Four SOL teams earned berths in the state tournament with wins in Wednesday’s District One AAAA second round games. To view photos of the North Penn/Souderton game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#3 UPPER DUBLIN 58, #14 ABINGTON 28
The Flying Cardinal fans turned out in force for Wednesday’s second round game, and according to coach Morgan Funsten, the players fed off the crowd’s energy, turning in perhaps their most impressive performance of a magical season.
“It was really neat because we had a huge crowd tonight,” the Cardinals’ first-year coach said. “The kids have been talking up the game all week in school. I’ve been talking it up too, so a lot of our teachers came, and a ton of students came out. They were all dressed up in costumes.
“We went from usually having eight or nine students at a game to maybe having 150-200. The place was rocking, and our girls were really excited about it. Before the game, we said, ‘Let’s enjoy this. Let’s not really get uptight about it. Let’s really enjoy it and take it in.’”
The Flying Cardinals delighted their fans by turning in a first quarter performance that bordered on perfection when they sprinted to a 22-6 lead.
“The way we came out of the gate – we’ve actually had a couple of games similar to this one but maybe not against as quality a team as Abington,” Funsten said. “We made four three’s in the quarter.
“The girls were feeding off the crowd, and they were putting on a show for the crowd. We were making it look easy, and it is not easy. That Abington team is a good team.”
By halftime, the Cards led 32-11, and they upped that lead to 49-19 heading into the final quarter.
“There were three girls on our team alone that dominated the game at certain times,” Funsten said. “Curtrena (Goff) dominated the game as she always dominates the game. She mixes in her scoring with her passing and with her ball handling.
“Regan Gallagher dominated the game defensively – she had some blocked shots and a lot of rebounds, and at the end of the game, I looked at the boxscore, and she had 17 points. Obviously, she had a great game on the offensive end also.
“Lauren Rothfeld had the task of guarding Deja (Rawls), and she absolutely shut Deja down. Deja’s first points were midway through the fourth quarter when she made a three, and those were her first points of the game.”
Gallagher led all scorers with 17 points, connecting on 7-of-8 shots from the field. She also had 11 rebounds and six blocked shots. Goff had 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Brianna Specter had 13 points and six rebounds, and Rothfield had 11 points, which included three three-pointers.
With Wednesday’s win, the Flying Cardinals (23-1) have punched their ticket into the state tournament.
“They have bigger goals,” Funsten said. “As exciting as this is, we have a quick turnaround on Saturday against North Penn.
“We’re hoping our fans will come out again. That was such a cool experience. I told the girls, ‘You guys deserve this crowd. Make sure you enjoy it. Let’s not forget this is a game, and it’s supposed to be fun. Let’s not let the magnitude of this game get in the way of a real neat experience.’”
Michael Harris scored eight points to lead the Ghosts, who will face Souderton on Friday night in a playback game. Upper Dublin will host North Penn in Saturday’s quarterfinal round.
#20 PENNSBURY 48, #4 NESHAMINY 41
The Falcons continued their storybook postseason run, knocking off the fourth-seeded Redskins on the heels of Saturday’s upset of 13th-seeded Council Rock South. Not a bad run for a team that was seeded 20th and had lost seven of nine games heading into the playoffs. The win ensured the Falcons a state berth, no small feat considering they lost senior standout Jae Jackson to a knee injury midway through the season.
“We’re still a good team even without Jae,” coach Donna Nicholson said. “We still have that presence inside and the outside presence.
“We’re a veteran team, and the other players knew they had to step their game up a notch and the rest of the team had to pick up the slack. They just played together as a team tonight. They kept passing the ball around looking for an open player, an open shot. We didn’t force the issue. We didn’t get into a run-and-gun game with Neshaminy.”
Sajanna Bethea led the Falcons with 22 points, which included an early basket that propelled the junior standout over the 1,000-point plateau.
