To view photos of the CR South/Cheltenham, Truman/CB West and Bensalem/Hatboro games, visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
It was quite a day of basketball action on Saturday.
Five different schools – Council Rock North, Council Rock South, Wissahickon, Central Bucks West and Norristown – played host to 18 girls’ teams in the SOL Challenge, a day designated to support Coaches vs. Cancer.
In one of the day’s marquee games, Cheltenham might well have silenced critics who said the Lady Panthers had played a soft schedule and weren’t as good as their 15-0 record indicated. Their impressive 66-41 win over Council Rock South suggested they are.
Pulling off the upset of the day was a Pennridge squad that was coming off a disappointing loss to Central Bucks West 24 hours earlier but rebounded to stun Upper Dublin 55-44. Talk about a quick a quick recovery – this was it!
When it came to individual performances, Quakertown’s Daniella Ciccarone stole the spotlight, pouring in 40 points in a brilliant effort as the Panthers rolled to a 62-54 win over Neshaminy.
And that was just the beginning.
Council Rock North continued its dominance of SOL opponents, rallying from an early deficit to down Central Bucks East 51-41.
North Penn suffered no letdown after its huge upset of Central Bucks East the preceding night, jumping out to an early 17-4 lead and rolling to a 49-32 win over Norristown.
Central Bucks West extended its win streak to three with a no-doubt-about-it 59-23 win over Harry S. Truman.
Bensalem freshman Tyra Roberts was the unlikely hero in the Owls’ dramatic 37-35 win over Hatboro-Horsham, turning a nifty assist from point guard Alexia Ewing into a game winning basket at the buzzer.
Wissahickon gave Abington all it could handle before falling 40-33, and Central Bucks South fought off a fired-up William Tennent squad for a 59-43 win to round out Saturday’s action.
Lady Panthers on top of their game - (See full article posted in separate document.)
Ciccarone unstoppable – Daniella Ciccarone has spent the past several weeks lighting up one opponent after another with explosive offensive performances. The Quakertown senior had 36 against Gwynedd Mercy last Saturday and 27 against Souderton Tuesday.
She did even better than that against Neshaminy on Saturday, lighting up the net for 40 points in a dazzling performance.
Ciccarone scored 25 of those points in a remarkable fourth quarter that included a near-perfect 16-for-19 effort at the foul line.
“She had a monster game,” coach Greg Swavely said. “That’s got to be right up there with one of the best single performances that I have seen.
“She was basically untouchable in that fourth quarter. I’m just glad she had a Quakertown jersey on.”
Neshaminy actually took a 34-33 lead into a marathon fourth quarter, but after the Panthers went on top, the Redskins elected to foul. With the ball in her hands most of the time, Ciccarone was on the receiving end of many of those fouls.
“It all starts with her ball handling ability,” Swavely said. “When she has the ball, it’s real hard to get it from her.
“We had the lead, they needed the ball back, and she wasn’t an easy target to get it from. It all came down to her controlling the ball and being smart about it.”
Ciccarone’s ability to convert those foul shots into points was the difference in the game.
“It was a real close game,” Swavely said. “It was a real good game. It came down to the last couple of minutes.
“We had the lead, and fortunately, Ciccarone was right on at the foul line. It was a fun thing to watch.”
Defense propels Indians to big win – In a showdown of perennial SOL powers, Council Rock North spotted Central Bucks East an early 10-1 lead. Making matters worse, the Indians didn’t connect on their first field goal until Devin Gold scored with 1:05 remaining in the opening quarter.
It was hardly cause for concern.
Gold buried a three in the closing seconds of the quarter, trimming the Patriots’ lead to 12-8, and by halftime, the Indians had battled back to go on top 22-21.
“Any time you see a zone like that that really packs it in, you have to be patient,” Rock North coach Lou Palkovics said. “I have good shooters, but we didn’t hit any shots the first couple times down the court.
“I was just telling my girls, ‘Stay within yourself. Stay within yourself.’ I thought as long as we kept them around 35-40 points, we would be alright.”
In the second half, the Indians’ defense took over. With Devin and Lauren Gold creating all kinds of havoc for East’s ball handlers, the Indians outscored the Patriots 29-20 for a hard-fought 51-41 win.
“Those two – I have the utmost faith in them wearing guards down,” Palkovics said of the Gold sisters. “They got me 14 steals in the Council Rock South game.
“Tonight, I thought East was a little better protecting the ball, but they wore them down. I can just look at Devin and Lauren and say, ‘It’s time to cause havoc,’ and they can do it.”
The key stretch in the game came in the opening minutes of the third quarter.
Devin Gold opened the second half by burying her second three of the game. After an East turnover, Lauren Gold connected on a trey, and the Indians’ had extended their lead to 28-21.
Sarah Kiely sank one-of-two from the foul line before Melissa Remmey connected for East’s first basket of the half at the 4:52 mark, making it a 29-23 game. Kiely answered with a baseline jumper, and when Lauren Gold connected from the outside, the Indians led 33-23.
The Patriots trimmed that lead to five (35-30) after a basket by Liz Martin, but Lauren Gold buried a pair from the foul line to put the Indians on top by seven. The Patriots would get no closer the rest of the way.
For the Patriots, the loss came less than 24 hours after they were upset by North Penn.
“We definitely were not ready for the game last night,” junior Courtney McManus said. “We played hard today.
“They’re aggressive, and they have a team that’s going to go far. We’re going to take this as a learning experience.”
