Six SOL girls’ basketball teams were winners in Wednesday’s District One 6A second round. CB West/Neshaminy photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut. Pennsbury/Rustin photos courtesy of Darry Rule of J&D Photography, and Upper Dublin/Downingtown East photos courtesy of Geanine Jamison. Check back for galleries of photos. (CB East photo courtesy of CB East basketball.)
#1 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 51, #16 HAVERFORD 39
The Colonials took an early lead and never looked back, earning not only a spot in Saturday’s quarterfinal round but ensuring themselves a coveted state berth.
“We’re super excited,” said PW coach Daniel Dougherty. “Going into tonight’s game, that was the number one goal. It’s the first time in program history that we’ve made it to states four consecutive years.
“We’ve made it to states three times in a row back in the 70s and 80s but never four times in a row. It’s a big accomplishment. The girls are really excited to have the season extended all the way to states. They’re just thrilled. They’re a young team. They want to continue to gain playoff experience.
“All of these kids suffered the heartbreak of losing to Cardinal O’Hara at the buzzer last year in the first round (51-49). They want to make it back and try and make a run at it.”
The Colonials – behind six points from sophomore point guard Kaitlyn Flanagan – led 19-13 after one quarter and then allowed just 16 points in the final three quarters.
PW took a 26-18 lead into halftime and added to it with a 13-6 third quarter that featured seven points from Jordyn Thomas.
“That’s really when the lead was stretched out,” Dougherty said.
Gabby Cooper’s 14 points led the Colonials.
“All game Gabby Cooper was outstanding,” Dougherty said. “Her pressure defense is just so disruptive to the other teams. She scored on multiple plays out of bounds, offensive rebounds and hustle plays.”
Flanagan finished with 12 points while Thomas and Anna McTamney both had nine. Abby Sharpe chipped in seven points.
TJ DeLucia stepped in and coached Wednesday’s second round game in the absence of Dougherty, who picked up a pair of technical in the SOL Tournament semifinals.
“It was his first time as head coach of the varsity, and he did a great job,” Dougherty said. “He had the girls ready to play. The girls stepped up for him too. They were real excited for him. It was just a great all-around team win.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (21-3, 13-1 SOL) will host #8 Upper Dublin in a quarterfinal game on Saturday (7 p.m.). It is the fourth meeting between the two teams. PW won the first 47-25, but UD won the second regular season meeting 39-26 and upended the Colonials 39-35 in the semifinals of the SOL Tournament.
Haverford 13-5-6-5 29
Plymouth Whitemarsh 19-7-13-12 51
Haverford (29) – Addison Brodnik 3 1-2 8; McKenna Walsh 1 1-2 3; Chaira MacGillivray 1 2-4 4; Katie Redding 1 0-0 2; Caroline Dotsey 4 2-3 10; Emma Rowland 1 0-0 2; Totals 11 6-9 29.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (51) – Kaitlyn Flanagan 4 4-8 12; Abby Sharpe 3 0-0 7; Gabby Cooper 4 6-6 14; Anna McTamney 4 0-0 9; Jordyn Thomas 4 1-1 9; Totals 19 11-15 51.
3-point goals – Haverford – Addison Brodnik, PW – Abby Sharpe, Anna McTamney.
#2 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 52, #15 NESHAMINY 41
Don’t be misled by the final score.
It took a gutsy, fiercely determined effort by the Bucks to earn the come-from-behind win. It took big shots in big moments from Maddie Burke, it took a relentless effort under the backboards by Paige Gilbert, it took Emily Spratt fearlessly attacking the basket, and it took clutch foul shooting by Olivia Irons down the stretch to put the Redskins away.
“It’s them coming together as a team, and they do it as a team,” West coach Zach Sibel said. “We waited 10 days to play a game, we’ve been chomping at the bit.
“You get a team like Neshaminy that’s extremely well coached, they’re physical, they’re disciplined – you’ve got to match that, and to see that 
from our girls is awesome. I knew they had it in them. You take your punches, and you throw them back. That’s what makes a great team, and that’s what makes these girls so unbelievably special.”
The shorthanded Redskins – who were without starters Kelli Kowalick and Kacie Sienko because of injuries – gave the Bucks all they could handle.
