CB West captured the SOL Tournament title. Photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Check back for a gallery of all the action.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 38, UPPER DUBLIN 33
The giddy postgame celebration told the story.
The SOL Tournament title –West’s third in six years – was about a whole lot more than just winning a trophy.
“This means everything,” senior Jess Broskey said. “Honestly, this is just the next goal we’re checking off of our list.
“I think it’s a testament to all of the hard work we’ve put in. We just all want it so badly. We’re going to go back to West and put another check mark on the banner of goals.”
“We had a goal to win this thing,” coach Zach Sibel said. “This is a team that can’t turn it off. It’s not a team that struggles finding the light switch.
“They just keep fighting, and they wanted this one. This is a hungry team. (Jason) Kelce said, it best – ‘Hungry dogs run faster.’ They wanted this, and they weren’t going to stop until they got it.”
The Bucks – who led by five after Paige Gilbert scored in the opening moments of the fourth quarter – needed some late-game heroics to pull this one out. They trailed 33-32 after Anajae Smith hit nothing but net on a 3-pointer and then misfired at the other end, but Gilbert came up with the offensive board and scored on a tough putback to give the Bucks a 34-33 lead with 1:15 remaining.
“She’s fearless, she’s absolutely fearless,” Sibel said of Gilbert. “She could play any sport at West, I guarantee it, but she’s so smart too.
“She’s continuing to add to her game. She’s added a jump shot, she can take girls off the dribble, but she’s always going to bring that toughness, and it affects everybody else.”
The Cardinals took a pair of shots for the lead but came up short. With 32 seconds remaining, Broskey stepped to the foul line for a huge one-and-one and buried both shots to up West’s lead to 36-33.
“I went to the line, and I was just relaxed and confident,” she said. “Earlier in the game, things weren’t going my way, and I got into some foul trouble.
“My shots haven’t been falling lately, but I knew my teammates would keep picking me up. My foul shots also haven’t been consistent, especially after my knee injury. I went to the line, and I was confident, and I just let it fly.”
Maddie Burke pulled down the rebound of a UD miss for the tie and buried both ends of a one-and-one for the 38-33 final.
They were just the fourth and fifth points of the night for Burke, who was the focal point of the Cardinals’ defense. The senior sharpshooter’s point output may have been limited – she took just six shots, but she made her presence felt, pulling down a team-high eight rebounds and providing steady floor leadership.
“It’s just the flow of the game,” Burke said. “Anna Blue stepped up, Jess stepped up. People made plays, and that’s what makes us a great team – we come together.”
The game started out on a less than promising note for the Bucks, who found themselves staring at an 8-0 hole when – after a Kara Grebe steal – Dayna Balasa found Jackie Vargus for her second bucket of the night. Sibel called a hasty timeout.
“I thought we came out really focused and ready to play, and when they called a timeout, all I said in the huddle, ‘You have to find a way to maintain this focus,’” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “It was too easy early on, and it looked like it was going to be an easy game.”
Sophomore Emily Spratt put the Bucks on the board, scoring on a drive that brought an end to a five-minute drought to open the game. The Cardinals, who led 9-4 after one quarter, took an 11-4 lead when Vargas scored early in the second quarter. Anna Blue gave the Bucks a spark off the bench, burying a three.
“As my brother would say – it’s instant offense, just add water,” Sibel said. “She stepped in, and she knocked some really big shots down at times when we really needed it. They’re momentum plays, things that every player on this team does, and tonight it was Anna Blue.”
After a Burke steal, Gilbert scored on a putback. Another Burke steal set the stage for another Blue basket, this one after an offensive rebound that knotted the score 11-11.
“I go in and try and make plays, not for myself but for the team,” Blue said. “One play leads to another. It brings the team up, and it just gets us rolling.
“They’re a tough team to play. We just had to adjust. If they want to take one person out, we have four other girls that can do it as well.”
Burke buried a 3-pointer to give the Bucks their first lead, 14-11, and Spratt sank 1-of-2 at the foul line to send the Bucks into halftime with a 15-11 lead.
