Abington, PW & North Penn were winners in Friday’s opening round of the District 1 6A Tournament.
District 1 6A Tournament
#22 ABINGTON 50, #11 NESHAMINY 35
Ask Mikiaya Durham when she knew her shots might be falling in Friday’s district opener, and the Abington junior had an immediate answer.
“Well, I’m a shooter, so when I get going, I get going,” said the Ghosts’ junior guard, whose 18 points led all scorers. “The energy was good, and everything was just going well for us, so I just got amped up a little more.”
The win came one month to the day after Abington defeated Neshaminy 44-41 at home, This time the 22nd ranked Ghosts went on the road to Neshaminy. If it seemed as though the Redskins would have an advantage in a rematch on their home court, those thoughts were put to rest in a first quarter that saw the Ghosts – behind six points from Maya Johnson – open up 10-3 lead after one quarter.
“We knew there some things we could improve on and things that we could fix that would help us beat them even better than we did the last time,” Durham said. “We had a plan, and we executed it correctly.
“We played zone most of the game, and we knew that zone would work best. We watched film, we did a lot of good things, so we knew we that we had to stop the corners, we had to know their shooters and know who we had to stop, and we just focused on that.”
The second quarter belonged to Durham, who scored nine points and helped lead the Ghosts to a 22-16 halftime advantage..
Abington led 34- 27 heading into the final quarter when they put the finishing touches on the big win, outscoring the Redskins 16-8 to close out the game.
“Before we even got into the game, our coach was like ‘ ‘Seniors, don’t you want this game?’” Durham said. “There was a lot of buildup, and we all just wanted it really, really bad, and I think we showed that on the court.”
Friday’s win set ups a date with Cheltenham in Wednesday’s second round, pitting the neighboring rivals in a rematch of a late season contest that was won by the Lady Panthers (57-49).
“We’re very excited that we get to have a rematch,” Durham said. “We didn’t play our best game the last time.”
Key stretch: The Ghosts took control of this one from the beginning, opening up a 10-3 lead after one quarter and never looking back.
Key players: Mikiaya Durham led all players with 18 points – 11 in the first half when the Ghosts took a lead they would not lose. Maya Johnson added 14, eight in the second half. Hailey Hernandez and Aniyah Williams both added eight points.
For the Redskins, Hayley Kolk’s 10 points – nine in the first half on three 3s – led the way. Mia Raivitch added eight points.
Abington coach Allison Lawson: “We focused a lot on defense at practice because when we watched film – we saw we left them open a lot. They just missed the first time we played them. I said, ‘They’re not going to miss at home, so we have to make sure we talk, we communicate and we focus.’ They came out – our game plan worked, and we came out with a win.
“I have a lot of seniors, and I told them – ‘This could be your last game, or we can keep going.’ They really wanted to play Cheltenham again. They were locked in and ready to go.”
–The game: “The first quarter it was 10-3, and it was our defense. Then I went big, and I brought Hailey (Hernandez), one of our guards I normally start, off the bench, and that sparked our run, pushing the ball up the floor. In the second quarter, Mikiaya had the hot hand, so we were feeding the hot hand, running her off screens. They all played together. We played like a team. It was a team effort. Everyone that played contributed in some way, which is awesome.”
“We were the underdog – we were 22 because we had a hard schedule. I told them, ‘We’re not a 22 team. If you believe in yourself, we’ll be fine. We’ve got to play together. Now it’s all about putting our pieces together and what we worked on during the season. One game at a time.’”
Up next: Abington (13-5, 6-2 SOL) will travel to neighboring rival Cheltenham, the tournament’s sixth seed, for a second round game Wednesday. Neshaminy closed out its season with a 17-7 record overall (6-2 SOL).
Abington 10-12-12-16 50
Neshaminy 3-13-11-8 35
Abington (50) – Maya Johnson 3 8-13 14; Mikiaya Durham 8 0-0 18; Shya Crafton 1 0-0 2; Hailey Hernandez 3 2-3 8; Aniyah Williams 3 1-2 8; TOTALS 18 11-28 50.
Neshaminy (35) – Grace Weyler 1 4-4 6; Alena Cofield 1 1-2 3; Ashlyn Duffy 2 0-0 6; Mia Raivitch 3 1-2 8; Auslyn Wilkins 1 0-0 2; Hayley Kolk 3 1-2 10; TOTALS 11 7-10 35.
3-point goals: A – Mikiaya Durham 2, Aniyah Williams; N – Hayley Kolk 3, Ashlyn Duffy 2, Mia Raivitch.
#16 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 47, #17 PENNRIDGE 35
AJ Avery hadn’t forgotten.
The PW junior remembered the heartbreak her freshman year of seeing her team’s season end with back-to-back losses in district play despite the team’s third seed entering the tournament. Last year, the Colonials – the 21st seed – lost to Kennett in the opening round of districts.
Those losses made Friday’s come-from-behind win especially sweet.
“This was a really big win for our team,” Avery said. “Not all of them remember our years before, but being a junior, I know I had that chip on my shoulder. I wanted to win my first district playoff game today.
