The honors just keep pouring in for Emily Leer.
Abington coach Dan Marsh received word this week that his gifted senior is one of just 1,000 athletes nationwide nominated to vie for a spot on the prestigious 2009-10 McDonald’s All-American squad.
“It’s a tribute to her hard work,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “She’s worked very hard, and she gets the recognition because of it.”
Leer along with Council Rock South senior tri-captains Chelsea Allen, Lea Britton and Emily Nowicke were honored at Wednesday night’s Markward Awards banquet in Philadelphia.
One night earlier, those same players squared off against each other in a classic National Conference battle, and it was Allen, Britton and Nowicke celebrating when it was over as the Golden Hawks downed the Ghosts 46-33.
The win avenged a 57-44 loss to the Ghosts earlier this season.
“The biggest difference this time is we came out really strong and took a big lead (9-0),” Rock South senior Emily Nowicke said. “That was a really big turnaround to come out like that.
“We hadn’t put four quarters together in a few games, and when we had played at Abington, we only played three quarters. We put four quarters together, and we came out every quarter like it was 0-0 because we knew they were going to come out strong. We came out with a ‘W,’ which was huge. It felt so good.”
The win was the first ever over Abington for the Rock South seniors.
“We knew we could beat them, but to have done it – it was a really good feeling,” Nowicke said.
A key to the win was the defensive effort of the Golden Hawks.
“Holding Leer to nine points heading into the fourth quarter was big because the first time she had 25 points against us,” Nowicke said. “Alex Wheatley played really well against her.”
“Everything we have been talking about all year – we finally executed in that game,” teammate Lea Britton added. “Everyone did what they needed to do. We all did our part.
“Hofs (Alexis Hofstaedter) controlled the game with her ball skills, I was making inside passes, Emily (Nowicke) was running the court, (Alex) Wheatley was getting big rebounds and Chelsea (Allen) was getting all the loose balls and putbacks. Everyone did what they needed to do.”
The Golden Hawks have recuperated quite nicely from a stretch that saw them drop four of eight games.
“We kept talking about what we needed to do, but we never executed,” Britton said. “We always knew in the back of our minds we could get back to the way we were playing at the beginning of the season.
“The biggest disappointment was that we didn’t play our hardest every night. We were playing hard, but we didn’t play the way we’re capable of playing.”
The win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Golden Hawks as the regular season comes down the home stretch.
“This is huge,” Nowicke said. “We have Pennsbury and Tennent, and then we have the big (Rock) North game on Friday.
“The momentum that we got from this game is going to pour over into the final three games, which are big. Every game from now on is just huge.”
Win or lose, the Golden Hawks have taken gigantic strides in just two years under coach Monica Young, who inherited a program that had won just five games the season before she took over the helm.
“It actually feels awesome,” Britton said. “Even in the community – people are coming up to us and wishing us good luck. Workers in the cafeteria will say, ‘Good luck in your game tonight.’
“It feels so good to have people on your side when years ago they wouldn’t have cared. When I started basketball at South, our goal was that we would be on the same level as North and have that status. I think we’re getting to that point. Coach Young and the coaching staff are doing an awesome job.”
The other side of the game – There’s two sides to every story, and while Council Rock South celebrated its biggest win, Abington was licking its wounds after the disappointing loss.
But not for long.
Coach Dan Marsh expects his team to take some valuable lessons from Tuesday’s setback.
“We definitely learned from it,” he said. “It’s not a horrible loss because it was a good team and a well-prepared team for us. “
The Golden Hawks’ game plan included taking time off the clock on every possession, lots of time.
“We cherished every possession,” Emily Nowicke said. “We knew we had to score, and we took time off the clock.”
The Golden Hawks’ patience created problems for the Ghosts.
“We were playing defense for a minute and a half or two minutes,” Marsh said. “They were just holding the ball.
“We’re a good defensive team, but no one can play defense that long. That’s what teams have been doing. That’s what Lower Merion did.”
The Ghosts fell to Lower Merion 40-20 less than 24 hours after suffering their first loss of the season to Council Rock North.
“We’ve learned that we’ve got to dictate the pace,” Marsh said. “We can’t let other teams dictate it to us. We have to create more turnovers with our defense, and we can’t let them hold the ball for two minutes.
“We have to be a little more aggressively defensively and get the ball in the open court, so we can score and not get stuck with everybody packing it in on us.”
Leer is the undeniable focal points of opponent’s packed-in defensive schemes.
“Emily’s been great, and it’s been a tough year for her,” Marsh said. “Even (Tuesday) night against Council Rock South, they basically said, ‘We’re going to occupy the lane, and you’re not getting the ball in here.’