“She needed three points going into the game, and she took care of that early,” Nicholson said. “We stopped the game and gave her the game ball, but then we got down to playing the game.”
The Falcons led 14-10 at the end of one quarter but found themselves on the short end of a 20-19 score at the intermission. They won the game with a 14-6 third quarter burst and then played the Redskins even in the fourth quarter.
“We played four quarters,” Nicholson said. “We had a little trouble with their press early on, but in the second half, we limited our turnovers.
“Once we got past the press, we got into our offense, we executed, and we took our time. We got them into a halfcourt game. We’re knocking down shots, and we were able to get back on defense and set up – we played more of a 23 matchup zone today, and that seemed to give Neshaminy some problems. We were able to control the tempo, and that was a real key to the win. We played very composed, very confident. It was a real good win.”
In addition to Bethea, Kaitlin Kelly added nine points and Carly Kovin, six points. Alexa Lukas and Taylor Ferguson both had four points, and CJ Kruscavage had three.
“It was a total team effort,” Nicholson said. “At different points, different people stepped up and made key shots.
“Alexa Lukas started the second half, and she did some real good things when she was in there. Sajanna (Bethea) played her usual steady game.”
McKenna Mullin led the Redskins (19-4) with 12 points while Lori Paulits added nine and Madison Murray, seven points.
The Falcons (14-10) will travel to 12th-seeded West Chester Rustin for a quarterfinal game on Saturday. Rustin also pulled off a major upset, defeating fifth-seeded Methacton in a second round game.
“Going into the season, I thought we had a very good chance of going to states, but then we went into that lull at the end of the season,” Nicholson said. “We didn’t finish the season on a high note, and we were hoping to get a seed to go into districts.
“We’re just taking it one game at a time. The girls are playing with a lot of confidence. They’re executing our game plan, playing with a lot of energy and playing together.”
#6 NORTH PENN 35, #11 SOUDERTON 34
It’s never easy to beat the same team three times.
The Maidens – intent on duplicating last year’s postseason success - knew that going into Wednesday’s game against their neighboring rival. Throw in the fact that the Indians had learned earlier that day that Tom Welch, their beloved assistant coach, had lost his brief battle with bone cancer, and it was a safe bet emotions would be running high on both sides.
They were.
Early on, it was the Indians who had all the momentum, opening up a 6-5 lead at the end of one quarter and going into halftime with a 19-13 advantage. Senior Libby Wetzler led the Indians with eight points while teammate Katie O’Connor added six on a pair of three-point baskets in the second quarter.
“It felt like we didn’t hit one shot in the first half – I’m sure we did, but it felt like there was a lid on the basket,” junior Erin Maher said.
“We had a lot of open looks,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “Shots we normally would knock down we were not.
“I think it’s hard not to feel for the kids on Souderton’s team, and there was the pressure if we lose we have to battle back for the ninth or 10th spot, plus playing a team three times. It was all kinds of things, but the kids battle through.”
Things improved for the Maidens in the third quarter, thanks in no small part to the hot hand of Maher. Her bucket after a Vicky Tumasz steal made it a 22-19 game, and when Maher scored after a putback of a missed Lauren Crisler foul shot, it was a one-point game. Crisler had just two field goals through three quarters for the Maidens.
“Other people have to step up,” Maher said. “Thankfully, Lauren can do so much more than just score, so that helped us.”
The Maidens took their first lead of the game (24-22) when Maher buried a three-pointer at the 2:47 mark. The Indians came back to knot the score when – after an Allison Gallagher steal – O’Connor scored on a drive.
Crisler buried an outside jumper to put the Maidens on top 26-24 in the opening moments of the fourth quarter. Neither team scored again until Bianca Picard scored on a tough drive at the 4:07 mark. Freshman Mikaela Giuliani scored on a foul line jumper, but Gallagher buried a pair at the foul line, knotting the score 28-28 with 3:22 remaining.
