and eventually foul out at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Wetzler contributed six points for the Indians while Kelsey Hermann paced the Titans with 13 points, but the night belonged to Kendall.
“She just took over,” Carroll said. “She was determined.”
North Penn 55, Pennridge 33
The Maidens couldn’t buy an outside shot in losses to Neshaminy and Central Bucks East last week. All that changed in Tuesday night’s big win over the Rams.
Lauren Chrisler (10 points) buried a shot just inside the three-point arc on the Maidens’ first possession of the game, and North Penn was off and running. Freshman Vicky Tumasz came off the bench and connected on three three-point baskets in the second quarter, finishing with 11 points overall.
That allowed junior center Steph Knauer to have a field day in the paint, scoring a game-high 16 points while pulling down 12 rebounds.
“Everyone is double teaming Steph, so we have to take those shots,” Tumasz said. “Everyone was disappointed after our loss to Central Bucks East, but we knew we would come back.”
The Maidens led 14-9 at the end of one quarter and extended that lead to 29-19 by halftime. They buried the young Rams with a 13-3 third-quarter surge.
Pennridge was led by the 15-point effort of junior Alyssa Marchunsky, who buried three treys. Coach David Martin knew it could be a long night when Brianne McGrath – his tallest regular at 5-8 – determined during warm-ups she could not play.
“When you lose your tallest girl against a team with three six-footers – it’s tough, but we battled,” the Rams’ first-year coach said. “Our guards need experience.
“The good news is we only have one senior. (Freshman) Jordan Rimmer played a good game off the bench, and we battled. That was definitely not the case on Friday against Central Bucks South. We lost that right off the bat – they went up 28-3.”
Central Bucks West 48, Quakertown 28
Jen Fabian led the Bucks with 18 points and 12 rebounds while Lauren Starzecky’s 13-point effort paced the Panthers. The Bucks led 15-7 at the end of one quarter and extended that lead to 27-15 by halftime on their way to the big win.
Central Bucks East 72, Hatboro-Horsham 33
National Conference
Council Rock North 60, Abington 37
The story of this showdown between the perennial SOL powers was not who was playing but rather who wasn’t. The Ghosts were without starters Aiyannah Peal and Sarah Listenbee who were suspended after an altercation late in Friday night’s opener against Neshaminy.
The Indians were without Emily Grundman (injury) and Megan Cunningham (illness), and Devin Gold played but was battling a stomach virus.
Lauren Gold picked up the slack for the Indians, scoring a game-high 22 points while picking up seven steals.
“The score is not a good indication of the game,” coach Lou Palkovics said. “In the third quarter, we went up by 10, and they cut it back to seven.
“Towards the end of the fourth quarter, Lauren Gold must have had four steals in a row, and it was like layup, layup, layup, and all of a sudden it was a 20-point game. It really wasn’t a 23-point win.”
Alyssa Dumont added 16 points for the Indians. Her performance loomed especially large since 6-2 Dana Storjohan picked up three fouls in the first half and picked up her fourth foul early in the fourth quarter.
“Alyssa hit a couple of threes, and she was getting a lot of loose balls and following up,” Palkovics said. “Alyssa is long and lanky. She has such long arms that people can get a little physical inside, but her long arms make up for some of that.
“It definitely helped that she got a couple of rebounds and follows, and she is a very good three-point shooter. We certainly didn’t want to go into the game without two of our starters, but I learned a couple of things about Dumont and Alyssa Jett, who came off the bench and played really well. It was nice to see some kids that really stepped up for us.”
The Ghosts took a 23-22 lead into halftime, but buoyed by their pressure defense, the Indians outscored the Ghosts 38-14 in the second half.
“We played really well in the second half,” Palkovics said. “They were packing it in a zone, and we actually made a couple of adjustments at halftime to kind of free up Lauren a little bit more.
“We made one adjustment on our press that allowed us to get a little more pressure in the front court.”
Jessica Schmidt led the Ghosts with 16 points while Chynna West had 12.
Council Rock South 50, William Tennent 34
The Golden Hawks were without sophomore point guard Alexis Hofstaedter, but her teammates picked up the slack in her absence.
