The SOL has had its own version of ‘believe it or not’ in the opening days of the season.
Who would have guessed that Springfield – four years removed from a three-win season – would be 4-0 out of the gate?
Could anyone have predicted that a Bensalem squad that lost its entire starting lineup to graduation would have the firepower to rally from a 17-point second-half deficit for a win in its opener against Norristown?
Who would have picked defending district runner-up Cheltenham to be this year’s version of the Cardiac Kids? The Lady Panthers fell behind by seven and nine points respectively late in their two games at the Hazleton Tournament only to rally for the big wins and tournament title.
And did any SOL coach live through two more dramatic finishes than Souderton coach Lynn Carroll? The Indians lost their season opener to Boyertown in the closing seconds, but three days later, they used an Averie Britton trey with five seconds remaining to edge Christopher Dock 36-35.
North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire undoubtedly wouldn’t have believed that her squad would get off to another slow December start, but the Maidens fell to 0-2 after a pair of losses in the Methacton Tip-Off Tournament.
And that’s just the beginning of what has been an interesting five days of non-league action.
Stealing the headlines were a couple of familiar names as well as some less familiar names.
Quakertown’s Daniella Ciccarone eclipsed the elusive 1,000-point plateau in the Panthers’ 48-35 loss to Conestoga in Saturday night’s title game of the Upper Merion Tip-Off Tournament. The senior point guard – a four-year starter for the Panthers – came into the year needing 35 points to reach that historic milestone.
She scored 27 points in a dazzling debut on Friday, leading the Panthers to a 50-40 win over Upper Merion. One night later, she scored the historic basket on a drive to the hole in the third quarter, and anyone who has watched Ciccarone on the hardwood will not be all that surprised to discover that she fined tuned her skills growing up in Brooklyn where basketball is the sport of choice. The senior point guard’s journey from Brooklyn to Quakertown is a fascinating one. To read Ciccarone’s story, click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/content/ciccarone-surpasses-1000-point-plateau.
Kelly Scull is not the most recognizable name on Council Rock North’s roster, but proving this team has both depth and talent, the Rock North senior poured in 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Indians’ to an impressive 64-60 win over Central Dauphin in the opening round of the Central Dauphin Tournament. The senior guard did all of her damage while being defended by 6-1 Alyssa Thomas, who is bound for the University of Maryland.
“Kelly has gotten stronger and expanded her game from a standstill shooter to a rebounder and someone who can shoot off the dribble,” coach Lou Palkovics said.
The Indians fell to Downingtown East 38-25 on Saturday.
Annie Crudele poured in 27 points in Springfield’s 62-42 opening round win over Marple Newtown in the Oreland Tournament on Friday night. Four short years ago, the Spartans as an entire team did not score that many points in any of their first eight games.
Cheltenham senior Shayla Felder is certainly looking the part of defending American Conference Player of the Year. In the first three games of the season, the gifted guard has three 20-plus performances – scoring 22, 27 and 23 in wins over Spring-Ford, Hazleton and Bensalem.
There are certainly others deserving of recognition such as Neshaminy’s Kelsey Ryan, who was just two rebounds shy of collecting her third double-double in as many games in the Redskins’ win over Central Bucks West on Tuesday night.
There’s not enough time to cover all the big performances in the season’s early days, but suffice it to say, there’s been plenty of excitement, and we’re only five days into the 2009-10 season.
American Conference
The big story in the American Conference is a Springfield squad that is on a legitimate tear. Four years ago, the Spartans were 1-21. A year later – Sarah Constable’s first as head coach – they won three games. Two years ago, the Spartans won four and then last year took a gigantic leap, winning 11 games en route to a spot in the District One A title game and a berth in the state tournament.
This season the Spartans are 4-0 out of the gate.
“I think at the end of last season, they proved something to themselves,” Constable said. “I think they believe they can step on the floor and do what they’re doing right now. I think it just gave them a huge boost of confidence to see what they can do.