“I told the girls in the locker room – ‘That’s a really good team. If you guys play with that same kind of intensity and focus and try and execute, I think you can get into the state still,’” Neshaminy coach Joe Lally said. “To have a freshman (Taylor Gurysh) – both of her starts were playoff games, and just the leadership and fight from Emily (Tantala), Kristin (Curley) and Olivia (Scotti). It’s everybody. I was so proud of them.”
The Redskins never stopped moving on offense, displaying patience as they waited for the shot they wanted. More often than not, they got it in a first half that saw them open up a 14-10 lead at the end of one quarter when Olivia Scotti scored on an inbounds pass.
“We were the 15 seed coming in playing the two seed, so we really thought we had nothing to lose,” said Tantala, who buried a pair of 3s in the opening quarter. “We were down two starters, we have a short bench, so we came in here and gave it all we had. Work as hard as we can, just work hard – that was our mentality, and whatever happens happens.”
Jess Broskey scored on a drive to open the second quarter, pulling the Bucks to within two, but after Tantala hit nothing but net on a baseline floater, Curley buried a pair at the foul line, and the Redskins led 18-12. It was still a six-point game after Curley found a cutting Scotti for a layup, but Burke buried a three to make it a 24-21 game at the intermission.
The Bucks, according to Irons, remained confident.
“We don’t stress at all,” the senior point guard said. “We know our shots are going to fall eventually. Someone always steps up.”
Tantala led the Redskins with 10 points while Scotti had eight.
“We spent three practices talking about learning a specific offense and where to start it and how it has to be started and how we need to make sure we get our shot,” Lally said. “It sounds great – everybody has the same idea, but tonight they came close to executing it, they really did.
“We were ball movement, player movement for three days. A ton of credit to them – for them to go out and play like that, I was just really proud.”
Curley found a cutting Scotti to open the second half, but Burke buried a three after a Broskey steal. After a rare Neshaminy miss, Gilbert found Irons for a three that briefly gave the Bucks a one-point lead, but Curley scored off the dribble to take it right back. Another Curley bucket gave the Redskins a 30-27 lead.
Spratt buried the first of two foul shots, and when Gilbert came up with the rebound of the missed second shot and found Burke for three, the Bucks – who in essence got a four-point play – had a lead they would not lose. Another Gilbert offensive board resulted in Burke’s third three of the quarter, and the Bucks led 34-30.
They led by three heading into the final quarter and led by as many as seven, but Curley buried a three from the top of the circle to make it a 42-38 game. A putback by Gilbert upped the advantage to six, and Irons sealed the Redskins’ fate, connecting on 8-of-8 at the foul line to close out the game.
With the win, the Bucks punched their ticket to the state tournament.
“We have a list of goals in the locker room, and we just keep taking it one game at a time,” Irons said. “We just want to keep checking off our goals. So far we’ve hit them all.
“As senior, this being the end of my career at West and the end of my career in general – it’s been huge that this season’s been so fun and that we’re all so close and we’re doing so well. I think that all comes together, and it’s why we win.”
“We want to keep going,” Gilbert said. “Nobody’s ready to stop. We also have fun at practice. It’s just a great time.”
Burke led the Bucks with 16 points, including four 3s, while Irons added 14. Spratt finished with 11, including a 5-for-6 effort at the foul line. Gilbert was a beast under the boards, pulling down 14 rebounds – eight offensive. Ten of those came in the second half.
“We’re undersized and undermanned, and five (Gilbert) is a hard enough player to keep in check even when you’re healthy,” Lally said. “She gets a rebound, and she kicks it to a wide open Maddie.
“Maddie had three 3s that were daggers off of other people’s hustle plays. She’s a game-changer, that’s all there is to it.”
Curley led the Redskins with 16, Tantala added 13 and Scotti had 10.
“I told the kids – ‘One of the coaches I really like is Bobby Knight, and he always says he doesn’t believe in moral victories, but I think tonight you proved him wrong,’” Lally said. “I love those kids. They worked their tail off to understand what we thought was our best chance to compete.
“We really needed to really control tempo, and I thought we did a good job of not letting them get too many fast break buckets. It really was a two-possession game, but unfortunately, we had to foul to get the ball.”
Central Bucks West (21-4, 12-0 SOL) will host #10 North Penn in Saturday’s quarterfinal contest (4 p.m.). The Bucks defeated the Knights twice during the regular season (56-46, 57-45), but it wasn’t as easy as the scores suggest. Neshaminy (15-9, 11-1 SOL) will travel to #7 Garnet Valley for Saturday’s playback game. Last year, the Jaguars brought a heartbreaking end to Neshaminy’s season, eking out a 51-48 win in the state semifinals.
