To view action photos of the game, visit the photo gallery and click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/ To view a video of a post-game interview with Alex Wheatley and Alexis Hofstaedter, click on the following link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/videos/all/144
NEWTOWN – A cheer erupted when Alex Wheatley entered the classroom where her teammates had gathered for a post-game meeting after Council Rock South’s stunning 53-40 upset of previously undefeated Council Rock North.
And then the chant of ‘Wheatley, Wheatley, Wheatley’ began.
Perhaps no one anywhere is more unassuming than Wheatley, but on this night, she quite simply had to take a bow.
The gifted Rock South junior wrote her name in the record books when – with just over a minute to play in the third quarter – she scored a bucket that vaulted her over the 1,000-point plateau. She is the first player in Rock South history to reach that milestone.
Wheatley entered the game needing 16 points to reach that elusive milestone. She nearly doubled that, finishing with 31 points to go along with 14 rebounds and four blocked shots in a brilliant performance that transcended words.
“Alex is just phenomenal,” Rock South coach Monica Stolic said. “She’s quiet – I couldn’t believe she had 31 points. I didn’t even know if she’d get her 16 tonight.”
The win was the first ever for Rock South over Rock North in girls’ basketball, and when it was over, Wheatley was far more interested in talking about the historic win than her personal milestone.
“We just beat North,” she said. “Yes, this is a very nice feeling.”
On the other side of the court, Rock North coach Lou Palkovics – whose team entered the game ranked number one in the state – tipped his hat to the Golden Hawks.
“South played great,” he said. “I’m happy for Alex and Monica.”
There was nothing to suggest that Wheatley and the Golden Hawks would be rewriting the record books when the Indians sprinted out of the gate to a quick 9-2 lead.
Consider only the sequence that propelled Rock North to that early lead.
The Golden Hawks turned the ball over on their first possession of the game, resulting in an Emily Grundman basket at the other end. After another Golden Hawk turnover, Devin Gold found Megan Cunningham for an easy bucket.
The Golden Hawks got on the scoreboard when Wheatley took it coast-to-coast against the Indians’ press, but Gold answered with a three-pointer for the Indians. After another South miss, Gold found Cunningham for an easy bucket and a 9-2 Rock North lead.
“I knew we weren’t out of it – it was only seven points,” sophomore point guard Alexis Hofstaedter said. “All we had to do was focus and keep our composure and we’re in this.”“I think it fired us up,” Wheatley added. “Being down 9-2 – that was not the game plan. We needed to get back in it, and we did.”
Wheatley buried one-of-two from the foul line, and when Hofstaedter scored on a drive after a North turnover, it was a 9-5 game.
Cunningham answered with a bucket from the outside, but Courtney Brown scored after an offensive rebound for the Golden Hawks. A Hofstaedter trey made it an 11-10 game, and when Brown scored after another offensive board, the Golden hawks led 12-11.
But not for long.
Grundman buried an outside shot on the Indians’ ensuing possession, but things went downhill in a hurry when – at the other end – Grundman was whistled for her second foul and took a seat on the bench for the remainder of the half. Wheatley buried both foul shots, and the Hawks led 14-13 at the end of one quarter.
A trey by Devin Gold put the Indians on top 16-14, and they still led by two heading into the intermission (23-21).
“I told them, ‘We’re okay where we are, but we should be winning this,’” Stolic said. “We have some very good offensive sets where we post Alex at different positions, and we didn’t take advantage of that. We started settling for outside shots.
“Our defensive strategy was – the Golds are the Golds. They like to penetrate and kick, so we tried to stop their penetration. When you have Alex middle, it’s hard to penetrate.”
Grundman was whistled for her third foul in the opening minutes of the third quarter, and moments later, freshman Caitlin Jackson connected on a pair at the foul line to knot the score. After the Indians were whistled for a three-second violation, Wheatley converted an offensive rebound into a bucket to put the Golden Hawks on top 25-23.
At the defensive end, Wheatley delivered a stuff block and came up with the ball, taking it coast-to-coast for a bucket.
