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North Penn, according to senior Dara Nelson, isn’t the same team it was when the Maidens played Central Bucks East in the SOL opener for both squads.
Apparently not.
The Maidens fell to the defending Continental Conference champs 46-36 in the first go-round, but on Friday night, the Maidens did what few teams can do – they defeated East on its home court, eking out a 35-34 win.
“This is huge for us,” Nelson said. “We knew coming in tonight that we needed a win.
“We’re picking it up now.”
So what has changed since that December meeting between the two teams?
“Our chemistry,” Nelson said. “We’re swinging the ball good. Our guards are all participating, our bigs are all participating. We’re all coming together and doing our part, knowing our part.
“Our passes are good, and we’re just working well as a team.”
The Maidens certainly had their chances to fold down the stretch, but on this night, they refused to lose, notching their biggest win of the season.
“I couldn’t have been more proud of my kids because they were so, so tough tonight,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “We take last Friday night’s game against CB South (a 55-42 loss), and granted, Taylour Alston wasn’t able to play, and the kids weren’t really prepared for it, but tonight they came out and just toughed out the game.
“It’s huge to tough out a game against CB East because they’re one of the toughest teams around. I was just really proud of the kids.
The Maidens – behind six points from both Nelson and Steph Knauer – opened up a 16-8 lead at the end of one quarter and still led 21-17 at halftime, but East rallied to go on top 29-26 before Nelson tied it late in the third quarter with a three.
Nelson – who had four three’s – and Steph Knauer both scored a game-high 12 points.
“All you have to do is look at East’s box scores – they usually do really well in the third quarter,” deMarteleire said. “We ran a play for Dara, and she nailed a three to tie it.
“That was big because they’re a team that can go on a roll – you think you’re in the game and then all of a sudden you’re not. We’re obviously one of the taller teams around, but we need to have an outside presence as well as an inside presence. It was big to have someone hit shots from the outside.”
Neither team did a whole lot of scoring in a tense fourth quarter.
The two teams were deadlocked 33-33 when – according to deMarteleire – East’s Kristina Pogue came up with a steal with less than 40 seconds remaining and drew a foul. She connected on one-of-two to put the Patriots on top 34-33.
“We get the ball back, and we were working it around and working it around,” deMarteleire said. “We took a shot and missed it, and Steph Knauer got the weak side rebound and got fouled with 15 seconds left.”
Knauer made both foul shots, the Maidens came up with a defensive stop, and the huge win was in the books.
“It feels great,” Nelson said. “It feels great to ride home knowing we beat a good team in the league.
“We have had wins, but this is a big win, especially in a game like this because it was back and forth all night. Hopefully, we can keep on winning.”
In an interesting stat, the Patriots took 20 foul shots, connecting on 12, while the Maidens shot just five. They made three. In the early-season meeting between the two teams, the Patriots connected on 19-of-22 from the foul line.
The Maidens had only nine turnovers, and the key to the win, according to Nelson, was the Maidens’ intensity.
“We knew they were a strong, aggressive team, and we came out just as strong and just as intense because we wanted it tonight, and we never backed down, even when they were up,” the Maidens’ point guard said.
Alston added nine points and standout defensive play for the Maidens while the Patriots were led by the 11-point effort of Liz Martin. Sarah Martin added seven and Pogue, six.
While the Patriots fell to 7-1, the Maidens improved to 5-3.
Bucks win second straight – They’re young, and they’re fearless, and members of Central Bucks West’s basketball team can’t help but be excited about their future.
Their present isn’t too bad either.
The Bucks won for the second time in as many games on Friday, withstanding every Pennridge rally and holding on for a 46-39 win.
“It’s really the first time in years we had to play smart basketball coming down at the end,” coach Terry Rakowsky said. “We had to control the ball, and we might have been at a ‘C’ level. We have to be a lot better coming down at the end and controlling the situation.
“Our defense helped. We shut them down.”
The win was the first league win at home since the 2007-08 season.
“West isn’t used to winning,” freshman Maggie Gratz said. “We’re just getting there. We’re not used to being in the lead, and we’re learning how to manage it and maintain that lead.”
Gratz, who came off the bench to score 11 points, certainly did her part to help the Bucks maintain their lead. After the Rams made it a five-point game midway through the fourth quarter, Gratz calmly sank both ends of a one-and-one.
