SOL Girls’ Basketball District Preview (2-16-18)

Twelve SOL girls’ basketball teams are in the 24-team District One Class 6A field. Seven will be in action when the district tournament begins Friday. Check back for recaps of all the games.

Seven SOL girls’ basketball teams will be in action this weekend when the District One 6A Tournament gets underway. Five teams have opening round byes and will not begin postseason play until Wednesday’s second round. One SOL team – Upper Moreland – is in the 16-team Class 5A field and will be in action on Tuesday. Springfield Township is the fourth seed in the District One 4A Tournament that begins next Friday.

PW senior Lauren Fortescue reaches 1,000-point milestone

Lauren Fortescue had herself a Senior Night to remember last Friday, converting a layup in the second quarter that vaulted her to the 1,000-point mark. The senior guard, the ninth PW female to reach the milestone, needed just four points entering the Colonials’ game against Quakertown.
“I totally wanted to get it over with as soon as possible, but I was a little nervous in the beginning,” Fortescue said. “I think I actually shot about five 3-pointers before I shot the two-pointer.”
The senior guard says she had a lot help from her teammates.
“Taylor (O’Brien) wanted to pass me the ball every time,” Fortescue said. “I knew she wanted it as much as I did.
“We were running transition, something that we do a lot. Taylor had the ball at the top of the key, and she was going to whip it to Ali (Diamond), but they ran out to Ali, and I was wide open. It was a quick layup.”
The game was halted, allowing Fortescue to celebrate with her teammates and family.
“It was so exciting,” she said. “In that moment, there was nothing else I was thinking about. I was just looking at everyone’s faces, smiling. I was just trying to capture all the emotions.
“I really tried to see what everyone else was doing, not just me, so I could remember it. It was really special.”
There was one slight glitch in the postgame celebration.
“I remember my sister (Pattie Fortescue) tried giving me a hug, but I was just so excited and I dissed her,” Fortescue said with a laugh. “She gave me some stuff for that, but it wasn’t anything personal. I was just so excited.”
Fortescue – who scored 429 points in her first two years at Norristown – becomes the second member of this year’s squad to put her name in the school’s record books. Last year, O’Brien surpassed the 1,000-point mark.
“I got emotional for Taylor as well,” Fortescue said. “Just seeing that person so happy and seeing how many people come out to those types of games and seeing how many people support you, you don’t realize until that moment happens. It felt amazing.”
Fortescue is averaging a career best 11 points a game and leads the team with 3.5 steals per game and 42 3-point field goals made. She reached the milestone of 100 career 3-point field goals made earlier this season.
“Lauren has been the difference for us going from the middle of the pack District One teams to back-to-back undefeated league champs and earning a first round bye the past two seasons in district playoffs,” coach Dan Dougherty said. “Lauren grew up with most of the seniors on the team, and after transferring here from Norristown (as a junior), she’s fit right back in with the kids.
“She’s a beloved teammate and student in the school, and we’re all so proud of her accomplishment. We sometimes kid her though that the only time this group missed the playoffs was their freshman year when Lauren (a freshman at Norristown) beat us with a 25-plus foot 3-pointer at the buzzer. That year we finished ranked 33^rd in the district (32 teams made the playoffs).”
For Fortescue, reaching the 1,000-point mark is the culmination of a goal.
“It was always a goal of mine since freshman year,” Fortescue said. “(Norristown coach) Vince (Catanzaro) told me I could do it, and from that point on, it always stuck in my head.
“I was feeling a little pressure to get it. Once you’re that close, you’re worried about winning but also you have a personal goal. I’m glad I got it over with before districts.”
Fortescue and her teammates enter districts on the heels of a disappointing showing in a 66-26 loss to Souderton in an SOL tournament semifinal game.
“It was honestly embarrassing for us,” the senior guard said. “We were down at halftime, and we had a lot of catching up to do, and we were just down on ourselves, and that’s how they scored so much more.
“All practice this week so far, we’ve been putting emphasis on boxing out. I think that’s something that really hurt us. We also had a team dinner on Tuesday night at the O’Brien house. We’ve been talking to each other and just picking each other up at practice more. We’ve been celebrating every good thing that we’ve been doing in practice just so that becomes a habit during the game.
“I think it was a rude awakening because we’ve been playing teams in our league that aren’t as competitive as the Upper Dublins or the Soudertons or Abingtons. I think it was a realization we needed before districts.”
PW – which has an opening round bye – will face the winner of the (11) Downingtown East versus (22) Owen J Roberts game in a second round contest.

