National Conference
William Tennent 43, Neshaminy 33
Ashley Alden turned in a brilliant all-around performance, contributing 19 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots. Teammate Liz Koval added eight points for the Panthers in the big win.
But it was defense, according to coach Paul Veltre, that was the key to the game. Alison Malatesta, Melissa Horn and Melissa Wasserleben each had three steals.
“It was our pressure - we forced 24 turnovers,” the Panthers’ coach said.
It didn’t help the Redskins’ cause that freshman point guard Megan Schafer found herself watching from the bench in the third quarter because of foul woes.
Despite Neshaminy’s foul problems, the Panthers - who rallied from a 7-4 deficit to lead 13-12 at the half - led by just a 26-23 margin after three quarters. They seized control of the game with a 17-10 fourth-quarter burst.
“The bottom line was the way we played in the fourth quarter,” Veltre said. “We pressed them the whole game and forced them to turn the ball over.”
The Panthers have won six straight since opening SOL play with back-to-back losses to Council Rock North and Rock South.
“Opening up in the conference with Rock North and then Rock South didn’t help,” Veltre said. “Last week, our game against Bensalem at their place (a 59-33 win) – that was a really big momentum shift for us.”
Veltre knew this week loomed large with Tuesday’s game against Neshaminy and Abington on Friday.
“This one we had to have if we wanted to make a run,” the Panthers’ coach said. “Neshaminy is playing very well. They’re playing everyone really, really tough. They’re always well coached. I have a lot of respect for Joanne (McVey).
“The bottom line is we’re getting a team effort. We know Ashley is our go-to, but every game we have won, there has been somebody else that has helped and contributed.”
While Alden dominated offensively, the Panthers spread the wealth defensively.
“We’re actually keeping a stat for deflections,” Veltre said. “I think we had 16 of those – just getting our hands on the ball. Our size was a big factor today too.
“In the past, these were the games we would kind of fall short on. It’s very early. We still have to go the second round in the conference. Right now we’re just focusing on Abington.”
The Panthers, who improved to 7-2 overall, are 3-2 in league play while Neshaminy fell to 2-3 in the league (7-3 overall).
Pennsbury 67, Harry S. Truman 26
It was a big day for a pair of Falcon freshmen.
Sajanna Bethea scored 20 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. She also had three steals and two assists in a solid all-around outing while Kaitlin Kelly added 10 points, three steals and three assists.
Senior captain Molly Phillips chipped in with 10 points and three assists.
“Molly played really good defense for us and started some key plays,” coach Donna Nicholson said. “She’s a good leader out there. She does so many different things that we don’t keep stats on.
“We needed a win. I’m sorry it had to come against Truman because they’re struggling too, but we needed a win.”
For the Tigers, who fell to 0-5 in league play, Shannon McDuffie scored 16 points.
The Falcons improved to 2-3 in the league (4-7 overall).
Abington 56, Bensalem 43
The Ghosts sprinted to a 26-8 lead at the end of one quarter and never looked back. Chynna West led Abington with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five steals. Teammate Jess Schmidt added 13 points. The Ghosts are 4-1 in league play (7-3 overall). The Owls fell to 1-4 in the league (3-5 overall).
The game between Council Rock North and Council Rock South was postponed until Wednesday, Jan. 12., 6 p.m., at Rock South.
Continental Conference
Central Bucks East 51, Central Bucks South 38
The Patriots turned an 8-6 lead into a 24-8 lead, thanks to a dazzling 16-2 run to close out the first quarter of Tuesday’s showdown.
Courtney McManus led the offensive onslaught, burying three treys and scoring 11 points in the quarter, but she had plenty of help. Karoline White scored a pair of early baskets to ignite the run, and Melissa Remmey also had two baskets.
“(South) hit a couple of three’s against our zone, and we switched to a man, and then we went on a run,” coach Tom Lonergan said. “We had one stretch where we were 9-for-10 from the floor.
“The players did an excellent job of taking the extra pass. I think it had to do with a combination of numbers as well as we were taking the extra pass within our offense.”
The second quarter was another story entirely as South outscored East 7-4, but the Patriots still took a 28-15 lead into halftime.
“In the second quarter, we just turned the ball over, but I give credit to South because they upped their defensive pressure,” Lonergan said. “We just didn’t take care of the basketball. We didn’t take many shots in the second quarter.”
Another key to the win, according to Lonergan, was East’s effort under the defensive boards.
“We rebounded the ball defensively very well,” he said. “They had one sequence where they had four offensive rebounds, but outside of that, they didn’t have many offensive rebounds. A lot of times it was one and done – at least the first three quarters, and that helped a lot.
“Our team responded very well in our man-to-man because we were forced to play a lot more man than we usually would. I give a lot of credit to our players to respond like that.”
McManus led all scorers with 16 points.
“Courtney certainly had a lot of offense in the first quarter, but it was still pretty balanced,” Lonergan said. “Karoline White started the game with a jumper just inside the arc, and she had a key drive later in the quarter. Our scoring wasn’t just one-dimensional.”
Melissa Remmey had another big game, contributing 14 points.
“I think what’s helping Melissa is we’re getting her inside more,” Lonergan said. “We realized before the New Year started that we just weren’t getting her enough opportunities to score. She wasn’t touching it enough.
“Every time she was touching it, she seemed to be 18 feet from the basket. Melissa can do so many things, so we tweaked her offense to get her inside more so she’s not at the perimeter 95 percent of the time. This is her third straight double-figure game.”
Also scoring in double figures was Kelly Lindsey, who added 12 points for the Patriots.