“I explained it to the team, and they understood the importance of this for us as a team. This is the first time in three years we’ve won a district playoff game. This is an exciting opportunity for our group.”
The Colonials opened up a 13-7 lead after one quarter but found themselves trailing 22-19 at the intermission.
“We knew we had to come in with a mindset it was 0-0, and we had to turn it around,” Avery said. “We had a game against CB East recently where we didn’t score the whole third quarter, so we had to understand – there’s a lot more basketball to play, and we have to turn it up. Keep the same energy and keep rolling.
“(In the first half), they were shooting extremely well from 3, and coach said, ‘Those are shots we’re going to live with.’”
The Colonials scored five straight points out of halftime, taking a 24-22 lead when Taylor Williams buried a huge 3-pointer. Ella Brown evened the score with a driving bucket, but Eliza Meersman scored after pulling down an offensive rebound to put the Colonials on top. Madison Lapp sank 1 of 2 from the foul line to pull the Lady Rams to within one, but again, Meersman scored on a putback.
“Those are very big,” Avery said. “I know I’m happy when I miss it, and she gets the rebound. She’s very good at rebounding, so just seeing her be able to go straight up and get it in is big.
“Defensively, we made a few adjustments to watch a couple of the girls that were hitting 3s in the first half. We made our adjustments and turned it up.”
Back-to-back baskets from Avery sent the Colonials into the final frame with a 32-25 lead. A Lapp 3-pointer pulled the Rams to within four, but moments later, freshman Grace Harvey answered with a 3 at the other end to up PW’s lead to 37-30. Avery scored on a drive, and the Colonials led by nine. They buried 6 of 8 from the line in the game’s final minutes, and the Rams would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
“We practice foul shots every practice, so we look forward to getting to the line and knocking them down,” Avery said.
Key stretch: The Colonials turned a 22-19 halftime deficit into a 32-25 lead in the third quarter on their way to the big win.
Key players: AJ Avery’s 15 points led the Colonials. She also had a team-high five assists as well as four rebounds. Grace Harvey added 11 points and seven rebounds while Eliza Meersman had eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds – five offensive. Kenna Winland added six points and four assists.
For the Lady Rams, Ella Brown’s 15 points led the way. Samantha Murphy added nine points on three 3-pointers – all in the second quarter.
Brown leaves on top – Ella Brown ensured herself a spot in the program record books, scoring 15 points and becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1, 233 points. The Holy Family bound senior broke the record of 1,232 set by Jana Rediger.
“Unbelievable,” Pennridge coach Jason Rapp said. “When she gets that record, she doesn’t get it by being selfish. She shares the ball, she makes the right plays. I think tonight she knew what she needed, and she still made the right play for other players to get shots. That just says a lot about a teammate because that’s quite an accomplishment. I’m really proud of her for accomplishing that. Holy Family is getting a good one.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Dan Dougherty: “AJ (Avery) and Kenna (Winland) were part of the team two years ago that won the SOL championship but lost to Upper Dublin in districts and then lost to Abington in district playbacks, and we were done. For this team, this win means a lot. Our two best wins of the season were our second and third games of the season – we beat Agnes Irwin and we beat Lower Merion, and since then, we haven’t had a single statement win. We’ve been in position – we’ve played some really close games against some really good teams, but they always seemed to slip away.
“I thought the start of the game gave us confidence. Some of our quick hitters to start the game worked, and it gave the kids more confidence.”
–The second half: “To go into the third quarter down three, it was like, ‘Oh no, is another one going to slip away?’ I thought Taylor Williams’ 3 to start the third quarter was just a huge exhale for us as a team. The Grace Harvey’s plays in the fourth were just uplifting plays because the older you get the more the pressure builds. When you get to be juniors and seniors, it’s like – am I ever going to win a district playoff game, and here’s this freshman playing fearless.
“We made one defensive switch. We were putting a ton of attention on 1 (Ella Brown), 12 (Emily DeHaven) and 23 (Madison Lapp) to start the game, but then we switched off of 23 to 22 (Samantha Murphy) because she had three 3s in the first half, and she didn’t hit another 3 the rest of the game, so that was a big defensive switch we made.”
Pennridge coach Jason Rapp on the game: “You have to give them credit. We made shots, and they stuck with what they wanted to do. We had a really, really good second quarter, and we just didn’t have a great third quarter. But I give them credit – they play real hard, and they’re well coached.”
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh (15-9, 4-4 SOL) will travel to top-seeded Perkiomen Valley on Wednesday. Pennridge closed out its season with a 15-8 record (4-6 SOL).
Pennridge 7-15-3-10 35
Plymouth Whitemarsh 13-6-13-15 47
Pennridge (35) – Ella Brown 6 2-2 15; Emily DeHaven 2 0-0 6; Samantha Murphy 3 0-0 9; Madison Lapp 1 1-2 4; Layla Verbit 0 1-4 1; TOTALS 12 4-8 35.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (47) – Taylor Williams 1 0-0 3; Live Patete 2 0-0 4; AJ Avery 6 3-5 15; Kenna Winland 2 1-2 6; Eliza Meersman 4 0-0 8; Grace Harvey 4 2-2 11; TOTALS 19 6-9 47.