“We’ve got to take this momentum and put it into practice the next few days,” Tantala said. “We have Garnet Valley, which is a revenge game for us because last year they beat us twice and knocked us out of states.”
Neshaminy 14-10-9-8. 41
Central Bucks West 10-11-15-16. 52
Neshaminy (41) – Sydney Tryon 1 0-0 2; Emily Tantala 5 1-2 13; Olivia Scotti 5 0-0 10; Kristin Curley 6 3-4 16; Totals 17 4-6 41.
Central Bucks West (52) – Paige Gilbert 3 0-1 6; Olivia Irons 2 9-9 14; Emily Spratt 3 5-6 11; Jess Broskey 2 0-0 4; Maddie Burke 6 0-0 16; Maddy McGarry 0 1-2 1; Totals 16 15-18 52.
3-point goals: N – Emily Tantala 2, Kristin Curley, CBW – Maddie Burke 4, Olivia Irons.
#4 PENNSBURY 58, #13 WEST CHESTER RUSTIN 30
The Falcons took a 29-22 lead into halftime and then turned up their defensive pressure, allowing just eight second-half points while scoring 29 of their own to win going away.
With the win, the Falcons earned the program’s first berth in states since 2013.
“That was a good feeling,” coach Frank Sciolla said. “Going back to the state playoffs – it’s a great experience for us. It was the next step that we wanted to take. It was everybody’s goal.
“Everyone had two goals on their sheets before the season –it was win the SOL and get to states. You have those, and now the next piece is we have a home game Saturday against Methacton.”
The Falcons, who had an opening round bye, had not played since the SOL Tournament semifinals on Feb. 8
“You have so much time when you get a bye, so we had five Rustin (game films),” Sciolla said. “You can’t watch them any more than you did, and I saw them live. We felt like we were prepared, and we felt like we’d be able to defend them. In the second half, we were able to lock down.”
The Golden Knights led 12-11 after one quarter, but the Falcons regrouped, outscoring their visitors 18-10 in the second quarter. Bella Arcuri led the Falcons with eight points, which included a pair of 3s. Mary Miller added seven points. Kelly Haws also had a three in the frame, and Abbi Nassivera added four points.
“They came out and defended us like a lot of teams have tried – they definitely wanted to do everything they could to not let Ava touch it,” Sciolla said. “Bella Arcuri really stepped up, Nicole Pompili made shots and also Mary Miller. Ava was unbelievably patient, especially for a 10th grader and especially in a game like that. She may have missed one shot, maybe two shots. In the second half, she made some big baskets for us to break it open.
“Bella was really good and shot the ball well. Abbi Nassivera came off the bench and did the things she does for us.”
Arcuri led all scorers with 17 points, which included three 3s. She also had five rebounds and three assists. Sciolla added 14 – 11 in the second half. The sophomore point guard added 10 rebounds to complete her double-double. Pompili added 10 points, including a pair of 3s in the third quarter, and Miller added eight points and nine deflections.
Pennsbury (20-4, 11-1 SOL) will host #5 Methacton in Saturday’s quarterfinal contest at 1 p.m. The game is a rematch of last year’s playback game for a spot in the PIAA 6A state tournament. Methacton earned a 26-17 win, sending the Falcons home for the season.
“It’s going to be at home, it will be a good challenge, and it’s fun,” Sciolla said. “We’ll keep it rolling.”
West Chester Rustin 12-10-2-6 30
Pennsbury 11-18-16-13 58
West Chester Rustin (30) – Lola Flynn 3 0-1 7; Gracy Shivers 2 0-0 6; Grace Plona 4 1-4 10; Sam Greer 1 0-0 2; Laine McGurk 1 0-0 2; Laney Costin 1 1-3 3; Totals 12 2-8 30.
Pennsbury (58) – Ava Sciolla 6 2-3 14; Abbi Nassivera 1 2-3 4; Kiley Haws 1 0-0 3; Bella Arcuri 7 0-0 17; Lauren Dignan 1 0-0 2; Mary Miller 3 1-2 8; Nicole Pompili 3 2-2 10; Totals 22 7-10 58.