District One 6A

#1-1 SOUDERTON (Bye)

22-2 overall
11-1 SOL Continental Conference champions
Won program’s first conference title since 2004
SOL Tournament champions with 48-29 win over #2 Central Bucks South
Balanced attack directed by point guard Tori Dowd and led offensively by Alana Cardona (11.5 ppg), Kate Connolly (10.8 ppg), Megan Walbrandt (10.2 ppg) and Megan Bealer (8.0 ppg)
Split regular season series against #2 Central Bucks South (25-40, 41-30)
Regular season wins over #5 Abington (53-36), #6 Plymouth Whitemarsh (66-26), #12 Central Bucks East (38-29, 48-45), #14 Central Bucks West (38-17, 53-38), #17 Methacton (54-38), #20 Coatesville (62-25), #21 Pennridge (65-20, 62-26) & defending PIAA 3A state champion Neumann Goretti (48-28).
Indians have allowed less than 30 points in seven of last eight games.
Winners of 16 straight games heading into district tournament

#1-2 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH (Bye)

21-3 overall
10-2 SOL Continental Conference second place
Fell to #1 Souderton 48-29 in SOL Tournament title game
Led offensively by Jefferson University-bound senior Haley Meinel (15.0 ppg) and junior point guard Alexa Brodie (12.5 ppg).
Split regular season series with #1 Souderton (40-25, 20-41) & #12 Central Bucks East (37-49, 36-34)
Regular season wins over #5 Abington (43-39), #6 Plymouth Whitemarsh (58-52), #7 Perk Valley (59-47), #8 Council Rock North (48-42), #9 Upper Dublin (30-24), #10 Neshaminy (35-32), #14 Central Bucks West (53-47, 43-31) & #21 Pennridge (53-29, 59-40).
Opened season with 13 straight wins

#1-5 ABINGTON (Bye)

17-6 overall
10-2 SOL National Conference tri-champions with Council Rock North & Neshaminy
Junior Kassondra Brown leads the Ghosts in scoring (17.6 ppg) and under the backboards (11.4 rpg).
Point guard Britney James averages 6.3 assists a game while directing an offense that includes Millersville-bound Sam Brusha (16.1 ppg) and Cam Lexow (7.3 ppg).
Regular season wins over #6 Plymouth Whitemarsh (64-51), #12 Central Bucks East (58-52), #19 Boyertown (58-31), #24 Pennsbury (62-46, 63-29) & PIAA 5A runner-up Norwin (62-59).
Split regular season series with #8 Council Rock North (50-57, 54-48) and #10 Neshaminy (53-60, 49-35).
Ghosts’ 10-game winning streak snapped in SOL Tournament semifinal loss to #2 Central Bucks South (43-39).

#1-6 PYMOUTH WHITEMARSH (Bye)

20-3 overall
14-0 SOL American Conference champions
Second consecutive undefeated American Conference season for Colonials, who have won 28 straight games in conference play.
Program’s first back-to-back conference titles since 1978 & 1979.
Led offensively by a pair of 1,000-point scorers – Bucknell-bound Taylor O’Brien (23.0 ppg) and Lauren Fortescue (11.0 ppg)
Regular season wins over #9 Upper Dublin (57-55, 35-31), #23 Cheltenham (73-35, 67-19) & #21 Pennridge (52-46).
Colonials, who won 18 of first 19 games, had a 15-game winning streak snapped late in the season by #5 Abington.

#1-8 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH (Bye)

17-5 overall
10-2 SOL National Conference tri-champions with Abington and Neshaminy
Led by senior point guard Becca Margolis, who surpassed the 1,000-point mark this season and averages 12.0 points a game.
Junior Dana Bandurick (11.7 ppg) and senior Mackenzie Tinner (11.0 ppg) are key contributors offensively as well as under the backboards
Split regular season series with #5 Abington (57-50, 48-54) & #10 Neshaminy (29-41, 61-39).
Swept regular season series with #24 Pennsbury (51-10, 47-17)
Won 11 of 12 to close out regular season.

#1-24 PENNSBURY at #1-9 UPPER DUBLIN (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.)
Upper Dublin

18-4 overall
12-2 SOL American Conference second place behind Plymouth Whitemarsh
Young Cardinals’ offense led by sophomore Jackie Vargas (12.6 ppg), senior Nicole Kaiser (11.3 ppg) and freshman Dayna Balasa (7.9 ppg)
Regular season wins over #12 Central Bucks East (56-33), #23 Cheltenham (55-10 & 57-33).
UD ranked in top 10 of the district in five of six seasons under coach Morgan Funsten
Won 10 of 11 games to close out regular season

Pennsbury

11-11 overall
6-6 SOL National Conference fourth place
Most wins and first trip to districts since 2013
Young team lost junior Kate Mix to torn ACL midway through the season
Led in scoring and rebounding by sophomore Cami Wiegand (10.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg).
Senior Sydney Buell (7.5 ppg, 5.3 rbg) and sophomore Mary Miller (6.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg) have also made important contributions. Freshman Bella Arcuri runs the point.

