Check out the recaps for boys/girls basketball teams in action Monday.
Boys
Non-league
WILLIAM TENNENT 71, GREAT VALLEY 52
If the Panthers needed a bounce-back win after Friday’s loss to Upper Dublin, they got just that. Kirby Mooney and George Marion were the offensive catalysts, combining for 49 points to lead the Panthers to the decisive non-league win.
“This was real important,” Tennent coach Robert Mulville said. “We talked about it Saturday at practice and just mentally tried to prepare them for the upcoming week and just taking it one game at a time.
“They have an opportunity to have a real nice season, but you can’t look ahead – not get too down after a loss and not get too high after a nice win tonight because we have to get right back at it tomorrow with Quakertown.”
The Panthers trailed 12-7 after one quarter but erased that deficit with a 23-11 second quarter to go into halftime with a 30-23 lead. They put the game away with a 25-point third quarter.
“I thought we got good looks in the first quarter – we just didn’t put the shots down,” Mulville said. “We were fouling a little bit too much – I think we had six fouls the end of the first quarter, so that got us out of sync a little bit.”
“We were able to get some things going in the second quarter, and the third quarter we really responded well coming out of halftime.”
Mooney turned in another glittering offensive performance, scoring a game-high 30 points. He also had 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Marion added 19 points and also dished out six assists. Sean Devine added four assists.
“We have a little bit of sickness going through the team, so we’re trying to stay healthy,” Mulville said. “We haven’t had Isaiah Dawson for two games now. I can’t imagine he’ll be ready to go tomorrow either, but maybe we’ll have him by the end of the week.
“Kirby (Moody) is getting over a little something, George (Marion) has a little nagging wrist injury that keeps popping up every once in a while. Even though we’re playing a lot of guys, we’ve got to try and stay healthy.
“That was a lot of our focus on Saturday – to kind of regroup. Even though we got home late (Friday) and we had to get up early for practice because we had the early slot, the guys were all there, they were ready to go. They just came out with real good focus tonight. Even though they weren’t converting on some of the shots in the first quarter, I think they believed that they were getting good shots. We just had to start connecting on them.”
William Tennent (9-3, 5-2 SOL) will host Quakertown on Tuesday.
Great Valley 12-11-10-19 52
William Tennent 7-23-25-16 71
Great Valley (52) – Tyler Markowski 2 2-3 6; Will Otterbein 5 4-4 15; Julian Connor 1 0-0 2; Jack Woodard 7 8-8 22; Noah Metric 3 1-2 7; TOTALS 18 15-17 52.
William Tennent (71) – Kirby Mooney 12 6-7 30; George Marion 8 1-2 19; Sean Devine 1 0-0 3; Imad Abunima 0 1-3 1; Tony Pople 1 2-2 4; Danny Scheller 1 2-2 5; Luke Torok 1 2-2 5; Evan Devor 1 0-0 3; Tyler Laurin 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 25 15-20 71.
3-point goals: GV – Otterbein; WT – George Marion 2, Sean Devine, Danny Scheller, Luke Torok, Evan Devor.
HOLY GHOST PREP 57, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 45
The Golden Hawks led 12-8 after one quarter but managed just five points in the second quarter and trailed the visiting Firebirds 20-17 at halftime. Matt Robinson kept the Hawks close, scoring eight points before the intermission.
The Hawks trailed by just a 34-33 score heading into the final quarter only to watch their visitors close out the game with a 23-point fourth quarter to earn the win.
Timmy Rahill’s 12 points – eight in the second half – led a balanced Rock South attack. Matt Robinson added 11 points, including three 3s. Aiden Wallace added eight points – all in the third quarter. Gabe Cerulli had six points – all in the second half.
The Golden Hawks buried nine 3-pointers while the Firebirds connected on just two, but Holy Ghost Prep won the game at the foul line, connecting on 15-of-21 while Rock South was 0-for-2 from the charity stripe.
Council Rock South (3-10, 1-7 SOL) will host Central Bucks South on Tuesday.