Lauren and Devin Gold led the Indians with 14 and 13 points respectively. Kiely added 10. For the Patriots, Liz Martin and Kristina Pogue each had 11 points while Remmey had 10.
Bensalem shows flare for dramatic (See full article posted in separate document.)
Ghosts down pesky Trojans – Wissahickon jumped out to an 11-8 lead at the end of one quarter but managed just nine points in the next two quarters combined as Abington came back to earn a 40-33 win.
“They hung tough,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said of the Trojans. “They’re scrappy, and they hit some three’s.
“Teams are playing us zone and packing it in on Emily (Leer). If the other girls step up, we handle it pretty well, but if we struggle a little bit, it makes it a much more difficult game.
“They started out man, and we went up 6-0. Then they switched to the zone and hit three three’s to go up 9-6. This is how it will go – no one will play us in man.”
Leer led the Ghosts with 16 points while sophomore Ayannah Peal added 11 and Jamie Shectman, seven points. Kristy Ragbir led the Trojans with nine points while Jessica Keller and Colleen Hinde each added six.
Rams rebound with big win – Pennridge showed its heart and character on Saturday, rebounding from a disappointing loss to Central Bucks West to upset Upper Dublin 55-44.
“We played so much better,” coach Brooke Martin said. “We probably played our best game today as a team.
“We were getting good shots off, and we were making them, and that makes a big difference.”
Another key was the Rams’ defense. Upper Dublin standout Kristen Fuery needed 16 points to reach the thousand-point plateau. She had 11 in the first half but did not score again as senior Sam Simononis delivered a standout defensive effort.
“We started off with a box-and-on, and Sam covered her,” Martin said. “Then we decided to go man and just face guard her.
“Sam pretty much face guarded her the whole time. She did get shots off, but they were all contested shots.”
Simononis (19 points) and Jordan Dominic (18 points) provided the bulk of the offense for the Rams
“They didn’t rush anything,” Martin said of her senior leaders. “They got the whole team involved, and they had wide open shots.
“Upper Dublin threw a man-to-man at us, they threw a one-three-one at us, and they threw a two-three at us and even a three-two. They mixed it up, but we didn’t panic.”
With the win, the Rams improved to 7-9.
“We needed this for our momentum,” Martin said. “With the season winding down, we would like to prolong it with the playoffs, and that’s pretty much up in the air right now.
“It comes down to – if we want to make the playoffs, we have to win more games. The girls were excited today, and they have a right to be.”
Ward leads Maidens – Mary Ward will be playing collegiate softball next year. Coach Maggie deMarteleire suggested that North Penn’s senior guard might want to reconsider after her superb 18-point effort in the Maidens’ 49-32 win over Norristown.
“Mary Ward is playing unbelievably well,” deMarteleire said. “She was terrific. She played good defense, she made good decisions on offense, and she made her foul shots – she was 10-for-14 from the foul line.
“I actually told her, ‘You might end up playing basketball in college instead of softball.’ The way she’s been playing – she has been a game finisher for us. If she continues to play that way, we’ll be in good shape.”
The big win came less than 24 hours after the Maidens’ upset Central Bucks East, and they suffered no letdown, jumping out to a 17-4 lead at the end of one quarter. The Eagles cut into that lead, but the Maidens still took a 29-19 lead into intermission.
“We played a zone because we can’t match up man-to-man with them,” deMarteleire said. “We actually haven’t practiced much zone, and they have some good kids. Cashae Hinton and Natasha Matthews are strong players.
“We didn’t play very good defense in the second quarter, but we buckled down in the second half. After the emotional, physical game last night, I was pleased that we were able to come through in the second half.”
Steph Knauer scored 12 points for the Maidens while Matthews had 11 points and Hinton eight points for the Eagles.
Titans fight off Panthers – Central Bucks South used a 23-10 third-quarter explosion to blow open a close game against William Tennent. The Titans took a tenuous 24-22 lead into the intermission but seized control of the game in the second half on their way to a 59-43 win.
“It was a quick turnaround for both teams from last night, and we had to make a couple of adjustments defensively because they are a tall team,” South coach Beth Mattern said. “We started pulling it together toward the middle of the second quarter, and in the third quarter, our pressure (defense) really paid off, we did a better job on the boards, and we drained some shots.”
Gab Vass led the third-quarter charge with eight points.
Katelyn Schneider paced the Titans with 17 points and scored in every quarter. Kaycee Schaefer added 14 points, which included four three’s.
“Both teams were missing a player at the SATs with the game time at noon, so we were both equally affected,” Mattern said. “It was just a tough game. Both teams played hard.”
Ashley Alden (11 points) and Emily O’Donnell (10 points) led the Panthers.
Bucks keep rolling along – Central Bucks West upped its winning streak to three games with its resounding 59-23 win over Harry S. Truman.
“It’s becoming a habit,” coach Terry Rakowsky said with a laugh.
Winning is a habit the first-year coach will take every day of the week.
“We played really well today,” he said. “We played even better than yesterday (against Pennridge).
“We moved the ball better today, and we really tried to focus and make four or five passes before we shot it up. It helped us with the rebounding. At one point, we had 12 rebounds in a row.”
The Bucks led by a slim 10-8 margin at the end of one quarter before putting some distance between themselves and the Tigers.
Jen Fabian led the Bucks with 12 points while Liz Blanchard and Makenzie Gordon each added seven.
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