Then, after a Ram miss, Gratz was fouled going back up after an offensive rebound. Once again, she made both shots. A Pennridge turnover set the stage for a Gratz bucket that gave the Bucks a 43-32 lead, all but sealing the Rams’ fate.
“It feels great, it feels absolutely wonderful,” said sophomore Sam Colloi, who led the Bucks with 15 points. “It was tough last year. Going into games last year, teams thought, ‘This isn’t even a game. This is an easy win.’
“We now use that as a boost for us – ‘They think we’re not going to win. Let’s prove ourselves.’”
The Bucks certainly proved themselves, and if there was a shot that turned the tide, it came early in the third quarter after Sam Simononis buried a trey that not only knotted the score 24-24 but also erased an 11-point deficit.
The Rams appeared to have all the momentum. For a little while, at least.
Colloi cut their hearts out when – 20 seconds later – she hit nothing but net on a three from the top of the circle.
“Our coach tells us if we have an open shot, we’re going to shoot it,” Colloi said. “For us, it was just that whole mindset of not giving up and always leaving it out on the floor.
“We push ourselves as much as possible because we want to win more than anything.”
The Rams pulled to within one after Simononis, who led all scorers with 17 points, connected at the other end, but Bia Jurema banked home a runner to extend the Bucks’ lead to 29-26. The Rams would get no closer the rest of the way.
Both teams are 2-6 in league play.
Titans win shootout with Panthers – On a night when defense was hardly paramount, Central Bucks South outscored Quakertown 78-64 in a shootout.
Kaycee Schaefer turned in a magnificent 21-point performance, connecting on 6-of-8 shots from the field and 5-of-5 from the foul line.
“She was fantastic,” coach Beth Mattern said. “We need to get her the ball more. She needs to take more shots.”
Katelyn Schneider and Gab Vass each added 16 points while Brittany Kaewell added 13. The dazzling performances of South’s guards helped to compensate for the team’s foul woes in the post.
“We moved the ball great,” Mattern said. “As a team that did its homework, they came out in a two-three like East had played us, but it didn’t last long.
“Watching it – it was probably a fun game. There was a lot of scoring, people were playing hard. As a coach who wants to see her team play fantastic defense – that was lacking.”
The Titans, who connected on 10 three’s, led 23-16 at the end of one quarter, but the Panthers pulled to within four at the half (34-30). The Titans used a 23-point third quarter to go on top 57-45 and never looked back.
Daniella Ciccarone led the Panthers with 23 points, Lauren Starzecky added 17 and Chandler Conway, 12 points.
The Titans improved to 7-1 in league play (8-6 overall) while the Panthers fell to 4-4 (8-6 overall).
Eagles win big over Colonials – Natasha Matthews scored 19 points and Cashae Hinton added 12, but it was the 17-point effort of sophomore Precious Tempson that turned some heads in Norristown’s convincing 55-30 win over Upper Moreland.
“Precious was a surprise, I’ll be honest,” Norristown coach Ashlee Harrison said. “She just had so many steals and breakaway layups.
“She was three-for-four from the line, and that was huge for her. This is what I expected from her, but because she got off to such a rough start – tonight was the first time she broke completely out of her shell.
“She’s so fast, and her first step – sometimes a ref will call it a walk, and she gets discouraged. Certain refs might call her four or five times, and that shuts her down totally. Tonight she was able to draw the pressure and then drive on pressure.”
The Eagles set the tone for this win with a 22-7 first quarter that featured a whole lot of defense.
“This, I hope, was a turning point for us where we can pick the defensive pressure up,” Harrison said. “That’s what started it for us. We got a lot of steals off the press, which got us going.
“I always tell them inside-out, and by Cash not settling for a jump shot and getting steals and then layups, she was able to go inside-out because her jump shot was falling, and she was able to go to the basket.”
Hinton shot 66 percent from the field in the opening half, and the Eagles took a 37-18 lead into halftime on their way to the big win.
Erin Dixon led the Golden Bears with 17 points.
While the Golden Bears fell to 0-8, the Eagles improved to 3-5.