3-point goals: WCR – Gracy Shivers 2, Lola Flyn,n Grace Plona, Pennsbury – Bella Arcuri 3, Nicole Pompili 2, Kiley Haws, Mary Miller.
#8 UPPER DUBLIN 48, #9 DOWNINGTOWN EAST 39
The Cardinals earned a win that not only clinched a state berth but also their fourth date with conference rival Plymouth Whitemarsh. They seized early control of this one and never let go.
“We jumped out to a 10-0 lead early, then 13-2,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “The entire night we had such great balanced scoring. Seven players scored at least four points.”
Leading the Cardinals was Jess Polin with 10 points. The junior point guard filled a stat sheet, also contributing five assists, five steals and four deflections. Polin had zero turnovers.
“She completely dominated the game and not because of her point total” Funsten said. “As a team, we had four turnovers.
“We did a great job taking care of the ball. We turned them over 16 times. We pressed them full court because we thought we could gain an advantage that way. We got out in transition a little bit.”
The Cardinals, who led 13-7 after one quarter, outscored their visitors 14-4 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 27-11 lead.
“It was a great first half,” Funsten said. “We scored the first eight points of the second quarter, and we really got some nice separation.
“Jackie Vargas made a couple of really nice moves. Going into halftime it was 27-11, and we couldn’t have played much better in the first half.”
The visiting Cougars outscored their hosts 28-21 in the second half but never threatened.
“In the second half, we made a few defensive mistakes, but they made some tough shots,” Funsten said. “They’re a really tough team. I think they’re a top five team in the district. They have a lot of talent, and they have a lot of fight.
“They didn’t go away easily. We had a couple of chances to put them away. A lot of credit to them – they made big plays, but every single player who got in the game for us had a major impact on the game.”
Anajae Smith led the Cardinals under the backboards with seven rebounds. Bliss Brennner was 5-for-6 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, connecting on the front end of three one-and-ones. She also had four rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Vargas added nine points – five in the fourth quarter. She also had four rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.
“Dayna Balasa made a big three early in the fourth quarter,” Funsten said. “Sarah Eskew made big shots. Kara Grebe made the first two shots of the game to put us up 5-0, and Jackie Vargas had great energy again tonight.”
Eskew finished with eight points, including a pair of 3s. Grebe added seven points.
Bella Smuda, the Cougars’ 6-5 center, led all scorers with 17 points.
Upper Dublin (18-7, 12-2 SOL) will travel to #1 Plymouth Whitemarsh for the fourth battle this season with the Colonials. The Cardinals have 2-1 edge in those three games.
“Having won the last two games, we can’t just settle in and expect it to be the same thing again,” Funsten said. “I’m sure they’re going to make adjustments, and we need to continue to make adjustments to get better.
“We can’t assume that because we won the last two it’s going to go exactly the same way and we’re going to win this one. We have to continue to focus on getting better. We know it’s going to be a big time battle on Saturday.”
Downingtown East 7-4-15-13 39
Upper Dublin 13-14-10-11 48
Downingtown East (39) – Cassidy Denning 2 0-1 6; Mary McFillin 2 0-0 6; Caroline Brennan 2 0-0 5; Bella Smuda 7 2-3 17; Totals 15 3-6 39.
Upper Dublin (48) – Bliss Brenner 0 5-6 5; Anajae Smith 2 0-0 4; Jess Polin 4 1-3 10; Kara Grebe 3 0-0 7; Sarah Eskey 3 0-0 8; Dayna Balasa 2 0-0 5; Jackie Vargas 3 3-3 9; Totals 17 9-12 48.
3-point goals: DE – Cassidy Denning 2, Mary McFillin 2, Caroline Brennan, Bella Smuda, UD – Sarah Eskew 2, Jess Polin, Kara Grebe, Dayna Balasa.
#11 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 56, #6 RIDLEY 54
The Patriots led by 11 with three minutes remaining but saw that lead disappear rather quickly as the Green Raiders rallied to knot the score. With 15 seconds remaining, Mia Salvati scored a basket that turned out to be the game-winner, giving the visiting Patriots the upset in front of a full house.
“On the final possession under their basket with 6.7 left, we get a tip, and they get a shot off, but Emily Chmiel blocked it. Then it was a scrum for the loose ball as time expired,” East coach Liz Potash said. “It was a crazy ending.”
The win propelled the Patriots into the Elite Eight and, more importantly, guaranteed them a berth in the state tournament – their fourth in seven years under Potash.