Holy Ghost Prep 8-12-14-23 57
Council Rock South 12-5-16-12 45
Holy Ghost Prep (57) – Mark Tomasetti 1 0-0 2; Gavin McLaughlin 2 5-6 9; Seamus McDermott 5 2-3 14; Adrien Varella 2 5-6 9; Mel Lindsey 6 3-4 15; Colin Lucas 1 0-2 2; Colin Todd 3 0-0 6; TOTALS 20 15-21 57.
Council Rock South (45) – Matt Robinson 4 0-0 11; Aiden Wallace 3 0-0 8; Timmy Rahill 5 0-0 12; Gabe Cerulli 3 0-0 6; George O’Brien 1 0-2 2; Michael Burns 1 0-0 3; Evan Bidwell 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 18 0-2 45.
3-point goal: HGP – Seamus McDermott 2; CRS – Matt Robinson 3, Aiden Wallace 2, Timmy Rahill 2, Michael Burns, Evan Bidwell.
Girls
Non-league
WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 46, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 39
The visiting Bucks hung tough in Monday’s non-league battle against a Rustin squad that is seeded second in District 1 5A and brought an 8-2 record into the contest.
West – behind five points from both Tai Henkels and Ava Longo – led 10-9 after one quarter. Rustin answered with a 15-10 second quarter to go into halftime with a 24-22 lead.
It was still a four-point game heading into the final quarter when Rustin outscored its visitors 12-9.
Henkels, the lone West player in double figures, led the Bucks with 10 points. Alexis Castro added eight points, which included a 4-for-4 effort at the foul line. Longo finished with seven points while Gabi Senior and Katie Finnan both had six.
The Bucks had no answer for Rustin’s Laine McGurk, who scored a game-high 22 points – 13 in the opening half.
Central Bucks West (4-6, 3-4 SOL) will travel to Bensalem on Tuesday.
Central Bucks West 10-12-8-9 39
West Chester Rustin 9-15-10-12 46
Central Bucks West (39) – Gabi Senior 2 2-2 6; Tai Henkels 4 0-0 10; Katie Finnan 2 1-2 6; Alexis Castro 2 4-4 8; Ava Longo 3 0-0 7; Gabby Reichner 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 14 7-8 39.
West Chester Rustin (46) – Ava Panetta 5 0-0 10; Lola Flynn 1 0-0 2; Elizabeth McGurk 2 1-2 5; Laine McGurk 9 3-5 22; Riley Stackhouse 3 0-0 7; TOTALS 20 4-7 46.
3-point goals: CBW – Tai Henkels 2, Katie Finnan, Ava Longo; Rustin – Laine McGurk, Riley Stackhouse.
GREAT VALLEY 42, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 39 (2 OTs)
The Lions trailed by as many as nine points in regulation but battled back to extend the visiting Patriots to not one, but two overtimes before falling.
“It was a very hard-fought game,” Lions’ coach Steve Polinsky said. “It was back and forth the whole game.
“Turnovers and missed foul shots doomed us in overtime. We are a young team with many sophomores and freshmen playing big minutes, and we need to learn how to close out a game. Three of our losses have been in overtime this year, and we need to learn from these games.”
The Lions led 10-8 after one quarter but fell behind in the second and trailed their visitors 21-14 at halftime. They still trailed by four heading into the final quarter when they outscored Rustin 9-5 to send the game to overtime.
Each team managed just two points in the first overtime, and it was Rustin outscoring the Lions 7-4 in the second to eke out the win.
“They are in constant movement, and their coach does a great job with that group,” Polinsky said of the Golden Knights.
Reagan Chrencik’s 12 points led the Lions. Emily Wilson added eight while Gabby D’Agostino and Izzy Elizondo both had six points.
“A special shoutout to freshman Kayla Fennel, who did not score but played great defense and rebounded well,” Polinsky said. “It’s great Kayla got that big game experience tonight, and that should help her with her confidence moving forward.”
New Hope-Solebury (6-5, 5-2 SOL) will travel to Abington on Tuesday.
Great Valley 8-13-7-5-2-7 42
New Hope-Solebury 10-4-10-9-2-4 39
Great Valley (42) – Taia DePrinzio 0 2-2 2; Gio Sioutis 6 2-5 15; Laura Lum 3 1-2 8; Julia Curran 2 1-2 6; Lauren Frederick 4 2-3 11; TOTALS 15 8-14 42.