A Broskey three to open the second half gave the Bucks their largest lead, 18-11, but the Cardinals battled back and trailed by just one, 22-21, after Jess Polin sank a three late in the third quarter. Blue connected from just inside the arc to send the Bucks into the final quarter with a 24-21 lead.
The Bucks still led 29-25 after Spratt scored from the low post, but Smith buried a three. Spratt scored on a drive to put the Bucks up by three. Polin – who was credited with seven assists – scored on a drive at the other end, but Spratt was fouled going to the hole and converted 1-of-2 at the line. The stage was set for the dramatic finish
“Everyone’s energy was coming up on the court, and the sudden moment of clarity to me was – this is a really important game,” said Spratt, who scored six of her nine points in the fourth quarter. “If things don’t happen for you in the first half, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen for you in the second half.
“Just my teammates pushing it and doing really well on the boards and looking up in transition – it really helped me get my confidence back from the beginning.”
Not lost on Spratt was the fact that Vargas – an enforcer in the paint – was playing with four fouls.
“(Your shot) is either getting blocked or getting a foul called or getting a basket for us, so really, you have to get over the embarrassment of getting blocked and just think about – you need to do what you need to do,” Spratt said. “This (game) means everything to everybody on this team. It’s been one of our goals since the beginning of the season.”
The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Cardinals going back to Jan. 11 when they fell to CB West 35-32.
“I’m disappointed in how we played defensively,” Funsten said. “We did a lot of complicated things well today.
“Limiting Maddie Burke’s shot attempts is complicated, and it’s something we did well, but simple things like understanding the role of players on the other team we did not do well. I thought our girls deserved better because of the complicated things we did well. Losing track of (Anna) Blue – that was disappointing.”
Vargas led the Bucks with a game-high 16 points to go along with six rebounds, four blocks and two assists. Smith finished with eight points – all in the fourth quarter. Kara Grebe had six rebounds.
“I thought Jackie Vargas played great,” Funsten said. “Anajae hit some big shots.
“It’s all about defense for us. I know that they’re way under their scoring average today, but to us, it wasn’t good enough. What’s crazy is we think offensively we were good enough even though we missed shots. The mistakes we made were very frustrating.”
The Cardinals were hurt by some late foul trouble.
“That is not us, and it has not been us especially recently,” Funsten said. “The girls have been playing great, and we’ve been on a nice roll, but today was a step back.”
Blue and Spratt led the Bucks with nine points each while Gilbert had eight in the low-scoring contest.
“They’re so good at what they do, and they’re so precise,” Sibel said of the Cardinals. “We told the girls – we want to try to make this a game and a pace that we wanted, but we’ve got to make plays when we can. It comes down to that.
“I think of Emily Spratt taking a hard drive and getting to the free throw line, the stuff she does best. It’s different people stepping up. Anna Blue coming off the bench and making shot after shot. If the game doesn’t go at the pace that you want it to – plays like that get you back into it and get you going. Obviously, (it was) not the start we want, but it’s the finish we definitely look for.”
Central Bucks West (20-4, 12-0 SOL) – the second seed in the District One 6A Tournament – will host the winner of #18 Neshaminy at #15 Pennridge in a second round district game on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Upper Dublin (17-7, 12-2) – the eighth seed – will host the winner of #24 Upper Darby at #9 Downingtown West in a second round game on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
Upper Dublin 9-2-10-12 33
Central Bucks West 4-11-9-14 38
Upper Dublin (33) – Anajae Smith 3 0-2 8; Jess Polin 2 0-0 5; Kara Grebe 1 0-0 2; Dayna Balasa 1 0-0 2; Jackie Vargas 7 2-4 16; Totals 14 2-6 33.
Central Bucks West (38) – Paige Gilbert 4 0-0 8; Anna Blue 4 0-0 9; Emily Spratt 3 3-6 9; Jess Broskey 1 2-2 5; Maddie Burke 1 2-2 5; Lilly Evans 1 0-0 2; Totals 14 7-10 38.
3-point goals: UD – Anajae Smith 2, Jess Polin, CBW – Anna Blue, Jess Broskey, Maddie Burke.
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