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LANGHORNE – Everything was was going Neshaminy's win in the first quarter of Friday night’s SOL National Conference matchup against William Tennent.
Even the final shot.
As Avery Wunder’s three-pointer at the buzzer hit nothing but net, the Redskins’ senior guard allowed herself a smile.
She had the feeling it was going to be a good night.
“We just tried to pass it around and get one good shot,” Wunder said. “Coach said I was the one, and Bri Hires knew when to give it to me.
“I felt like I knew it was going to go in.”
Wunder’s trey capped a marvelous quarter for both the senior guard and her teammates, who took a commanding 16-5 lead into the second quarter.
By halftime, Wunder had 12 points as the Redskins rolled to a 19-point lead on their way to a 51-40 win.
Wunder, it turns out, had a little score to settle with the Panthers, who defeated the Redskins in overtime in the initial meeting between the two squads.
“I fouled out the last game in the middle of the fourth quarter, so I was really bummed,” she said. “I wanted to get revenge for myself and for my team.”
“We definitely didn’t play our game the last time we were on their court. Tonight we came pumped and definitely ready to bring it to them. This was our game. We knew we were the better team, and we knew we could do this. We just had to play our game.”
Wunder led the Redskins with a game-high 17 points.
“She’s a reluctant shooter,” Redskin coach Joanne McVey said. “She’s one of the best shooters on our team, but she doesn’t shoot as much as we would like her to. She’s probably too generous. She’s a great kid.”
Junior Kelsey Ryan – the focal point of Tennent’s defense on the low post - had 14 points in yet another solid outing.
Ryan admits that life is easier for everyone when the Redskins are hitting their outside shots.
“When I’m having trouble down low or they’re doubling me, it’s reassuring to know I can kick it out, and they will make their shots,” she said. “It was a really good night for Avery, and I told her it helped me out a lot.”
Junior Sarah Godfrey led the Panthers with 10 points. All of those came in a second half that saw the Panthers outscore the Redskins 29-21. By then, it was too late after a first half that saw the Panthers stagger out of the gate.
“We were dead,” Godfrey said. “It’s frustrating.
“You want to come out and really show them something because we’re both battling for a spot in the playoffs. We beat them by a point in overtime the last time (43-42), and it’s really hard and frustrating when you come out and everybody just seems dead. It’s hard to put your finger on really what it is.”
Both teams spent the first two minutes exchanging misses, but Hanna Sellers put the Panthers on the board first when she scored on a putback. It would be their only lead of the night.
Victoria Mazzeo answered with an outside shot to knot the score, and when Wunder buried a trey, the Redskins were off and running.
“Sometimes I can feel it,” Wunder said. “I felt like I was rested and strong, and that’s what it takes to hit the outside shots when you have your legs under you.”
Mazzeo scored after pulling down an offensive rebound, and it looked as though the Panthers might stop the bleeding when sophomore Alison Malatesta connected on a trey from the top of the circle to make it a 7-5 game.
But that was hardly an omen of things to come.
Ryan answered for the Redskins, and after Brianna Weiler turned a steal into a bucket on a nifty baseline drive, the Redskins led 11-5, and they weren’t finished yet.
Ryan scored on a power move on the low post, and after the Panthers misfired on a pair at the foul line, Wunder worked her magic, connecting on the buzzer beater to give the Redskins a double-digit lead.
“I was very disappointed in the effort that we gave,” Tennent coach Paul Veltre said. “I was actually putting in practice my Sunday School lesson because there’s always an emotion before anger, and it was disappointment. I was so disappointed with the effort – loose balls, giving up too many offensive rebounds.
“Our key was to set the tone and send a message. We sent the wrong message.”
Things went from bad to worse for the Panthers in the second quarter. A blocked shot by Weiler set the stage for an impossible fast break bucket by Wunder from behind the backboard. When Hires scored off the dribble just inside the three-point arc, the Redskins led 20-7. They stretched that lead to 24-7 after Jen Slivka sank one-of-two from the foul line to cap an 18-2 Redskin run.
“We knew we had to come out strong,” Ryan said. “We just wanted some revenge. We knew we should have pushed harder in the first game when we lost in overtime by one point.
“We really wanted to come out and play hard. It was a good all-around team effort.”
By halftime, the Redskins had a 30-11 lead.
“We came out and played a very good first half,” McVey said. “We used the first game as a motivator for this game.
“We were disappointed we lost in overtime, and we didn’t feel we played that well. We did feel we had something to prove. Both of our teams needed this win, and I thought our kids were pretty focused. I thought they did an excellent job in the first half of doing what we needed to do and taking away what they wanted to do.”
The Panthers showed signs of life in the second half. The Panthers cut the Redskins’ lead to 42-33 after Godfrey buried a trey from the top of the circle with 3:18 remaining in regulation, but they would get no closer.
“If we played that way the whole game, it would have been a different story,” Godfrey said. “We’re a second half team. I always think we play better in the second half, but we have to get a whole game in there.”
While the Panthers fell to 4-8 in league play, the Redskins improved to 8-4.
“It’s a great boost going into Bensalem, which is a big game,” Ryan said. “It will also help us in the playoff standings.
“This is huge.”
“I have to give them credit,” Veltre said. “They shot well, and they’re very well coached, but we were not aggressive. We did not deserve to win this game.”
NESHAMINY 51, WILLIAM TENNENT 40
William Tennent (40) – Alison Malatesta 1 3-4 6, Megan Zimmerman 1 3-4 6, Sarah Godfrey 4 0-0 10, Aashley Alden 3 0-0 6, Hanna Sellers 4 0-3 8, Liz Koval 1 0-0 2, Taylor Morgan 0 1-4 1, Gina Tyson 0 0-0 0, Deanna Schneiderreit 0 1-2 1. Totals 14 8-17 40.
Neshaminy (51) – Victoria Mazzeo 2 0-2 4, Kelsey Ryan 6 2-2 14, Avery Wunder 5 5-10 17, Brianna Hires 2 4-5 8, Brianna Weiler 3 1-2 7, Jen Slivka 0 1-2 1. Totals 18 13-23 51.
William Tennent 5 6 12 19-40
Neshaminy 16 14 8 13-51
Three-point goals: Tennent – Sarah Godfrey 2, Alison Malatesta , Megan Zimmerman. Neshaminy – Avery Wunder 2.
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