New Hope-Solebury (39) – Gabby D’Agostino 2 2-3 6; Ella Dudick 2 1-2 5; Izzy Elizondo 2 2-5 6; Emily Wilson 4 0-1 8; Reagan Chrencik 3 7-7 12; TOTALS 13 12-18 39.
3-point goals: GV – Gio Sioutis, Laura Lum, Lauren Frederick, Julia Curran; NHS – Reagan Chrencik.
Sunday, Jan. 8
Non-league
Blue Star Invitational at Jefferson University
UPPER DUBLIN 47, WEST CATHOLIC 28
The Flying Cardinals took an early lead and never looked back on their way to a decisive win over a West Catholic squad that brought a 7-1 record into Sunday’s non-league game.
Freshman Colleen Besachio had another double-double in a strong outing, leading the Cardinals with 19 points and 14 rebounds to go along with three assists and three blocked shots. She was 9-for-11 at the foul line. Freshman Megan Ngo added 13 points – including two 3s – seven assists and four steals, and junior Nora Brady also finished the game in double figures with 10 points.
“Colleen Besachio had another big game, and Megan (Ngo) did a great job handling their pressure – the entire team did but obviously most of it is on Megan,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “Nora Brady is a really good shooter who struggled finding her stroke this year – she made two first-half 3s, and to get that extra scoring output outside of Megan and Colleen is icing on the cake.
“We got off to a good start, we defended like we normally do, and we actually made some shots.”
Unfazed by the 9 a.m. start time, the Flying Cardinals raced out of the gate to 13-4 lead after one quarter. Bescachio and Brady each had five points in the quarter.
“We had the first game of the day, and it ended up being great for us,” Funsten said. “We’ve played in this showcase several years, and if you have a game in the middle of the day, you get like eight minutes to warm up.
“This morning, we were at Jefferson University by 8 a.m., so we had more than enough time to warm up, which was nice because you have to get used to the court. It’s a college court, so there’s three different 3-point lines. It’s good that we had that extra time.
“We really tried to focus on winning the first quarter because with an early start like that – you don’t know where everybody on your team and the other team’s minds are that early in the morning. Our big goal was to win the first quarter, and we came and played great.”
Behind eight points from Ngo, the Cardinals outscored West Catholic 14-10 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 27-14 lead.
The Cardinals outscored West Catholic in each of the four quarters. Besachio was a perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line and also had a basket for eight points in the third quarter. UD outscored West Catholic 10-7 in both the third and fourth quarters on their way to the lopsided win.
“I’ve been riding the girls at practice this week – there have been times throughout the season we’ve played really well and then we have letdowns,” Funsten said. “We’ve played well for stretches, a good amount of stretches against really good teams.
“I was kind of tired of it, and at practice this week, I was like – why is that enough? Why can’t we be more consistent? By far, this was our most complete game. We played four full quarters. We weren’t perfect, we still made some mistakes.”
The Flying Cardinals – despite facing constant pressure – committed just eight turnovers.
“We wanted to stay under 10, so we took care of the ball,” Funsten said. “We tried to limit the strengths they have offensively. They have three good freshmen that start. They’re super talented, and they’re going to be really good.
“I would compare West Catholic to maybe a little less physical type of Abington game. They want to press you the whole game. I think the girls learned a lot of lessons from playing Abington the first time, making a lot of the mistakes that we did. It’s always great to see growth because their toughness was challenged today, and they really responded. It was just a really well-balanced team win.”
Upper Dublin (7-3, 5-2 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
West Catholic 4-10-7-7 28
Upper Dublin 13-14-10-10 47
West Catholic (28) – Henry 0 1-4 1; Butler 1 0-0 2; Moore 2 2-2 6; Reid 4 4-5 13; Thomas 0 1-2 1; Farmer 2 0-2 5; Thompson 0 0-2 0; TOTALS 9 8-17 28.
Upper Dublin (47) – Brighid Brady 1 1-3 3; Megan Ngo 5 1-1 13; Lilli Kleiman 1 0-0 2; Colleen Besachio 5 9-11 19; Nora Brady 3 2-2 10; TOTALS 15 13-17 47.
3-point goals: WC – Reid, Farmer; Upper Dublin – Megan Ngo 2, Nora Brady 2.
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