PW captured the 2022 SOL Tournament title. Photos provided courtesy of Larry Small. CLICK HERE for a gallery of photos.
SOL TOURNAMENT (Final)
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 52, PENNSBURY 15
Plymouth Whitemarsh upped its record to 25-0 and added another trophy to its ever-growing trophy collection. That’s hardly a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention. The Colonials have
established themselves as the class of the SOL, and they are the top seed in the upcoming District One 6A Tournament.
The surprise was the Colonials’ opponent that stepped onto the court for Tuesday’s title game. Certainly not the fact that they were facing the SOL Patriot Division champion Falcons but rather that none of Pennsbury’s starters ever took the court.
“We realized it wasn’t their normal starters, but we went into the game just doing our thing as if it was any other,” PW senior Jordyn Thomas said. “This does feel good. It feels good to put all the work that we’ve done and really get something good out of it and accomplish something great. I feel that we all deserve this.”
There’s no denying the Colonials are deserving champions. They’ve played an ambitious schedule that included the top two schools 
in the highly regarded Philadelphia Catholic League.
In Tuesday’s title game, the Colonials led 23-0 after one quarter and upped that to 27-0 early in the second quarter before Danielle Sherman, whose 10 points led the Falcons, buried one-of-two at the foul line. It was Sherman connecting on the Falcons’ first field goal with 4:40 remaining in the first half when she buried her first of three 3-pointers. PW took a 38-7 lead into halftime and scored just 14 points in the second half, choosing to not run up the score on their overmatched opponent.
“We just focused on our jobs, what we talk about in the locker room, and we come out and execute,” Thomas said.
Thomas and Lainey Allen both scored 14 points to lead all scorers in Tuesday’s game. Abby Sharpe added 12 points, and Erin Daley had nine.
“Plymouth Whitemarsh is a tremendous team and a clear state favorite,” Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla said. “They did a great job tonight getting to the back porch early on and were really effective with their pressure.
“Their length and athleticism caused major issues, and we thought we would play better. Instead, they sped us up into quick shots. A number of times we brought pressure into one-pass jump shots, and that’s not something that we normally do. Lainey Allen was fantastic on the backboard, and they were really good at getting it inside. When you play them, you have to be ready to handle that length and
pressure.”
Sciolla explained his decision to rest his starters.
“The crimes of the season have definitely taken a toll on our personnel, and having to play seven games in nine days is neither smart or advisable,” the Falcons’ coach said. “Because of COVID postponements, we were forced into a difficult schedule at the end of the season, and unfortunately, four of our starters are dealing with injuries. On Saturday we made a decision that we didn’t have any more back-to-back games in us. That was before Ava (Sciolla) and Nicole (Pompili) went down on Monday night
“I’ve done this for 26 years, and while selfishly I would’ve loved to try and add a trophy or to get the social media buzz that It would’ve provided for about three hours, we have to make sure our girls are healthy not just for next Wednesday but for down the road. Hopefully, we can get everything together and we have a chance to advance and maybe see them again down the road. They really are a tremendous group.”
PW coach Dan Dougherty was matter of fact about the situation.
“Pennsbury can choose to do whatever it wants to do,” the Colonials’ coach said. “We’re not puffing our chest out that we beat your jayvee team. Whatever, it’s fine. You coach your team. I have no issues with that at all.
“If I’d have known – I thought (Ava) Sciolla wasn’t going to play, but I didn’t know the rest of the team wasn’t going to play. We only had nine kids dress for tonight, and we were prepped as if the rest of the team was going to play, and we prepared for that. We were watching film all afternoon. We had an hour-long walk through of all their plays.
“This is an accomplishment for our girls. They’re not puffing their chest out because they beat a jayvee team, but they are proud of their 25-0 season. I thought CB West gave a great effort on Saturday, and Abington gave a great effort being minus their best player last night. Pennsbury – you do whatever you want to do, but I was upset for our girls at the end of the game.”
At the end of the game, there was no formal trophy presentation.
“What was most upsetting to me was not what Pennsbury did - the comment was made to our announcer, 'Let's just get this over with,' and the whole gym was walking out, there was no script given to our announcer, there was nothing,” Dougherty said. “We just played six games in eight days – Abington twice, Cardinal O’Hara, CB West and now Pennsbury. I get it – we didn’t beat their top squad. From our girls’ side of things, I’m very proud of them.
“It’s an accomplishment to get to 25-0. Tonight is what it is, but last year, you look at our district playoff – we beat Souderton, CB West and CB East who had just beat Pennsbury, so that would have been the Suburban One playoffs.
“Another thing that’s disheartening – if you think about it, this group had the state playoffs taken away as sophomores, last year, everything was taken away, and now this year, they get back to normalcy, and they get treated like this tonight. To me, it’s a shot at girls’ sports. There’s no way this is going on at the boys’ game tonight. There’s no way.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (25-0, 16-0 SOL) will return to action Wednesday, Feb. 23, when the Colonials will host the winner of the #17 Conestoga at #16 Great Valley game. Pennsbury (22-3, 14-2) is also off until Wednesday, Feb. 23, when the Falcons will host the winner of the #20 Downingtown West at #13 Upper Dublin contest.
Pennsbury 0-7-6-2 15
Plymouth Whitemarsh 23-15-9-5 52
Pennsbury (15) – Danielle Sherman 1 0-0 2; Daniella MacDonald 3 1-2 10; Neve Davis 1 1-1 3. TOTALS 5 2-3 15.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (52) – Erin Daley 3 2-2 9; Abby Sharpe 6 0-0 12; Rhianna Gooneratne 1 0-0 3; Lainey Allen 7 0-0 14; Jordyn Thomas 6 0-0 14. TOTALS 23 2-2 52.
3-point goals: Pennsbury – Daniella MacDonald 3; PW – Jordyn Thomas 2, Erin Daley, Rhianna Gooneratne.
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