#1-23 CHELTENHAM at #1-10 NESHAMINY (Saturday, 1:30 p.m.)
Neshaminy

16-5 overall
10-2 SOL National Conference tri-champions with Council Rock North & Abington
Redskins have won a share of conference title in four of last seven years
Led by captains Brooke Mullin, Allison Harvey and Kristin Curley.
Regular season wins over #12 Central Bucks East (35-31), #21 Pennridge (63-42) & #24 Pennsbury (56-31, 42-15)
Split season series with #5 Abington (60-53, 35-49) & #8 Council Rock North (41-29, 39-61)

Cheltenham

12-10 overall
6-8 SOL American Conference tied for fourth place
Led by Savannah Roberts (11.9 ppg), Courtney Murray (8.5 ppg) and Kai Williams (8.2 ppg)
Split regular season series with Class 5A #16 Upper Moreland (40-36, 46-47).

#1-21 PENNRIDGE at #1-12 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST (Friday, 7 p.m.)
Central Bucks East

14-8 overall
7-5 SOL Continental Conference tied for third place with Central Bucks West
Led offensively by senior Sophia Mancusco (10.7 ppg), senior Bailey McManus (10.5 ppg), junior Elyse Shine (8.0 ppg) and senior Gina Russo (7.0 ppg)
Split regular season series with #2 Central Bucks South (49-37, 34-36).
Wins over #7 Perk Valley (44-33), #21 Pennridge (49-38, 60-50) & #24 Pennsbury (33-29).
Won seven of eight after 0-2 start with squad that lost four starters and seven seniors from last year’s successful squad.

Pennridge

11-11 overall
4-8 SOL Continental Conference fifth place
Split regular season series with #14 Central Bucks West (31-50, 63-59)
Balanced attack led by Brooke Bachtle (8.5 ppg), Gill Anderson (8.1 ppg), Rose McCormick (7.2 ppg) and Sam Muredda (7.1 ppg)

#1-19 BOYERTOWN at #1-14 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST (Friday, 7 p.m.)
Central Bucks West

11-10 overall
7-5 SOL Continental Conference tied for third place with Central Bucks East
Led by sophomore Maddie Burke (14.6 ppg), junior Diane Nicholson (11.8 ppg) and junior Izzy Treon (8.6 ppg) as well as senior point guard Abbey Spratt
Regular season wins over #4 Garnet Valley (43-39) and #12 Central Bucks East (53-42, 48-47)
Split regular season series with #21 Pennridge (50-31, 59-63)

Boyertown

9-13 overall
4-6 Pioneer Athletic Conference Liberty Division fourth place
Defending PIAA 6A state champion
Led offensively by senior Kylie Webb (11.1 ppg) and sophomore Julia Smith (7.7 ppg). Webb has 42 3-pointers and Smith has 39.
Regular season wins over #22 Owen J Roberts (50-42, 46-30)

Class 5A
#16 UPPER MORELAND at #1 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON (Tuesday, 7p.m.)
Upper Moreland

10-11 overall
6-8 SOL American Conference
10 wins is most for program in more than a decade and came on heels of a winless 2016-17 season.
Led offensively by Phoebe Longstreth (7.6) and Bean Hughes (6.6 ppg)
Split regular season series with Class 6A #23 Cheltenham (36-40, 47-46)
Seven-game winning streak late in season.

West Chester Henderson

22-0 overall
12-0 Ches-Mont National Division Champions
Defeated #2 West Chester Rustin 63-58 to capture the program’s first ever Ches-Mont title
Senior point guard Maddie DePrisco directs balanced offense that includes forwards Grace Ferguson (11.9 ppg) and Abbey Shea (11.5 ppg) and guard Erin Thompson (11.4 ppg)
Regular season wins over #2 WC Rustin (52-46), #6 Penncrest (42-30), #7 Academy Park (70-69), #10 Upper Merion (66-63) & #11 Bishop Shanahan (41-33, 42-39) as well as Class 6A #11 Downingtown East (44-38, 49-44), #18 Oxford (41-32) & #20 Coatesville (65-42, 68-62).