3-point goals: P – Samantha Murphy 3, Emily DeHaven 2, Ella Brown, Madison Lapp; PW – Taylor Williams, Kenna Winland, Grace Harvey.
#15 NORTH PENN 57, #18 PHOENIXVILLE 40
The Knights made their final home game a memorable one, rolling to the decisive win in Friday’s district opener.
“It was great – we couldn’t have asked for anything better,” NP senior Cam Crowley said. “All of our fans coming out and getting the win – it was just a great game.
“All the seniors – we knew we didn’t want this to be our last game, and we wanted to make it to the next round. It was our last home game. We wanted to show up, and we came to play.”
The Knights made a statement in the first quarter, opening up a 17-9 lead over their visitors. Lily Brown’s six points led the Knights while Crowley had five and Leah Mikulski had four – all three connected on a 3-pointer in the quarter.
In the second quarter, Lily McGee buried a pair of 3s, and the Knights took a 30-21 lead into halftime. Only a 3-pointer by Phoenixville’s Kayden Baratta in the closing moments of the half prevented the Knights from taking a double-digit lead into the intermission.
The Knights added to their lead in the third quarter, outscoring their visitors 17-10 to go into the final quarter with a 47-31 advantage. Lily Brown’s 10 points sparked the Knights. The Phantoms never threatened, and a young Knights’ squad was moving on to the second round.
“We lost a lot of players from last year, and we knew everyone – including the young players – were going to have to step up,” Crowley said. “Sophomores Meyha (Godhania) and Lily Brown have stepped up big time, and Jadyn (Sperling) and Tallie (Smink) – everyone’s been contributing, everyone’s grown. It’s been a great season.”
Key stretch: The Knights established the tone for this one from the outset.
Key players: Sophomore Lily Brown’s 21 points – 12 in the second half – led the Knights. Cam Crowley and Leah Mikulski both had 10 points.
North Penn coach Bri Cullen: “I am so proud of them. Their experience in a big moment showed tonight. We play a hard schedule all season to prepare us for games at this time of year.”
–Props: “Lily Brown had an amazing game both in the book and on the boards. Cam’s senior leadership really shined through. It was a complete team win, and everyone played a big role.”
Next up: North Penn (13-11, 8-2 SOL) will travel to second-seeded Garnet Valley for a second round game at Garnet Valley where the Knights will play in the 5:30 p.m. contest.
“We just have to go out and put it all out there because no one expected us to get this far,” Crowley said. “It’s been great.”
Phoenixville 9-12-10-9 40
North Penn 17-13-17-10 57
Phoenixville (40) – Taylor Schneider 0 1-2 1; Allyson Turner 1 0-0 2; Ava Gnias 3 0-1 7; Kayden Baratta 4 2-2 12; Nevaeh Batimore-Beasley 2 0-0 5; Emine Ulcay 6 1-3 13; TOTALS 16 4-8 40.
North Penn (57)- Saniah Hammond 1 0-0 2; Cam Crowley 2 5-6 10; Lily McGee 2 0-0 6; Lily Brown 9 2-6 21; Leah Mikulski 4 1-3 10; Mayha Godhania 2 1-2 5; Tallie Smink 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 21 9-17 57.
3-point goals: P – Kayden Baratta 2, Ava Gnais, Nevaeh Batimore-Beasley; NP – Lily McGee 2, Cam Crowley, Lily Brown, Leah Mikulski, Tallie Smink.
#10 HAVERFORD 45, #23 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 31
The Titans gave the Fords all they could handle for one half, trailing by just three at halftime, but the Fords took control of the game with an 11-4 third quarter on their way to the opening round win.
Ella Wheeler kept the Titans close in the first half scoring, 10 of her teams 17 points.
“I’m really proud of the effort the team put into this season,” South coach Beth Mattern said. “It’s always a tough night when your season ends, but I’m proud of the effort and the people I got to coach this season.”
Wheeler’s 13 points, which included three 3-pointers, led the Titans. Jules Tropea added six points.
Central Bucks South closed out its season with a 12-11 record overall (6-4 SOL).
Central Bucks South 7-10-4-10 31
Haverford 9-11-11-14 45
Central Bucks South (31) – Ella Wheeler 4 2-2 13; Jules Tropea 2 2-2 6; Mia Klein 0 5-8 5; Gabby Tropea 1 0-0 2; Rylee Campbell 1 0-0 2; Megan Schmidt 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 9 9-12 31.
Haverford (45) – Mya Foley 2 1-1 6; Megan Kelly 4 0-0 10; Grace Maloney 1 2-2 4; Maya Gilroy 1 0-2 2; Natalie Wright 3 0-0 6; Rian Dotsey 6 4-4 16; Taylor Gleason 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 17 8-11 45.
3-point goals: CBS – Ella Wheeler 3, Megan Schmidt; H – Megan Kelly 2, Mya Foley.
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