Abington and Plymouth Whitemarsh both suffered loses in Friday’s quarterfinals of the District One 6A Tournament.
#1-4 GARNET VALLEY 56, #1-5 ABINGTON 48
Emily McAteer says she was 5-11 the last time she was measured.
“But I think I grew,” the Garnet Valley sharpshooter said. “I think I’m about six foot.”
Whatever her height, McAteer proved to be too tall an order for the Ghosts. The junior forward spent the first quarter going to the basket with a variety of moves and cuts, outscoring the entire Ghost lineup with 13 points in the opening eight minutes to propel the Jaguars to a 23-12 lead.
“We’re always told that you can lose a game in the first quarter, and we have done that before, which really hurt us,” said McAteer, who finished with a game-high 27 points. “I just came out and I was ready to go. I didn’t expect to do that, but I was ready to go.”
McAteer scored on the Jaguars’ opening possession, but the Ghosts took their first and only lead of the half when Miranda Liebtag buried a three. McAteer put the Jaguars back on top with a drive, and then it was Brianne Borcky burying a three. McAteer found Maddy Sorokanych for an easy bucket, and the Jaguars led 9-3.
The Ghosts showed signs of finding their offensive stride when Sam Brusha completed a three-point play after pulling down an offensive rebound, and then Kassondra Brown blocked a shot, came up with the ball and took it the length of the court for a basket that made it an 11-10 game. The Jaguars responded with a 12-2 tear to close out the quarter.
“We came out flat, we didn’t come out with energy,” said Brown. “I think we came in very confident since we won (districts) last year, and that was what we were looking to do this year.
“Their length really bothered us. Playing in a league where teams aren’t as tall as us, we weren’t used to that. They’re a great team.”
The Ghosts limited the Jaguars to four points in the second quarter but still trailed 27-19 at halftime, struggling against a Jaguar squad with a back line that measured in at 6-0, 6-1 and 6-1.
“We knew their length would bother us,” coach Dan Marsh said. “We knew if we got into a situation where we had to play them in a half court their zone would be tough for us because of their length.
“Our whole game plan was to come in, speed the game up and pressure them. When we came out and we didn't do that – we dug ourselves a hole. We came out flat, and you can't come out flat against a team as good as they are."
In the third quarter, Tami Wessels had a hot hand off the bench for the Ghosts, connecting on three 3-pointers. The Ghosts trailed by just two, 39-37, after Brown came up with a steal and took it in for a layup to close out the third quarter.
A pair of Brusha foul shots to open the fourth quarter knotted the score 39-39. It was still a tie game when Britney James found Cam Lexow for a bucket. The Ghosts took a 44-42 lead after Brusha buried a three, but McAteer – who had nine points in the final quarter – answered with a three-point play to give the Jaguars a lead they would not lose.
Brown and Brusha each had 13 points to lead the Ghosts. Wessels added nine points, and Liebtag had seven. Brown also had 10 rebounds and four steals.
“We did not play well offensively, there’s no doubt,” Marsh said. “You have to give some of the credit to them and their length and their zone.
“They cover a lot of space because they are so big. Again, we know what to do and we didn’t do it. It’s weird because I felt like with our schedule, with our experience, with our district championship last year, we were prepared for this kind of game and we weren’t. We made some key mistakes. Now we have to regroup and try and get ready for states.”
Abington (18-7, 10-2 SOL) will face the loser of Saturday’s Souderton/Council Rock North contest in a playback game on Wednesday.
Abington 12-7-18-11 48
Garnet Valley 23-4-12-17 56
Abington (48) – Jordyn Allen 0 0-0 0; Britney James 2 0-0 4; Tamia Wessels 3 0-0 9; Cam Lexow 1 0-0 2; Kassondra Brown 6 1-6 13; Miranda Liebtag 2 2-2 7; Sam Brusha 4 4-5 13; Totals 18 7-13 48.
Garnet Valley (56) – Emily McAteer 8 11-13 27; Jillian Nagy 3 2-3 8; Nicole Barnes 0 3-6 3; Maddie McKee 0 0-0 0; Maddy Sorokanych 1 0-0 2; Brianne Borcky 5 1-2 13; Liesl Dentinger 1 1-4 3; Totals 18 18-28 56.
3-point goals: Abington – Tamia Wessels 3, Sam Brusha, Miranda Liebtag; Garnet Valley – Brianne Borcky 2.
#1-3 SPRING-FORD 53, #1-6 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 50
Dan Dougherty has shared some special moments with his basketball teams over the years, but the veteran coach insists he has never been prouder of his players than he was after Friday’s heartbreaking loss.
“I went into the locker and told them – I’ve never been prouder of a team’s effort,” coach Dan Dougherty said. “I told them, ‘You walk out of the gym with your heads held high, knowing you did everything right tonight.’ I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Things weren’t exactly going PW’s way before the players stepped on the court for Friday night’s quarterfinal game.
