New Hope-Solebury captured the program’s first District 1 3A title since 2016 with Saturday’s big win over Bristol at Bensalem High School.
CLASS 3A
#1 NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 53, #3 BRISTOL 28
BENSALEM – The play was vintage Reagan Chrencik.
The New Hope-Solebury senior inbounded the ball to open the second half and then immediately raced down the court, cutting to the basket to make herself available for the pass. Forget the fact that the Lions had a 47-16 lead, the mercy rule was in effect, and the pace of the game had slowed considerably. Chrencik knows only one way to play.
“The girl was right up on me when I was inbounding, and I was like – ‘You know what, I have to do something to get open – backdoor cut kind of thing,’” said Chrencik after Saturday’s District 1 3A title win over Bristol “I just had to run down the court. I wanted to get open, I wanted to help my team because when you have someone guarding you like that – standing in the corner doesn’t feel great. I just wanted to do my best.
“It doesn’t matter what the score was. As our coach says every timeout – ‘Don’t look at the scoreboard. You’ve got to play hard.’ I tell my teammates during the game and at halftime – ‘We’ve got to leave it all on the floor. Don’t look at the scoreboard. Let’s have a defensive goal, let’s have an offensive goal.’ We have to give it our all every game because the next time we lose – our season is over. It really doesn’t matter who the opponent is. We just have to play as hard as we can.”
The pretty much sums up Reagan Chrencik’s approach every time she steps on the court.
“She’s probably the best kid from a work standpoint and ability standpoint,” New Hope-Solebury coach Steve Polinsky said. “I’ve never had to say once in practice for four years – work harder. She takes it upon herself, and that means a lot to me as a coach.
“Four years ago, I started with this program. She’s been with me the whole time. She sets the standard of our culture, the way she acts and the way she handles herself, and that’s a big thing.”
Appropriately, the senior captain led the charge in Saturday’s district title win at Bensalem, a win that clinched a coveted berth in the state tournament.
“Reagan really was the catalyst,” Polinsky said. “As the captain, just showing the way for the younger girls on our team. She did a great job, and I’m just so happy to go to states for her. That was the goal for me this year and it worked out pretty well.”
Chrencik finished Saturday’s game with 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals in a contest the Lions owned from the outset. Izzy Elizondo’s nine first-quarter points led the Lions to a 24-9 lead after one frame. Emily Wilson added a pair of 3s and seven points, and Chrencik had six points.
“I felt like – you know what, we won six games in a row, we can’t take them lightly,” Polinsky said. “Let’s get ready for states.”
By halftime, the Lions led 47-16, and the rout was on for a young Lions’ squad that captured the program’s first district title since 2016.
In addition to Chrencik, Elizondo scored 13 points while Wilson had 11 and D’Agostino, seven – all in the first half. Elizondo and Wilson are sophomores while D’Agostino is a freshman.
“We start three sophomores and a freshman – I give all the credit in the world to them,” Chrencik said. “It was definitely going to be a learning curve, but I’m not going to lie – right from the beginning of the season, we had really good chemistry, we’re a good shooting team and everything like that.
“I talk a lot on defense, and I try and give everyone positive energy for every game, and they follow along. Everyone on our team has bought in on what we’re trying to do. I just give all the credit to them. For how young we are, we don’t play like it. We know what we’re doing, and we have a lot of cohesiveness together.”
Freshman Gabby D’Agostino, the Lions’ floor general, was a welcome addition to the Lions’ starting lineup this year, and there’s no mistaking her respect for Chrencik.
“Her being a leader – everything is on her shoulders,” D’Agostino said. “It feels like if we fail, she fails, and we’re just supporting her. If she misses a shot, if she has a bad game just picking her up and just winning this all for her.
“Just seeing her run down the floor – it just makes everyone want to play at that pace.”
There was no mistaking just how significant Saturday’s title win was for the senior captain.
“It means so much,” Chrencik said. “We play up against 6A schools all year. We love the competition, we want to play against better teams, and no matter our record or what happens, it gets us better. Even individually, it gets us better as players, better as people. It’s great to have such good competition throughout the season.
“This feels great, it feels amazing. I haven’t had a district championship the whole time I’ve been here. I’m real excited to make a run in states. I have a lot of confidence in us. I’m just really excited to make an impact my last season.”
New Hope-Solebury (17-7, 13-3 SOL) will face the third place team from District 12 in the opening round of the PIAA 3A Tournament.
Bristol 9-7-4-8 28
New Hope-Solebury 24-23-6-0 53
Bristol (28) – Jada Coleman 1 0-0 2; Kay Smith 1 0-0 3; Molly Farrell 3 0-2 6; Paris White 1 0-0 2; Samiyah Bell 1 0-0 3; Skye Moore 0 1-4 1; Mackenzie Kauffman 1 1-4 3; Angelisse Cantiello 3 2-3 8; TOTALS 11 4-11 28.
New Hope-Solebury (53) – Nina Meixler 0 0-2 0; Naava Rirhlin 1 0-0 2; Izzy Elizondo 5 2-2 13; Emily Wilson 3 2-3 11; Reagan Chrencik 6 3-3 18; Kayla Fennell 1 0-0 2; Gabby D’Agostino 1 4-4 7; TOTALS 18 11-14 53.
3-point goals: Bristol – Kay Smith, Samiyah Bell; NHS – Emily Wilson 3, Izzy Elizondo, Reagan Chrencik, Gabby D’Agostino.
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