A three-point play after a putback by Crisler gave the Maidens a 31-28 lead, but sophomore Sarah Derstein connected on a foul line jumped to make it a one-point game. The Maidens went on top by four (35-31) when Crisler scored at the 1:15 mark, but Gallagher answered with a basket at the other end.
The final seconds had their share of drama as the Indians had a chance to knot the score after a Maiden turnover with 40 seconds remaining. They misfired on a pair of shots, and when the Maidens were whistled for a flagrant foul with one second remaining, Picard sank one-of-two, and Derstein’s desperation heave at the buzzer fell just short.
A tearful Indian squad received a postgame locker room visit from Tom Welch’s widow, Sue Welch, who was in attendance at Wednesday’s game.
“I think before they all fall asleep tonight – the tears weren’t about the game today,” Souderton coach Carroll said. “Today and the last month put things into perspective. Sue said it to them in the locker – Tom doesn’t care that they lost by one point to North Penn. He’s proud of them. We’re proud of them.
“They have a lot to be proud of. There are just things that are so much more important than winning a basketball game. For me, the number one reason why I wish we would have won is for the day to end on a happier note because it was a really difficult, long, exhausting day. I’m happy with the effort and the way that they were able to focus and make it about basketball for a little while. That was a goal we talked about.
“We made the decision to play the game tonight, so we had to go business as usual. It just seems silly to care about winning a basketball game right now.”
Crisler finished with a game-high 13 points – seven in the fourth quarter – to go along with six rebounds. Maher added 11 points and eight rebounds while Giuliani had a team-high nine rebounds and six points.
For the Indians, Wetzler and O’Connor led the way with eight points each. Gallagher and Picard both had seven. Derstein had a team-high 11 rebounds.
While the Maidens (21-3) will advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal game against Upper Dublin, the Indians (17-7) will host Abington in a playback game on Friday night.
#8 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 52, #24 SPRINGFIELD (DELCO) 45
The Bucks found themselves staring at a 16-10 deficit at the end of one quarter but found their stride in the second, outscoring the Cougars 18-9 to go into halftime with a 28-25 lead.
“Our focus wasn’t there,” coach Terry Rakowsky said. “Springfield came out and probably hit their first five shots. They just brought it to us. They sat in a zone, and our shots weren’t falling.
“They played well. They came ready to play, and we didn’t until probably the midway point of the second quarter. One of our sophomore guards – Peyton Traina – dove on the floor, took it, and I think we went on a 7-0 run or a 9-0 run to end the half.”
The Bucks continued to add to their lead in the second half, outscoring the Cougars 24-20 to earn the win and a berth in the state tournament – the program’s first since the 1999-2000 season.
“It’s just a huge boost from where we were four years ago,” Rakowsky said. “(Senior) Maggie Gratz can attest to that. She was part of our first season – the building blocks. Each year we tried to accomplish another goal, and so far we have.”
Mackenzie Carroll and Calypso Carty – who had four three’s - led a balanced West attack with 13 and 11 points respectively. Nicole Munger added eight points and Corrinne Godshall, five points. West (18-5) will travel to Spring-Ford on Friday night for a quarterfinal showdown against the defending district champion and top-seeded Rams.
#2 MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 49, #18 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 44
The Magic opened up an early lead and then fought off a second-half comeback by the Patriots, who showed they could play with the tournament’s second seed. The Mount led 10-4 at the end of one quarter before the Patriots found their offensive strike in the second quarter but still trailed 24-16 at the intermission.
The Patriots, behind five points from Karoline White, outscored the Magic 12-11 in the third quarter. White – who scored a team-high 14 points – added seven points in the fourth quarter and teammate Courtney Webster also scored seven as the Patriots (16-8) outscored the Magic 16-14 in the final quarter but never could dig their way out of their early hole.
Webster added 13 points and freshman Kyra Scaliti had seven for the Patriots, who will travel to 10th-seeded Garnet Valley for a playback game on Saturday. Alex Louin led the Magic with 19 points.
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