Trojans get defensive – Wissahickon took a 17-13 lead into halftime of Friday night’s SOL contest against Springfield and then turned the defensive pressure up a couple of notches in the second half. The Spartans scored just five points as the Trojans rolled to a 38-18 win.
The Trojans closed out the game with a dazzling 20-1 run.
“In the second half, we picked up our defense and played man-to-man,” coach Jerry Hartman said. “Kristy Ragbir did a nice job on their point guard (Elise DiFilippo), and it took them out of their offense.
“Jessica Keller made a three, Colleen Hinde made a three, and the defense only gave up five points. They have a nice team. Sarah (Constable) has done a nice job.”
The Spartans actually trimmed the Trojans’ lead to one (18-17) early in the third quarter, but that would be their last hurrah.
“I think they’re a dangerous team,” Hartman said. “They pass the ball well, they play well together. It’s a tough place to play down there, and they were coming off a big win over PW.”
Hinde led the Trojans with nine points, scoring seven in the second half. Ragbir added eight while Keller and Alex Schaefer each added seven.
Briana Scafidi led the Spartans with six points.
Galdi leads Vikings – Upper Merion brought a halt to its three-game skid with a 41-31 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday.
“You don’t ever want to make excuses, but we’ve been pretty banged up,” coach Tom Schurtz said. “Everyone is playing, but nobody is really playing fully healthy.
“We just had a slew of mid-season nicks and bruises. When you play in a competitive league, you have to find a way to gut through those. I was happy today. We’ve been playing hard and not really getting the results we wanted, so it was nice to see that we could get the results we were looking for and continue to play with effort and enthusiasm.”
Alex Galdi led the Vikings with 13 points.
“She’s been rock solid,” Schurtz said. “Paolo Tinari – my point guard – took an elbow to the face, and has been playing with a face guard. You look at your seniors, and you ask them to be leaders, and they have.
“Paolo’s going out there every single night banged up, Alex is going out every single night and putting points on the board, and Brianna Alvarez is doing a great job rebounding, and I think that will help us when we go into the Class AAA playoffs..”
Lindsey Wacker led the Colonials with nine points while Alyssa Butcher added eight.
With the win, the Vikings improved to 4-4 (7-6 overall) while the Colonials fell to 2-6.
Panthers down Owls – It wasn’t easy, but William Tennent coach Paul Veltre was just happy to escape with a 46-40 win at Bensalem.
“It was a tough game,” the Panthers’ coach said. “It was another league win, and that’s all we’re looking for.”
Melissa Horn led the Panthers with 11 points and nine rebounds while Liz Koval added 10. Ashley Alden had eight points and nine rebounds.
“During the third quarter, we had the lead up to 10 points, but we lost that pretty quickly,” said Veltre, whose team improved to 4-4. “It was exciting. What else can I say?”
Bensalem (1-7) was led by Alexis Nyekan with eight points while Tyra Roberts had seven.
Felder leads Panthers – Shayla Felder scored 27 points in a brilliant outing and teammates Monet Constant and Kira Ogden each added 10 points as Cheltenham rolled to a 68-34 win over Upper Dublin.
The Panthers took a 31-25 lead into halftime and then blew the game wide open with a 37-9 second half effort.
“We shot well, and we gave them a lot of heat on defense,” coach Bob Schaefer said. “In the second half, we made a slight adjustment, and they only had nine points.”
Kristen Fuery led the Cardinals with 11 points – only three in the second half.
“She shot well in the first half, but Monet was all over her,” Schaefer said. “Monet Constant did a great job on her defensively.
“Now they’re playing the kind of defense I want them to play, and many of them are making the moves I want them to make and shooting where they should be shooting.”
While the Flying Cardinals fell to 5-3 in league play, the Lady Panthers are 8-0 (15-0 overall).
Around the league – Council Rock North rolled to a 75-42 win over Pennsbury. Kelly Scull had 10 rebounds while Sarah Kiely had six rebounds, six steals and three assists.
Carly Anderson and Liz Mower each scored 10 points and Brittany Sandone and Carley Kendall both added nine as Souderton earned a convincing 55-34 win over Hatboro-Horsham. Kate Romano led the Hatters with 12 points.
Abington notched an impressive 48-22 win over Neshaminy while Council Rock South defeated Truman 57-31.
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