New Hope-Solebury was a winner in Tuesday’s District 1 Tournament action. Check the recaps. Photos provided courtesy of Karla Donohoe. Check back for a complete gallery: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f913170668
Class 3A semifinal
#2 NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 50, #3 MORRISVILLE 30
Sparked by the hot hand of Izzy Elizondo, the Lions led this one wire to wire, opening up a 23-2 lead after one quarter and never looking back.
“We have not played in over 10 days, and it was good to play someone,” NH-S coach Steve Polinsky said. “We came out ready to play, and we played the right way and moved the ball really well.
“Izzy was on fire the first half and got us going. Credit to Coach Collins and his Morrisville team – they never gave up and played hard.”
In a preview of things to come, Elizondo buried three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the opening quarter. By halftime, she had 17 points. She finished with 24 points, which included six 3-pointers. Emily Wilson added 13 points, and Nina Meixler had seven.
New Hope-Solebury (12-10, 8-8 SOL) will face top-seeded Renaissance Academy on Saturday in the District 3A title game at Bensalem (2 pm).
Morrisville 2-2-13-13 30
New Hope-Solebury 23-14-4-9 50
Morrisville (30) – Ta’Kayla Backus 2 1-4 5; Adriana Williams 3 0-0 8; Faith Graham 3 2-2 8; Myionna Lynch 3 1-2 9; TOTALS 11 4-8 30.
New Hope-Solebury (50) – Nina Meixler 2 2-5 7; Izzy Elizondo 9 0-0 24; Emily Wilson 6 0-0 13; Ella Dudick 2 0-0 4; Bella Elizondo 1 0-2 2; TOTALS 20 2-7 50.
3-point goals: Morrisville – Adriana Williams 2, Myionna Lynch 2; NH-S – Izzy Elizondo 6, Emily Wilson, Nina Meixler.
Class 4A semifinal
#1 VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 70, #4 SPRINGFIELD TWP 67
The Spartans entered the District 1 4A Tournament the fourth seed out of four teams. Tuesday’s game suggested that not a whole lot separated the Spartans from the top-seeded Jems.
“It was a really an exciting game,” Spartans’ coach Dave Giordano said. “We were really pretty well matched. They had a girl – senior (Ava) Gumienny – who dropped 30 on us. She had 15 in the first half and 15 in the second half.”
Springfield held a one-point lead late and had a shot for the tie as time expired.
“We had a look at the buzzer for a 3-pointer to tie it, and it just hit the front rim – it was that close,” Giordano said. “It was a nice crowd at Villa. They had their people there, and we had a great turnout of support for our girls. One team just made a couple plays at the end, and that was the difference.”
Jayla Daniels lit it up for the Spartans, scoring 26 points -16 in a first half that saw the Spartans open up a 36-29 lead.
“Defense went out the window tonight,” Giordano said. “It was the pace I wanted to play. I guess it came down to whoever made less mistakes in the fourth quarter, and that’s kind of what happened.
“It really was exciting to watch. Both teams played their hearts out. From start to finish, the girls really improved light years. I’m so proud of them. It would have been nice to get one more and take that next step. It would have been some sweet icing on the cake, but when we step back, we’ll realize it was a successful season.”
Ava Culler, the lone sophomore in a starting lineup with four seniors, had 21 points – 15 in the second half. Hannah Brandon and Grace Dailey each added eight points.
“I only played six, and they all contributed,” Giordano said. “It’s a shame somebody had to lose the game. It really was exciting.
“In the last two minutes, they made one or two more plays than we did. Everyone who paid $7 tonight got their money’s worth. There’s no doubt about that.”
Springfield Twp closed out its season with a 7-16 record.
Springfield Twp 16-20-15-16 67
Villa Joseph Marie 12-17-22-19 70
Springfield Twp (67) – Alana Decker 0 2-4 2; Hannah Brandon 4 0-2 8; Jayla Daniels 10 3-6 26; Grace Dailey 2 4-6 8; Keara Brandon 1 0-0 2; Ava Culler 8 5-9 21; TOTALS 25 14-25 67.
Villa Joseph Marie (70) – L.Grunwell 3 0-0 7; R.Deal 3 2-4 9; G.Pizziera 3 2-2 9; K.Gayton 0 2-2 2; J.Mack 3 3-5 9; A.Akright 1 2-2 4; A.Gumienny 9 9-12 30; TOTALS 22 20-28 70.
3-point goals: Springfield Twp – Jayla Daniels 3; VJM – L.Grumwell, R.Deal, G.Pizziera, A.Gumienny 3.
Class 5A quarterfinal
#4 WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 61, #5 LOWER MORELAND 33
It was a tough outing for the fifth-seeded Lions, and from the opening tap, there were signs that this might not be their night.
“Within the first 49 seconds, our second leading scorer and best on-the-ball defender picked up two fouls and she had to sit,” LM coach Rich Becker said. “Between her having to sit and Amelia Brown, another starter, out with an injury, we had a hard time adjusting, and our offense stalled. Layups and open shots we would normally make, we missed. When the other team is shooting well and making contested shots, it’s no surprise that we were down 20-8 after the first quarter.”
Rustin took a 32-18 lead into halftime and added to that in the second half.
“It was one of those games where we never got into a rhythm,” Becker said. “Going into the game, I liked our game plan. We had them scouted and saw a good amount of film on them. Unfortunately, a few things went against us early and we never recovered.
“Once we got down, we had to change our game plan. Thinking about it after the game, maybe we should have been a little more patient and stayed in our zone, but they started hitting outside shots, and honestly, our defense was so bad tonight, I don’t know if it would have mattered. I told the girls after the game that even though we were not happy with the officiating – we had two girls foul out, and at one point the free throws were 13-0 in their favor, the truth is that we were not composed, and we let things that we cannot control influence the things that we could control.
“Recently, we’ve had games where we’ve been down and have been able to dig deep and make the adjustments- Upper Merion and William Tennent. Even down 14 at the half, I thought we would be able to do that, but that didn’t happen. Against good teams – and everyone playing at this point in the year is still playing for a reason, we can’t get down like we did tonight and expect a different outcome. Hopefully we can turn it around by Saturday when we play Gwynedd.”
Briana McFerran led the Lions with 11 points. Mollie Martin added eight, and Sydney Santor had six.
Lower Moreland (7-15, 4-12 SOL) will travel to #1 Gwynedd Mercy for a playback game Saturday at 4 p.m. The winner will earn a state berth.
Lower Moreland 8-10-8-7 33
WC Rustin 20-12-18-11 61
Lower Moreland (33) – Briana McFerran 5 0-0 11; Dani Brusha 1 3-6 6; Sydney Santora 3 0-0 6; Mollie Martin 3 2-4 8; Alexis MacPhee 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 13 5-10 33.
West Chester Rustin (61) – Jenna Kratf 3 0-0 7; Natalia Cipolloni 2 0-0 6; Gia DeMichele 2 1-3 5; Kailey Barry 4 2-2 10; Victoria Puzzangara 0 4-4 4; Riley Stackhouse 7 9-10 24; Claire Rydel 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 20 17-24 61.
3-point goals: LM – Briana McFerran, Dani Brusha; Rustin – Natalia Cipolloni 2, Jenna Kraft, Riley Stackhouse.
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