“They spent the summer working hard trying to begin the season as close as they could be to where they left off. I think in that run they made at the end of last season they saw something in themselves, and it gave them a whole new confidence and a whole new way to approach our season.”
In their four wins, the Spartans have outscored their opponents 213-126 – averaging 53 points a game.
“I know they’re capable of doing it, and I’m just so happy to see them following through with what they are capable of doing,” Constable said. “Truly, every single girl on this team has the ability to score and to be an offensive threat, and I think that is where our strength is going to lie.
“This group of girls has a very good relationship. They trust each other, and they know that someone is going to get it done.”
Elise DiFilippo has been nothing short of sensational at point guard, scoring 17, 22, 18 and 16 points in the Spartans’ wins.
“I really believe it’s a group effort, but I do see Elise leading that group effort,” Constable said. “She’s been playing varsity since her freshman year, and she plays that senior role because she has been running the point guard for a few years.”
Morgan Smith and Annie Crudele have also been major contributors offensively, but not to be overlooked are the contributions of seniors Briana Scafidi and Molly Wheatley.
“Briana is like a silent threat,” Constable said. “She’s a great shooter, and a lot of teams don’t realize what she’s capable of doing.
“Molly Wheatley is just a force to be reckoned with on defense. She’s an extremely tenacious defensive player. She’s super quick and has done a great job too.”
Wheatley has been sidelined with an injury, but it has not slowed down the Spartans, who defeated Lower Moreland (46-31) and Owen J. Roberts (45-32) on the heels of capturing the championship of the Oreland Tournament.
“Right now, the positivity, the energy we have is unmatched, and it’s so exciting to be at this point,” Constable said. “4-0 – it’s not a lot of games, but I think back to even my first year – this is how many wins we had.
“We have never gotten off to a start like this, especially putting this many points on the board.”
It’s a new era for Springfield basketball.
Vikings establishing a new identity – Upper Merion returned four starters from last year’s squad, and filling the spot vacated with the graduation of Lisa Ridgeway is a freshman who is already making her presence felt.
Kristina O’Sullivan – a 5-10 point guard - is the Vikings’ leading scorer through the first three games of the season. She had 16 points in Upper Merion’s season opener and 15 in the Vikings’ most recent win over Upper Perk.
“At this point, we’re trying to find a little different identity,” coach Tom Schurtz said. “We’re playing a little different style of basketball.
“I wasn’t sure how Kristina O’Sullivan was going to blend with the rest of the players, so while she resembles Lisa Ridgeway physically, she’s not at all the type of player Lisa was. She’s more athletic, she’s faster and she’s stronger, but she’s not as savvy, she’s not as smart. You’re replacing that athleticism, but you’re not replacing that leadership, so what we had to do was we needed the seniors to step up.”
The Vikings fell to Quakertown in their tournament opener when they were plagued by foul woes, but they regrouped to down Gwynedd Mercy the following night (51-39) and followed that with a 47-33 non-league win over Upper Perk on Monday.
“I didn’t know how they would react to taking a tough opening loss, and I wasn’t sure how they would respond when they started facing adversity,” Schurtz said.
The Vikings’ coach credited his three seniors – Alex Galdi, Paola Tinari and Briana Alvarez – for pulling the team together.
“I don’t know how this season will go,” Schurtz said. “This team is very similar to last year’s team and very similar to the team the year before.
“The year before we went 11-13 and lost six games by less than six points. Last year we were 17-7 and won six games by less than six points. We have to find that middle ground. We’re going to be competitive because we’re a good basketball team. Whether we can become a great basketball team will depend on whether we can jell and whether we can play great team basketball.
“You don’t look at our team and say, ‘That team is really athletic.’ We just go out and play really good man defense and try to be aggressive, but our league is real hard. There are a lot of good teams in the Suburban One American, and there are no easy games on our schedule.”