“Finally in the third and fourth quarters we were able to get the ball to Emily on fast break situations where she was able to drive to the hole, but it’s been very difficult for her in the half court, and she’s kept her patience, she’s kept her poise, and she’s trying to make other people better so we can win.
“Her ultimate goal is to win, and that says everything about her, about her character.”
The Golden Hawks, according to Marsh, set the tone for their big win by jumping out to a 9-0 lead.
“They came out like gang busters, and we never recovered,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “They just kept going at it. You could tell they really wanted it – not that our girls didn’t, but unfortunately, I think it meant more to them.
“I think our girls may have been a little shell shocked. They came out and they were ready to play, and I think this is the first time all year we got beat. Council Rock North – we had the game in hand, and I felt like we beat ourselves, but Council Rock South beat us. They were the better team on Tuesday night.”
Bucks on the rise – Abington defeated Central Bucks West 47-28 in the season opener for both teams, and despite his team’s dominance, coach Dan Marsh knew that things had changed for a Ghost squad that had not won a game in the 2008-09 campaign.
“I knew when we played them the first game of the year they were a different team,” Marsh said. “They played so much harder. I was impressed even then.
“It’s amazing how hard they work. They never stop, and they’re really physical. We were up 20-something, and they were battling. They battled the whole time.”
The battling Bucks picked up their third win of the season on Wednesday night when they shocked Wissahickon 35-30 in a non-league contest.
Although his team came out on top, coach Terry Rakowski acknowledged that it wasn’t his team’s best effort.
“We played much better against South,” he said of his team’s 53-43 loss to Central Bucks South on Friday. “The good thing was – there were things at the end of our Pennridge game where we were maybe a C. We played better today.
“We took a couple of shots, got the rebounds and kicked it back out. We had a stretch at the end where we got four or five rebounds, threw it back out and took time off the clock. It’s that level of maturity we definitely didn’t show in the Pennridge game and some of our earlier games.”
Rakowski credited Wissahickon for its aggressive defense.
“They’re getting in your face and making you make plays,” the Bucks’ first-year coach said. “They know how to win.
“They’re a nice team, and they played really hard. They were all over us. There were stretches where we weren’t reciprocating that energy, but in the last five minutes we did. We really went after the rebounds, we went after the loose balls, and we were beating them to a lot of things they were beating us to in the third quarter.”
Bia Jurema led the Bucks with 11 points, and Rakowski credited the performance of Fiona Gilmore off the bench.
“She played a lot of minutes for us and gave us great energy,” the Bucks’ coach said. “She was handling the ball real well, played great defense.
“The kids are really, really excited to win.”
Unusual ending – Souderton’s 45-43 upset of Central Bucks South on Tuesday had a most unusual finish.
It ended with South coach Beth Mattern wondering why her team had not gotten the timeout it had requested when the Indians – clinging to a two-point lead - went to the foul line for the front end of a one-and-one with eight seconds remaining.
The Indians misfired on the foul shot, and the Titans pulled down the rebound.
Their timeout never happened despite at least one South player on the court and Mattern – on the sidelines - calling for a timeout during the final frantic seconds.
Making the no call even more inexplicable was the fact that Mattern had instructed her players to ask for the timeout before the Indians took their final foul shot.
A look at the top - Coming down the home stretch, Council Rock North, Central Bucks East and Cheltenham are in a position to defend titles they already own. Interestingly, all three teams have two-game leads with three games remaining.
The Cheltenham Lady Panthers – winners of 19 games without a loss – are mortal locks to win the American Conference. Central Bucks East is a prohibitive favorite to capture yet another Continental Conference crown.
Council Rock North has the roughest road to the top with road games against both Abington and Council Rock South in the final week of the season. Both teams extended the Indians to overtime in the first go-round.
Stay tuned.
SOS.com’s Fab Five
- Cheltenham (19-0) (Three wins separate the Lady Panthers from a perfect regular season.)
- Council Rock North (15-4) (The Indians, who have not lost in the SOL, travel to Abington for a tough test on Tuesday.)
- Central Bucks East (14-3) (The Patriots have a stronghold on first place in the Continental Conference and are in control of their own destiny.)
- Council Rock South (14-5) (The Golden Hawks threw a wrench into Abington’s title aspirations and hope they will have a chance to play for a share of the National Conference crown when they face CR North in the final regular season game.)
- Abington (16-3) (After falling to Council Rock South, the Ghosts no longer control their own fate but can make things interesting if they defeat CR North on Tuesday.)
- Log in to post comments
0