Rock South two guard Courtney Brown filled in at point, collecting 11 points. She was 4-for-4 from foul line. Kate Jackson – the Golden Hawks’ sixth man – started and contributed six points, including 4-for-4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. Rachel Jacobs, who usually comes off the bench, also had six points in a starting role.
No one came up bigger than sophomore forward Alex Wheatley, who finished the game with 23 points and 13 rebounds. She was 7-for-7 from the foul line on a night that saw the Golden Hawks connected on 15-of-18 from the charity stripe.
Equally impressive was Wheatley’s defensive effort against Ashley Alden.
“Alden has been averaging close to 20 points, and she only had 12 tonight,” coach Monica Stolic said.
It was a three-point game at halftime, but the Golden Hawks stretched that lead by outscoring the Panthers 13-6 in the third quarter and 12-6 in the fourth. They buried 8-of-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a nice win,” Stolic said. “We weren’t sure if Hofstaedter would be able to go. She went through warm-ups but decided it wasn’t worth trying to go.”
The Golden Hawks improved to 3-1 overall (2-0) in SOL play. None of their opponents have scored 40 points.
“We’re playing some good defense,” Stolic said.
Neshaminy 43, Pennsbury 29
The Redskins used a balanced scoring attack and stifling defense to down their neighboring rival. Amanda Laly led the way with 13 points while Jade Kent had nine points and Lori Paulits, seven points.
“That’s the beauty of this team – every game it’s a different kid,” coach Joanne McVey said. “This is a game we did not shoot particularly well.
“Some of the kids that have been scoring weren’t scoring, and other kids stepped up. Really, the story of the game was our defense. Our shooting percentage was terrible, but we did what we needed to do. Kids stepped up when we needed them to, and our defensive pressure was very effective. That really was the story of the game.”
Laly also had eight steals to lead the Redskins’ defense.
“Just generally, our defense at the guard position was very effective,” McVey said.
Pennsbury freshman Sajanna Bethea led all scorers with 15 points.
Bensalem 63, Harry S. Truman 32
Ashleigh Spence scored a game-high 21 points while Ashida Cooper added 17 to lead the Owls to the big win over the Tigers, who were led by the 16-point effort of Shannon McDuffie.
American Conference
Plymouth Whitemarsh 57, Upper Moreland 39
The Colonials won their second game in as many SOL outings. Junior Gabby Schumacher had the hot hand in PW’s most recent win, scoring a game-high 21 points while connecting on 5-of-7 from three-point land.
“The two shots that didn’t go in went in and out,” coach Becky Duffy said. “She was 8-for-14 from the foul line, and she had a really great game.
“She’s one of those kids that gets in a zone – she hits one of them, and that’s all she wrote.”
Alyssa Butcher also had another big game for the Colonials, scoring 17 points while pulling down eight rebounds. Lex Borkowski picked up an impressive double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds.
“These wins are huge,” Duffy said. “It’s just so important for their psyche to believe that they have the capability, not for myself and my assistants to keep telling them that but for them to see the results.
“Once we get on a track where they believe in themselves, it will be really exciting to see what they can do this year. These wins are a big mental push for them to focus and see what they can do.”
PW opened the season with tough non-league games against Central Bucks East and William Tennent.
“We’re trying to play harder teams so we’re prepared when it gets to league, so we can establish what it means to play under pressure and how hard we have to play to be better,” Duffy said. “Teams are going to think of us, ‘Oh, it’s just PW. They have a losing record.’
“We can’t think that way of ourselves. We have to demand a winning attitude all the time, and that’s hard to establish, but that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Upper Dublin 59, Upper Merion 44
Taylor Bryant scored a game-high 19 points while Curtrena Goff added 18 points to lead the Flying Cardinals. Cassidy Koenig (18 points) and Kristina O’Sullivan (15 points) paced the Vikings, who led 12-11 at the end of one quarter. The Flying Cardinals responded with a 19-8 second-quarter burst and added to that lead with a 22-14 scoring explosion in the third quarter.
Wissahickon 30, Norristown 24
Wissahickon 27, Central Bucks West 26 (Wednesday)
Dominique Earland scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Trojans to the huge upset of the visiting Bucks. West took a 22-19 lead into the final quarter, but a pair of three-point buckets by Casey Bill allowed the Trojans to outscore the Bucks 8-4 for the big win. Jen Fabien led the Bucks with 11 points.
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