Abington earned a berth in states with its 59-48 win over Central Bucks East. Upper Moreland saw its season come to an end.
Class 6A
#1-5 ABINGTON 59, #1-12 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 48
Tamia Wessels measures in at 5-3. While the diminutive guard might not strike fear in the hearts of opponents whose focus is containing 6-2 center Kassondra Brown and 5-10 guard Sam Brusha, don’t underestimate the soft-spoken junior.
In Tuesday’s second round contest, Brown (17 points, 15 rebounds) and Brusha (19 points, 13 rebounds) certainly did their fair share of damage, but Wessels was a difference maker off the bench, scoring nine points. Her five second-quarter points – which included a putback after an offensive rebound and a three – capped a 7-0 run that put the Ghosts on top 25-12. Early in the fourth quarter, Wessels scored on a drive after the Patriots came oh so close to stealing the ball. Her basket extended the Ghosts lead to nine after a Sophia Mancuso bucket made it a seven-point game.
“Tamia is a kid that competed for a starting job but hurt her knee in the North Penn scrimmage,” coach Dan Marsh said. “It took her a long time to get back.
“She is completely fearless. She hit a shot last year to win a game. She’s one of those kids who will take a big shot because she can miss it and be okay with it. She works hard. Cam (Lexow) has been sick, and I wasn’t sure if she would start, but I told Tamia, ‘Either way, you’re going to be big in these district playoffs,’ and she was tonight. I’m really proud of her.”
The Ghosts set the tone by reeling off nine unanswered points to open the game. Brown got the ball rolling with a basket, and then it was Britney James burying a three on her second try of he possession. A putback by Brown was followed by Lexow turning a James inbound pass into an easy bucket and a 9-0 lead.
“We haven’t been pressing recently because we were not as good a pressing team as we were last year,” Marsh said. “So we were thinking we could surprise them, and I think we did.
“We were able to get a couple of quick buckets off the press. We thought it was important to come out strong against them. It was obviously.”
A slow start was not what the Patriots had in mind on the heels of a 58-52 loss to the Ghosts two weeks earlier.
“We got down 10-0 when we played here two weeks ago and then spent the whole game trying to catch up,” East coach Liz Potash said. “It’s a tough way to play against a really good team.”
“We talked about it before we left today,” Mancuso said. “We don’t feel like we’re nervous. We just have to get together as a group and figure it out.
“We’re all pumped up before the game and we’re ready to play. We just struggle to get our offense going. Our shots weren’t falling, and that was the problem.”
The Patriots still trailed by eight at the end of one quarter (18-10) and saw that deficit grow to 13 after the three by Wessels.
“That’s a huge momentum builder,” Brusha said. “We’ve got seven scorers on the team, and it’s always great when someone like Tamia comes out there and scores five straight points.
“The next time down CB East had to respect her and start playing on her. That was huge.”
Caroline Pla answered with a 3-pointer for the Patriots, and they battled back to make it a 28-20 game by the intermission.
“I actually thought we had a lot of good looks and the right people getting the looks, and we just weren’t able to make (the shots),” Potash said. “What they make it tough to do is get any offensive rebounds because of their size inside.
“We count on getting some offensive boards, and the way they run their transition – you have to send a lot of kids back so they don’t get easy layups, and now you don’t have kids hitting the boards. It puts a lot of pressure that you have to make that first shot.”
“Rebounds are all about hustle and heart,” Brusha said. “So I think everyone on the team tries their hardest to get the board.
“Especially for offensive rebounds, that’s two easy points if you get the offensive rebound. I focus a lot on that, and I know a lot of people on my team focus on that.”
A three-point play by Brusha to open the second half gave the Ghosts a 31-20 lead, and they took a nine-point lead into the final quarter. The Ghosts still led by 10 with three minutes remaining after Lexow scored on a fast break (53-43). Audrey LaBouliere scored at the other end, and when Pla buried a three after a Bailey McManus steal, the Ghosts’ lead was trimmed to 53-48 with 1:49 remaining. Brusha – who scored 15 points in the second half – sank four straight at the foul line to seal the Patriots’ fate.
The win vaulted the Ghosts into the state tournament for the fifth time in five years.
“It means a lot,” Wessels said. “We lost three games in a row (earlier this season), and no one was expecting us to be in states.
Abington (18-6, 10-2 SOL) will host the winner of Wednesday’s game between #4 Garnet Valley and #13 Conestoga. Central Bucks East – still alive for a state playoff berth – will play the loser of that contest.
“We were in this position last year too,” Potash said. “We lost second round to Boyertown and then came back and beat Neshaminy and Coatesville to get ourselves in states.
“These girls were all a part of that. They know it can be done, but it’s tough.”
“Losing to Abington obviously hurts,” Mancuso said. “The goal right now is to learn from this game, look past it and focus on Saturday.”
Abington (59) – Jordyn Allen 1 0-0 2; Britney James 2 0-0 5; Tamia Wessels 3 2-2 9; Cam Lexow 2 0-0 4; Kassondra Brown 6 5-7 17; Miranda Liebtag 1 1-2 3; Sam Brusha 6 5-5 19; TOTALS 21 13-16 59.
Central Bucks East (48) – Sophia Mancuso 5 3-4 14; Skylar Krause 2 0-0 4; Ginan Russo 3 0-0 6; Caroline Pla 3 0-0 9; Audrey LaBouliere 2 0-1 4; Bailey McManus 3 0-0 7; Gabby Wilga 0 0-0 0; Elyse Shine 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 20 3-5 48.
Abington 18-10-15-16 59
Central Bucks East 10-10-14-14 48
3-point goals: Abington – Sam Brusha, Britney James, Tamia Wessels; CB East – Caroline Pla 3, Sophia Mancuso, Bailey McManus.
Class 5A
1-1 WEST CHESTER HENDERSON 52, 1-16 UPPER MORELAND 29
A Golden Bear squad that made giant strides this year saw its season come to an end at the hands of a top-seeded Henderson squad that has not lost in 25 games.
The Warriors raced out of the gate to a 26-6 halftime lead. The Golden Bears found their offense in the second half, scoring 23 points.
Bean Hughes led Upper Moreland with 11 points. Phoebe Longstreth had six points on a pair of threes.
Upper Moreland (6-8 SOL) closed out its season with a 10-12 record.
Upper Moreland 2-4-13-10 29
West Chester Henderson 15-11-14-12 53
Upper Moreland (29) – Caitlin Corr 2 0-0 5; Hannah Stainback 1 2-6 4; Bean Hughes 5 1-2 11; Cassidy Murphy 2 0-2 4; Phoebe Longstreth 2 0-0 6 TOTALS 12 1-4 29.
West Chester Henderson (53) – Maddie DePrisco 2 2-2 7-; Erin Thompson 1 5-6 7; Erin Torrance 4 1-4 12; Amarant 0 1-2 1; Smith 1 2-6 4; Campbell 1 0-0 2; Abbey Shea 5 3-5 13; Grace Ferguson 1 4-5 6; TOTALS 15 18-30 52.
3-point goals: UM-Longstreth 2, Corr, Stainback; WCH-Torrance 3, DePrisco.
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