CB West and Abington advanced to the Elite Eight of the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament. To view photos of the North Penn/Carroll (http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/031015_north_penn_vs_carroll_dl) and CB West/Upper Dublin (http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/031015_cb_west_vs_upper_dublin_dl) games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
(1-1) CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 57, (1-5) UPPER DUBLIN 28
An undermanned Upper Dublin squad – minus all-league guard Allison Chernow (illness) – entered Tuesday night’s game against the district’s top squad a decided underdog.
When Julie Cross scored on a layup at the end of West’s fullcourt press, the Flying Cardinals trailed 4-2. It’s as close as they would get, but they never stopped battling. Coach Morgan Funsten would have expected nothing less from a squad that reached unexpected heights after graduating six seniors from last year’s successful squad.
“We could have lost by 350 points tonight, and I would have been proud of my team,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “I was extremely proud of my team before the game, and I’m just as proud – if not more – after the game.”
It was Makenzie Mason putting the Bucks on the scoreboard with four straight points in the opening minute of the game. The Bucks, who struggled to find their offensive stride, endured a three-minute scoring drought but still led 14-4 after one quarter.
“You could see in the beginning – we weren’t working the ball as well on offense, but we definitely picked it up on the defensive end,” Mason said.
The Bucks extended their lead to 20-6 after Meghan Tillger found Nicole Munger for an easy bucket. A Peyton Traina steal resulted in a Corrinne Godshall layup, sending the Bucks into halftime with a 22-9 lead. Cross accounted for all nine of her team’s points
“We definitely had the right mindset coming in,” Funsten said. “One of our goals was to keep them under 40 points – if we wanted a chance to win the game, that’s what we needed to do.
“In the first half, we did a great job defensively. They got points the way they normally get points – in transition, but in the half court, we limited them. Defensively, the only thing we did wrong in the first half was we gave up some offensive rebounds that led to points for them. Other than that, I thought we played, a great, great first half defensively.”
The Cardinals, according to their coach, had 20 turnovers in the opening half against West’s pressure defense, but they still trailed by just 13.
“I told the girls at halftime – if you tell me that we have 20 turnovers the first half against CB West, I’d tell you we’re down 40 points at halftime,” Funsten said. “Thirteen points is a substantial lead, but it’s a lead you can overcome if you play a great second half.
“I was real proud of the girls that we were still alive at halftime.”
The Bucks stretched their lead to 29-11 after Godshall buried a pair at the foul line, but Cross answered with a basket for the Cardinals. A Mackenzie Carroll three-pointer sparked a 10-0 West run that was capped when – after a Tillger steal – Traina sank a three-pointer to put the Bucks on top 39-13. The Bucks’ run took just one minute and 40 seconds, and they did it with defense.
“We were actually talking on the bench at the end of the first half – we don’t know if they got one wide open layup that whole first half,” Traina said. “Their bigs are really good inside, so we had to keep them out wide, and I think we executed that really well. I thought we were able to play the way we wanted to play on defense, which is pretty exciting, and it’s a lot of fun to do.”
At the end of three quarters, the Bucks led 41-16. Mason scored six points in the fourth quarter, including a basket after collecting a steal on the defensive end and going coast to coast.
The game’s most poignant moment came when – as time was winding down – Cross walked off the court for the final time to appreciative applause, breaking down as she hugged Funsten.
“She’s a great competitor,” said West coach Terry Rakowsky. “I scouted them a couple of weeks ago, and she was all nicked up and banged up and just continued to play.
“Every team wants a kid like that. She’s going to be a great player in college in lacrosse. She’s got a lot of heart. I was proud of her, and she’s not even my player.”
It was the seniors, according to Funsten, that set the tone for this year’s team.
“The group that we have this year is just so special,” he said. “Four months into the season, it’s so easy to have bad practices. We didn’t have one bad practice in the postseason. Not even one.
“I’ll credit a lot to the seniors on that – Alissa Klammer and especially Jule. They bought in, and they never quit.”
Munger led a balanced West attack with 13 points to go along with five steals. Carroll added 12 and Godshall had 10. Mason contributed eight points and six rebounds. Godshall was a force on defense, contributing six deflections and five steals. Maggie Rakowsky had four deflections.
“Defensively, we played pretty well,” coach Rakowsky said. “We were really focused on getting out in the passing lanes, challenging them to make plays on us. I thought defensively we played with intensity and energy the whole time. I was proud of them for that.
“(Offensively), we just didn’t share the ball like we usually share the ball. If you look statistically in the first half, our shot selection was skewed – we’re not going to beat the teams we need to beat if we don’t skew it back to where we need to go, and they know that.”
While the Cardinals (23-7, 14-0 SOL) saw their season come to an end, the Bucks (30-1, 14-0) advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round where they will face Archbishop Carroll.