Sophomore Cassidy Koenig was in double figures in both of the Vikings’ wins, scoring 12 points in both games. Alvarez had had double-doubles in two games and had double-digit rebounds in all three games.
“There are a lot of pieces there,” Schurtz said. “I don’t know how it will work out.”
Upper Merion will host Plymouth Whitemarsh in its league opener on Friday. Cheltenham will travel to Upper Dublin for a key SOL showdown on Thursday night. Norristown will face an Upper Moreland squad that is coming off a 40-33 win over Harry S. Truman. Springfield (4-0) will travel to Wissahickon (0-2).
Continental Conference
Pennridge took it on the chin when the Rams traveled to Council Rock South on Tuesday night, falling 51-28 to the Golden Hawks in a non-league contest, but the Rams’ season started on a good note when they captured the title of their own tournament.
The Rams defeated a pesky Christopher Dock squad 44-37 in an opening round game and followed that with a 53-48 win over Lansdale Catholic. Seniors Sam Simononis and Jordan Dominic both earned spots on the all-tournament team.
“Both teams are strong and had height, and we weren’t as big as our opponents,” coach Brooke Martin said. “We really needed to strategize where we had to limit their inside, double down low, rebound and box out.
“A big thing in the tournament was our foul shooting percentage.”
The Rams shot close to 90 percent from the line but struggled from the field, connecting on just 25 percent of their shots.
“We were happy with the W’s, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement,” Martin said.
The Rams’ coach acknowledged that her squad has received a major boost with the return of Simononis, who transferred back to Pennridge after spending her junior year at Allentown Central Catholic.
“She just adds so much to our team as far as our quickness, as far as our depth from the outside,” Martin said. “Now all the pressure isn’t on Jordan.
“All summer long we were thinking, ‘Jordan, you’re going to have your hands full because everyone will be coming after you,’ but this opens her up more as well. It allows us to have two threats from the outside.”
The 5-6 Simononis, who played small forward as both a freshman and sophomore, is not reluctant to take it to the hole, and she provides the perfect complement to Dominic.
“Sam is good at getting the rebounds, and she’s really good defensively as far as denying her girl,” Martin said. “Jordan sees the floor well, and she has just matured so much over the last four years.
“She doesn’t try to force things or do too much. It kind of comes naturally to her.”
Another player who is expected to contribute for the Rams is sophomore Alyssa Marchunsky.
“She has worked so hard on her game over the summer, and she has been lifting,” Martin said. “She pretty much lives and breathes basketball, and she has improved tremendously.”
Pennridge will open its SOL season on Friday against Central Bucks West. The Bucks dropped a pair of games in the Ghost Tip-Off and fell to 0-3 when they lost to Neshaminy on Tuesday night.
Souderton (1-1) will host Hatboro (1-1). Central Bucks South (1-1) will travel to Quakertown (1-1) while defending Continental Conference champion Central Bucks East will travel to North Penn (0-2).
National Conference
Abington (2-0) will travel to Neshaminy (3-0) for a battle of the unbeatens, and Bensalem (1-2) will be on the road at William Tennent (0-0). Council Rock North (1-1) will travel to Pennsbury, and Council Rock South (2-1) will make the trip to Harry S. Truman (1-2)
SOS.com’s Fab Five ( 12-16-09)
- Cheltenham 3-0 (The Lady Panthers needed a pair of improbable comebacks to capture the Hazleton Tournament, but these players know how to win the close ones.)
- Council Rock North 1-1 (The Indians notched an impressive win over host Central Dauphin in its own tournament but then stumbled against defending district champion Downingtown East.)
- Central Bucks East 1-0 (The Patriots boast balance and depth and will once again be favored to win the Continental Conference.)
- Abington 2-0 (The Ghosts also needed some late heroics to eke out a win over St. Basil in the title game of their own tournament.)
- Council Rock South 2-1 (The Golden Hawks boast impressive wins over Upper Dublin and Pennridge but stubbed their toes against Methacton.)
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