“Spring-Ford has known for two weeks they were playing us tonight, and we found out in the wee hours of Wednesday night,” Dougherty said. “So it was one day to practice.”
The Colonials trailed 13-8 after one quarter and 32-23 at the intermission.
“We decided to come out and play them in a two-three zone – try and keep them in front of us and make them shoot over top,” Dougherty said. “We sat in a two-three zone, and they full-court pressed us. We knew the full-court man was coming, so we set up a press break where Taylor could kind of do a give-and-go and attack them.”
The two teams exchanged baskets in the third quarter, and the Rams still led by nine (43-34) heading into the final frame.
“We went in at halftime and said – we’re going to keep attacking them,” Dougherty said. “We told them – the best way to beat a team like this is to run the ball right back at them. If they want to run at us, we’re going to run the ball back at them every time down the court, so that’s what Taylor kept doing. She just had to play through contact tonight.
“There was one really contentious jump ball where a kid from their team rolls over on Taylor, bloodies her nose, and Taylor comes back and keeps playing. Taylor got in foul trouble tonight. We had to start going offense-defense with Taylor in the fourth quarter.”
Behind the inspired play of O’Brien, the Colonials went on a 10-0 run. Lauren Fortescue, Gia Schweitzer and Sydney Kesselman each hit clutch threes in the second half.
With time winding down and the Colonials very much in the game, an incident occurred that prompted Dougherty to file a complaint with the head of PIAA officiating after the contest. He explains his side of the story.
“I had already had a warning about complaining to the officials, and one of the officials pulled me aside during a free throw and tells us, ‘Hey, listen, it’s getting so loud and rowdy in here. If you need a timeout, you’re going to have to jump out and grab us,’” Dougherty said. “He told my assistant the exact same thing. He said, ‘If you guys want a timeout, you have to jump and scream to tell us.’
“With under two minutes to go, it’s a one-point game. They shoot the ball and miss. Haley Zygmunt comes down with the ball. The action is 60 feet away from us. I start jumping up and down screaming for a timeout. No one can hear me. Haley Zygmunt turns, loses her balance. All the while, I’m jumping and screaming, asking for a timeout, but no one can hear us. She loses possession, a Spring-Ford player picks up the ball and scores.
“Again, I’m non-stop screaming and calling for a timeout. The official who had talked to us hears me calling for a timeout. He blows his whistle, raises his hand and turns and awards us a timeout. We were figuring when the timeout was to be awarded, and the other official sees me on the floor and calls a technical foul for being on the floor. I’m allowed to be on the floor because a timeout has been awarded.”
Spring-Ford was awarded three foul shots – one point according to Dougherty – was taken off the board since the player was not fouled going to the basket. The Rams also got possession of the ball.
“It was a one-point game, we had the ball, and I’m doing exactly what the official told me to do, and I got called for a technical foul,” Dougherty said.
Despite everything that transpired, the Colonials still trailed by just three as time was winding down. They missed a desperation three at the buzzer.
The Rams took 24 trips to the foul line, converting 18, as the Colonials were whistled for 20 fouls.
“We average six team fouls a game, and tonight we got called for (20),” Dougherty said. “We normally full-court press, and tonight we sat in a two-three zone the whole game.
“I looked it up – I’ve been coaching for 144 games. Not once has a team ever shot 24 foul shots in a game against us. All that being said, to come out and play Spring-Ford in their gym and have it one-point game with the ball in our hands – I couldn’t be prouder of my girls’ effort.
“Taylor is playing with a bloody nose, Ali Diamond played on one leg tonight. Gia Schweitzer is battling, Anna McTamney is non-stop battling, Lauren Fortescue hit a couple of big threes. I could not be prouder. The girls were all crying because they know a chance to play at Temple got absolutely stolen tonight.”
O’Brien led the Colonials with 16 points while Fortescue had 11 and Schweitzer contributed six points.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (21-4, 14-0 SOL) will face the loser of Saturday’s Central Bucks South/Neshaminy quarterfinal contest in a playback game Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8-15-11-16 50
Spring-Ford 13-19-11-10 53
Plymouth Whitemarsh (50) – Ali Diamond 2 0-0 5; Lauren Fortescue 3 2-2 11; Sydney Kesselman 1 1-2 4; Anna McTamney 2 1-2 5; Taylor O’Brien 6 4-6 16; Gia Schweitzer 2 1-2 6; Haley Zygmunt 1 1-1 3; TOTALS 17 10-15 50.
Spring-Ford (53) – Rachel Christman 1 2-2 5 Sarah Cooper 2-4 2; Abby Goodrich 5 9-10 19; Ali Higgins 3 2-2 11; Cassie Marte 2 1-1 6; Lucy Olsen 2 1-3 7; Olivia Olsen 0 1-2 1; Alyssa Yuan 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 14 18-24 53.
3-point goals: PW – Lauren Fortescue 3, Ali Diamond, Sydney Kesselman, Gia Schweitzer; Spring-Ford – Ali Higgins 3, Lucy Olsen 2, Rachel Christman, Cassie Marte.
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