Upper Dublin 4-5-7-12 28
Central Bucks West 14-8-19-16 57
Upper Dublin (28) – Alissa Klammer 0 0-0 0; Josie Barrett 1 4-4 6; Julie Cross 5 4-6 15; Demi Balasa 1 1-3 3; Maggie Weglos 2 0-1 4; Nancy DeCamara 0 0-0 0; Alison Gouveia 0 0-0 0; Lindsey Schreiber 0 0-0 0; Nicole Kaiser 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 9 9-14 28.
Central Bucks West (57) – Mackenzie Carroll 5 0-0 12; Peyton Traina 2 0-0 5; Makenzie Mason 3 4-4 10; Corrinne Godshall 3 3-4 10; Nicole Munger 4 5-5 13; Maggie Rakowsky 0 2-4 2; Meghan Tillger 1 0-0 2; Abby Spratt 0 2-2 2; Maddie Maio 0 0-0 0; Laura Roth 0 0-0 0; Bailey Tracy 0 1-3 1; TOTALS 18 17-22 57.
3-point goals: CB West-Mackenzie Carroll 2, Corrinne Godshall, Peyton Traina; UD-Julie Cross.
(1-2) ABINGTON 35, (3-5) MECHANICSBURG 31
Dan Marsh called it a ‘gut check’ game. By any name, Abington’s come-from-behind win over a Mechanicsburg squad with just three losses this season was remarkable. Consider only that the Ghosts managed to score just seven points in the first half – two in the first quarter and five in the second – but still found a way to win.
“They’re a very good defensive team,” Marsh said of the Wildcats. “We missed a lot of shots early, but it was a total gut check game.
“I couldn’t envision us in the 30’s because it never happens to us. Now I know why they have a lot of games in the 30’s because they’re a very good defensive team. We just had to dig in and win possession by possession, and we did. The whole team was incredible, but Lizzie (O’Leary) and Deja (Rawls) willed us to win.”
Both players did it on both ends of the court. O’Leary led the Ghosts with 11 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and four blocks, but it was her defensive effort on American University-bound Cecily Carl that stole the spotlight as she limited Carl to just three points.
“She absolutely shut her down,” Marsh said. “That kid averages 18 points a game, and she couldn’t get anything going.
“She’s a legit Division One 6-3 kid, and Lizzie said, ‘You’re not getting the best of me. I’m going to be better than you.’”
O’Leary credited good scouting and help from her teammates.
“We watched film on her previously to playing them, and we knew she was a good outside shooter,” the sophomore center said. “We knew that was her strength and we had to take it away.
“We knew she was strong inside too, so we needed to help, and Leah (Simmons) and Bre (Bermel) did a great job.”
Rawls also had 11 points to go along with seven rebounds. Sammy Lochner had eight points, and Leah Simmons, five points and four steals.
“Bre Bermell had a couple of great defensive stops,” Marsh said. “Lizzie hit a huge three to get us started offensively.”
The Ghosts – despite their offensive woes – found themselves still very much in the game at halftime, trailing 16-7.
“I don’t think I ever played in a game where my team only scored seven points at the half,” O’Leary added. “In the beginning of the game, we were getting down, and we had to keep telling ourselves we were still in it – it’s not over until the final buzzer goes off.
“We just kept playing. We had to go possession by possession, and we had to win each one. We did a great job of that in the second half.”
It was O’Leary jumpstarting the offense in the third quarter, scoring nine of her team’s 11 points as the Ghosts trimmed a nine-point halftime deficit to five (23-18) heading into the final quarter.
“In the third quarter, I think I woke up a little bit,” O’Leary said. “I started hitting some shots.
“When they adjusted to that, everybody else got open looks. Deja got a lot of drives, Sammy (Lochner) and Gabby (Nolan) both got good looks. It was great.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, Rawls buried a pair from the foul line to give the Ghosts their first lead – 25-23.
“I knew it wasn’t over,” Rawls said of her team’s first half struggles. “We still had the second half. The third quarter is our quarter.
“We talked during halftime. We just had to keep our heads up and play as a team, not worry about the score and just play like it’s our last game. There was 16 minutes left in the game so give it your all. We just had to let the game come to us. It was an ugly win, but we pulled it out as a team.”
Once the Ghosts took the lead, they never lost it, outscoring the Wildcats 17-8 in the final quarter.
“Lochner hit some big free throws, Deja hit some big free throws,” Marsh said. “We just crawled back and got the lead, and they panicked a little bit, which is what we thought they would do if we got the lead.
“It was a total playoff game. It was probably not the prettiest game to watch, but both teams played very, very hard. I don’t know that I have ever been more proud of a team. They never quit, they never got frustrated, and they never stopped believing. They never stopped believing in each other.
“That’s a good basketball team. They weren’t 24-3 by accident.”
According to Marsh, the Ghosts – who scored 28 points in the second half after scoring just seven in the first – made some halftime adjustments.