Palkovics called an immediate timeout. It didn’t help. Momentum was clearly in Rock South’s corner.
The Indians misfired on offense, and Jackson scored on a putback at the other end. Lauren Gold broke Rock South’s run with a basket, and after South missed a layup, she connected on one-of-two from the foul line to make it a 29-26 game.
Jackson answered with a driving basket, and after the teams exchanged misses, Jackson scored on a baseline drive to put the Golden Hawks on top 33-26.
“It really was a team effort all around,” said Jackson, who scored all eight of her points in the third quarter. “It’s a team game, and you just want to come out strong and work for your team.
“If every player steps up and we’re five, we’re a fist. If we play together as a team, we win, and that’s what we did. We all stepped up. It’s all about the team.”
Shortly after Jackson’s back-to-back buckets, Wheatley delivered her historic basket.
It came on a lefthanded drive to the hole that put the Golden Hawks on top by nine, and much to Wheatley’s surprise, the game was halted as she hustled down court on defense.
“I was so confused,” she said. “I saw the flowers, and I heard the announcer say ‘…her thousandth point,’ and I was like, ‘What?’ It was a great moment.”
Wheatley was showered with flowers and hugs, but the great moments were just beginning.
After a North turnover, Wheatley buried an outside shot to give the Golden Hawks a 37-26 advantage. Alyssa Dumont answered with a trey for the Indians, but Wheatley scored at the buzzer to put the Golden Hawks on top 39-29 heading into the final frame.
“Our help defense was poor,” Palkovics said. “Alex was isolated on the post too much.
“We shot well in the first quarter, but we had nobody to play Alex when Emily got in foul trouble.”
The Indians would get no closer than 10 the rest of the way as Wheatley had an answer for every North bucket, scoring 10 fourth-quarter points while Hofstaedter added four – all from the foul line.
“We kept our composure against their press,” Wheatley said. “We know they’re very aggressive and have very good players, and the fact that we did well at that - I also think we did relatively well at keeping them to one shot, and that was key.”
Wheatley also pointed to the Golden Hawks’ perimeter defense.
“Our guards did a fantastic job on Lauren and Devin Gold,” she said. “We knew they were fantastic ball handlers, fantastic shooters and very aggressive, and I think we played fantastic defense on them.”
Making Rock South’s win even more impressive was the fact that it came four days after a heartbreaking 47-44 loss to Abington in a game the Golden Hawks led coming down the stretch.“We were very disappointed with how we played at Abington,” Stolic said. “I talked to them at practice the next day, and I said, ‘We can fold right here, or we can set forth.’
“We know we didn’t play well in that game. We didn’t finish. We had a lot of motivation for tonight because this is such a rivalry with these guys.”
“That (Abington loss) was really tough,” Wheatley added. “But I was thinking, ‘We can have this night to feel bad about it, but after that, we have the North game. We have to mentally prepare. We can’t come in shaking. We have to come in confident we can win.’
“They’re a fantastic team.”
The Indians – who were led by the 11-point effort of Devin Gold – fell from the ranks of the undefeated. The loss was their first in 17 games.
“There’s no such thing as a ‘good loss,’” Palkovics said. “I think this could help us though.
“We have to learn from this.”
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 53, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 40
Council Rock South (53) – Brooke Beidler 0 0-0 0; Courtney Brown 2 1-2 5; Alexis Hofstaedter 2 4-5 9; Alex Wheatley 11 9-10 31; Caitlin Jackson 3 2-2 8; Taylor Dillon 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 16-19 53.
Council Rock North (40) – Devin Gold 2 5-6 11; Lauren Gold 2 4-6 8; Emily Grundman 3 1-2 7; Megan Cunningham 3 0-0 6; Helena Gemmell 1 0-0 2; Alyssa Dumont 2 0-0 6. TOTALS 13 10-14 40.
Council Rock South 14 7 18 14-53
Council Rock North 13 10 6 11-40
Three-point goals: CR South – Hofstaedter. CR North – D.Gold 2, Dumont 2.
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