“She did this for us in the summer,” Lonergan said of Lindsey’s point production. “She played really well for us in the summer, scored consistently,"
“She struggled all year, but once the New Year started she played very well. She’s capable of doing that, and we’re glad she’s putting it together and doing it not just one game but three consecutive games.”
Lonergan tipped his hat to his captains – McManus and Remmey – for the Patriots’ focus from the opening tap.
“With an afternoon game, you don’t know how your team will come out and respond,” said Lonergan, who reminded his team of last year’s convincing 49-35 win over Souderton in an afternoon game. “We had just lost to North Penn, and we were tied with CB South for first. It was a key game at the time.
“The credit for the way they responded today solely has to be thrown on the captains. It’s their job to get them ready. Our captains have done an unbelievable job against West and South of getting them ready to get out of the gate. That certainly was a struggle we had before the New Year started. They got the team focused and pumped and ready to go.”
South was led by the eight-point effort of Kelsey Herrmann while Madi Vitelli added six points.
The Patriots improved to 5-0 in SOL play (7-2 overall) while the Titans fell to 3-2 in the league (7-4 overall).
North Penn 65, Quakertown 20
Junior Shannon Knauer scored a game-high 20 points while sophomore Lauren Crisler added 15 points, including two three-pointers, to lead the Maidens’ offense in a game that saw the mercy rule go into effect.
“Everybody contributed,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “We had a good game.”
While the Maidens – who led 37-15 at the half and outscored the Panthers 28-5 in the second half – were lighting it up offensively, their defense was doing the job as well, limiting high-scoring Lauren Starzecky to just seven points. Katrine Vetter led the Panthers with 10 points.
The convincing win came on the heels of a disappointing loss to Central Bucks South.
“We’re just taking way too long to get used to each other this season,” deMarteleire said. “Everyone else is in the same boat. It would be different if the other teams had a lot of kids coming back, but everyone is in the same boat.”
The Maidens are 3-2 in league play (5-4 overall) while the Panthers fell to 0-5 in the league (2-8 overall)
Central Bucks West 70, Hatboro-Horsham 31
Souderton 36, Pennridge 32 (See separate story)
American Conference
Cheltenham 74, Norristown 29
The Lady Panthers – who received double-figure scoring efforts from four players and nine points from a fifth player – sprinted to a 21-7 lead at the end of one quarter and extended that lead to 43-16 by halftime. They stretched that lead to 68-23 after three quarters on their way to the decisive win.
Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews and Christina Coleman led the Lady Panthers with 18 points each while Shayla Peoples had 11 points, Tiffany Johnson, 10 points, and Austen Hamler, nine points.
“Our guards created defensive havoc, creating many turnovers,” coach Bob Schaefer said. “Coleman, Hamler and (Jiana) Clark did a great job guarding their taller inside players. Each of them had six rebounds and four steals.
“We dictated the pace and had many beautiful fast break plays.”
Schaefer lauded the strong play of Coleman under the basket.
“Every game she’s starting to do one more little thing,” the Lady Panthers’ coach said. “She went coast-to-coast and put in a left-handed layup at full speed. She also hit a nice turnaround jumpshot.
“She’s stepping up. She really didn’t play much basketball before last year. I’m really happy with her.”
Schaefer was also pleased to see Andrews – a prolific scorer – contribute in other ways.
“There’s a lot more to a game than scoring points, and she needs to contribute in other ways,” he said. “She has great jumping ability – she’s a great rebounder, and she’s starting to do that for us.”
The Lady Panthers improved to 4-0 in league play (7-3 overall) while the Eagles fell to 2-3 in the league.
Upper Merion 28, Wissahickon 24
Tom Schurtz wasn’t sure how his team would respond to an afternoon game. The Vikings’ coach was pleasantly surprised.
“Snow days are snow days – you never know where your players’ heads are going to be,” he said. “You never know how they’re going to come out and play, particularly when you move the game time. I don’t think we played an after-school game in three years.”
The Vikings found themselves on the short end of a 9-6 score at the end of one quarter but outscored the Trojans 9-2 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 15-11 lead. That four-point lead turned out to be the difference in the game.
“We came out and played very good defense the entire game,” Schurtz said. “We only gave up two points in the second quarter, which they didn’t get until 19 seconds were left in the quarter. I was happy with our defense throughout.
“It was one of those games where we steadily applied good defense and took our chances when we had them. We found a way to grind out a win.”
Once again, the Vikings had more three-point baskets (6) than two-point baskets (3). Cassidy Koenig led the way with 12 points on four treys while teammate Christina O’Sullivan added eight points, which included a three-pointer.
“Most games we’ll take more three’s than we’ll take two’s,” Schurtz said. “This also was a product of time of possession.
“They run a very patterned, methodical offense. They have two very good ball handlers that don’t turn the ball over, so the time of possession – I would venture to say they possessed the ball for a minute or a minute thirty at a time, and we would possess the ball for 25 seconds because that’s our style.”
The win was the first in league play for the Vikings (1-3, 5-7 overall).
“It’s a solid win for us,” Schurtz said. “You want to get that first league win. Hopefully, it will open the floodgates, and we’ll get a couple more.
“With a young team, you look for daily progress, and this is two close games in a row that we’ve won. Early in the season, we lost three close games on a row. You hope you can build on this.”
The Trojans saw their record drop to 2-2 in league play (5-5 overall).
Upper Dublin 57, Upper Moreland 33
Taylor Bryant scored a game-high 19 points while teammate Lauren Rothfeld added 11 for the Flying Cardinals, who improved to 4-1 in SOL play (9-2 overall). The Golden Bears saw their record drop to 0-4 (1-9 overall).
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