“They were clogging the lane and taking things away from us, so we spread the floor and just started attacking the basket because we knew we could get by their guards,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “Everything else was pretty ineffective.
“They are almost a carbon copy of us. They have two bigs that they run a nice high-low with. They have a very nice point guard and two other supporting cast members that play well. It was a tough match-up for us because it was us. We struggled to score against ourselves.”
The win vaulted Abington into the Elite Eight where they will face the ultimate challenge when they take on District 3 champion and defending state champion Cumberland Valley.
Abington 2-5-11-17 35
Mechanicsburg 8-8-7-8 31
Abington (35) – Sammy Lochner 8, Lizzie O’Leary 11, Deja Rawls 11, Leah Simmons 5.
Mechanicsburg (31) – Kyra Skurzynski 3, Jordan Hertz 14, Kourtney Landis 8, Suzy Badorf 3, Cecily Carl 3.
(12-3) ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 39, (1-7) NORTH PENN 31
Everything was going North Penn’s way at the outset of Tuesday’s second round game against Carroll. The Lady Knights looked confident, they looked fast – much faster than their counterparts, and they appeared to have a decided advantage on the offensive end where they were burying shots while the Patriots were ice cold from the field.
North Penn led 3-0 when Sam Carangi found Mikaela Giuliani for an easy bucket on an inbounds play, and after Julia Gantz converted a pair of foul shots to put the Patriots on the board, Jess Huber scored on a strong drive. A three-point play by Giuliani gave the Lady Knights an 8-2 advantage.
Lexi Stover, who led the Patriots with 12 points, buried a three-pointer to make it an 8-5 game, but after Giuliani converted her third basket of the quarter, freshman Bri Hewlett hit back-to-back shots from the outside to put the Lady Knights on top 14-5 after one quarter.
That’s when the fun stopped for the Lady Knights.
They managed just one basket in the second quarter, and that came in the closing seconds when Taylor Thames converted a steal into a layup that sent North Penn into halftime with a 17-15 lead.
The Lady Knights led, but the Patriots – whose full court pressure was creating turnovers – had momentum.
“We usually handle pressure better than that,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “I generally would like the ball in Sam’s hands when we’re breaking pressure, and they did a good job of making that not happen.”
The Lady Knights led 19-16 after Giuliani connected on a tough hook shot, and they upped their lead to four (23-19) after back-to-back baskets by Giuliani and Irisa Ye. The Patriots – or more specifically Ann McKnight – answered with a 7-0 tear, and suddenly, the Lady Knights were staring at a 26-23 deficit.
Carangi answered by burying a three-pointer from the top of the circle, but a three-point play at the other end by Lexi Kucia put the Patriots on top 29-26. They took a 30-26 lead into the final quarter and immediately stretched that to six. The Lady Knights would get no closer than four the rest of the way.
“Their intensity picked up, and we didn’t handle that well,” Carangi said. “They were getting up on us on defense, and we were just turning the ball over.
“I just feel like we didn’t adjust to their change in intensity. We let them be intense, and we should have done the same thing. We got ourselves in a hole, and we couldn’t get out of it.”
“I thought our decision making wasn’t the greatest,” deMarteleire added. “And they really upped their intensity and physicality. I just felt as though we weren’t handling their physical style of play that well.
“In the second and fourth quarters, we had a lot of turnovers, but I’m really proud of the kids. I thought they played outstanding defense, and I thought we rebounded the ball really well. They’re a good team, and we didn’t hit a lot of shots.”
Giuliani, despite foul problems, led the Lady Knights with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Huber added six points and five rebounds. Ye had four assists and four rebounds
A young North Penn team closed out its season with a 21-9 mark and a trip to the Sweet 16 of the state.
“I think it shows we have a lot of heart and pride,” Carangi said. “Even though we are young, we’re experienced.
“Nobody thought we could get it, and it just shows we could.”
North Penn 14-3-9-5 31
Archbishop Carroll 5-10-15-9 39
North Penn (31) – Irisa Ye 1 0-0 2; Taylor Thames 1 0-0 2; Mikaela Giuliani 5 2-4 12; Jess Huber 2 2-4 6; Sam Carangi 2 0-2 5; Bri Hewlett 2 0-0 4; Taylor Putnam 0 0-0 0; Jess McKenzie 0 0-0 0; Mia Melchior 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 13 4-10 31.
Archbishop Carroll (39) – Julia Gantz 1 4-6 6; Keara McNulty 2 2-3 8; Ann McKnight 3 0-0 7; Lexi Stover 4 2-2 12; Kristen Ryan 0 0-0 0; Jess Carney 0 0-0 0; Lexi Kucia 1 2-3 4; Bella Sorrentino 1 0-0 2; Molly Masciantonio 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 12 10-14 39.
3-point goals: NP-Sam Carangi; AC-Keara McNulty 2, Lexi Stover 2, Ann McNight.
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