The Green Raiders – behind 11 points from point guard Dakota McCaughan – had the better of play in the first half, opening up a 30-25 halftime lead. Then came a third quarter that saw the Patriots outscore their hosts 19-5 to go on top 44-35. Emily Barry ignited East, scoring eight points in the third quarter.
The Patriots appeared to be in command when they still had a double-digit lead with three minutes remaining, but the script didn’t exactly go as hoped.
“We took a good shot – an outside shot that was in and out, and they came down and hit a three and made it eight,” Potash said. “We had two turnovers in a row, and we missed the front end of two one-and one’s.
“We missed one when it was a five-point game, we fouled McCaughan on a three, and she hit all three foul shots to make it a two-point game. They tied it with 36 seconds. We called a timeout, got the ball at half court. We set up a play, and Mia scored on a layup.”
McCaughan – a senior transfer from Bonner-Prendergast – singlehandedly brought the Green Raiders back in the fourth quarter, scoring 13 of her game-high 24 points.
“I thought Emily Barry did an unbelievable job on her – she played her so tough and she still had 24,” Potash said. “She’s really good.”
Salvati led the Patriots with 17 points, which included three 3-pointers. She kept the Patriots in it with 10 points in the first half. Chmiel had nine in the opening half.
“They had two kids on Emily, face guarding her,” Potash said. “We have other kids that can score. Emily only had 14 tonight and we scored 56.
“Emily Barry had a great third quarter, Mia had a great game. We are not just Emily.”
Chmiel certainly made her presence felt, matching her 14 points with 14 rebounds. She also had two blocks. Barry finished with 10 points while Gabby Wilga and Aubrey DeAngelis both had six.
“I told them yesterday after practice, they have an unbelievable player (McCaughan), we have the better team. This is not going to be easy, but this is a team we can match up with,’” Potash said.
Central Bucks East (17-7, 8-4 SOL) will travel to #3 Spring-Ford on Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. quarterfinal game. The Rams defeated #14 Owen J Roberts 48-39.
Central Bucks East 14-11-19-12 56
Ridley 16-14-5-19 54
Central Bucks East (56) – Gabby Wilga 3 0-0 6; Mia Salvati 7 0-1 17; Elise Duffy 1 1-1 3; Emily Chmiel 5 4-7 14; Emily Barry 4 2-2 10; Aubrey Deangelis 3 0-0 6; Totals 23 7-11 56.
Ridley (54) – Kylie McNicholas 3 0-0 8; Lindsay Boyd 6 3-5 16; Madison Chapman 1 0-0 2; Dakota McCaughan 7 5-5 24; Shannon Hindey 1 0-0 2; Shea McNamara 1 0-0 2; Totals 19 8-10 54.
3-point goals – CBE – Mia Salvati 3, Ridley – Dakota McCaughan 5, Kylie McNicholas 2, Lindsay Boyd.
#5 METHACTON 45, #12 SOUDERTON 34
The visiting Indians led 7-4 after one quarter only to watch the Warriors close out the half with a 14-2 tear to go into halftime with an 18-9 lead. The Indians – 
sparked by nine points from Olivia Schneider – scored 25 points in the second half but could do no more than exchange baskets with the Warriors.
Schneider led the Indians with 11 points while freshman Erin Bohmueller added seven. Mikaela Reese, the Indians’ top scorer, was limited to just five points.
Souderton (17-7, 7-5 SOL) will host #13 West Chester Rustin in a playback game on Saturday. The Indians are one of eight teams vying for three state berths.
Souderton 7-2-13-12 34
Methacton 4-14-14-13 45
Souderton (34) – Jordan Zimmerman 1 0-0 2; Erin Bohmueller 3 0-0 7; Olivia Schneider 5 0-2 11; Casey Harter 2 0-0 4; Hayley Fenchel 1 3-3 5; Mikaela Reese 2 1-2 5; Totals 14 4-7 34.
Methacton (45) – Cassidy Kropp 1 0-0 3; Sydney Tornetta 4 0-3 8; Caroline Pellicano 3 2-4 8; Sydney Hargrove 4 4-4 12; Nicole Timko 6 0-1 12; Tori Bockrath 1 0-0 2; Totals 19 6-12 45.
3-point goals: Souderton – Erin Bohmueller, Olivia Schneider, Methacton – Cassidy Kropp.
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