Neshaminy advanced to Wednesday’s District 1 6A semifinal round. In playbacks, PW, CB West & Pennsbury were winners. Neshaminy/CR North photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. PW/Haverford courtesy of Larry Small, and Upper Dublin/Spring-Ford courtesy of Geanine Jamison. Check back for galleries of all three games.
#1-2 NESHAMINY 58, #1-7 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 54
There’s no substitute for veteran experience.
The Redskins certainly proved that in Saturday’s come-from-behind win that saw seniors Brooke Mullin and Allison Harvey team up for 38 points with Mullin’s 21 leading all scorers.
“That was big time,” Neshaminy coach Joe Lally said. “I think Brooke did a great job of drawing defenders to her and then finding Allie for the kick-out. I thought Kristin Curley did the same thing – she’s got great floor vision.
“When Allie got hot, it was nice because the kids were able to feed her, and Brooke then started to be Brooke. She was able to get to the basket more, she didn’t have all the eyes on her. It opened things up for her.”
The contest was marred by 43 fouls called – 24 in a rocky first half, and there was no mistaking the fact that both sides were impacted. The Indians had worst of it in a first half that saw them whistled for 15 fouls. Dana Bandurick took a seat on the bench after picking up her second foul two minutes and eight seconds into the game. It marked the beginning of a downward spiral. By halftime, two Rock North starters – Olivia Boyle and Abby Jones – had picked up their fourth fouls while two others had three.
“I have (been coaching) 28 years, and you can’t coach a game where there’s that much foul trouble,” said Rock North coach Lou Palkovics. “It’s a shame because the girls were focused, and they were determined. It handcuffs a coach. I have never experienced anything like that. I’m just really sad for my girls.”
Neshaminy was hardly exempt. Kristin Curley picked her fourth foul late in the third quarter and was on the bench for a good part of the final quarter, but the Redskins were able to survive the foulfest, rallying from six down at halftime to go on top by 11 and then withstanding a late Indian rally.
The win ensure the program a spot in the record books as the first team ever to advance to the district semifinals. The Redskins will face third-seeded Abington.
“We’re ready,” Harvey said. “We wanted this win and we’re ready for the next. We want to keep moving on, and while this was a great team win, we got Abington next. We’ve got to get focused, be prepared for practice Monday and Tuesday and come out Wednesday.”
Despite their foul woes, the Indians – behind eight points from Sydney Blum – led 11-6 after one quarter. Cam Polinsky had eight points in the second quarter, and both players had 10 in a first half that saw the Indians open up a 26-20 halftime lead.
A Mullin three ignited a 17-6 third quarter for the Redskins, who took a 37-32 lead into the final frame. Harvey – who had just two points in the first half – scored six straight to open the fourth, burying a three-pointer and then completing a traditional three-point play that put the Redskins on top 43-32.
“Most of the time, I have to get my legs under me a little bit, let my nerves settle in, and then my shots usually start dropping,” said Harvey, who scored 15 points in the second half. “I’ll miss my first couple of shots, and then I’ll get my legs under me, and it will be a very good game from then on out.”
Down but not out, the Indians came roaring back. After a Polinsky three, Boyle came up with a steal, and Blum capitalized, burying a three to pull the ‘Skins to within five.
Bandurick sank one-of-two at the foul line, and after a Neshaminy miss, Anna Cairone sank both ends of a one-and-one, making it a 46-44 game.
Alexis McCoy found Mullin cutting baseline for an easy two, and after Bandurick scored at the other end, Curley connected on a pair of foul shots. Another Bandurick foul shot pulled the Indians to within three, but Mullin scored to put the Redskins on top 52-47. The Indians would get no closer than three the rest of the way.
“We just came out with more intensity in the second half,” Mullin said. “We locked in on defense.
“This might be the first time Neshaminy boys or girls has made it to the final four. It’s exciting to make history.”
Emily Tantala and Kelli Kowalick each added six points for the Redskins.
“We played poorly in the first half,” Lally said. “It helps to have experienced players because they knew it. We didn’t have to go into the locker room and go into this long drawn-out speech about what we’re not doing.
“They knew the areas we needed to fix and we needed to fix them right away. They also knew that they were only down six, which was only two possessions. I think they internalized what they needed to do pretty quickly, and then we got down to basically the x’s and o’s and where we needed to make adjustments.”
Blum and Polinsky each had four three-pointers and led the Indians in scoring. Blum finished with 18, which included a 6-for-6 effort at the line. Polinsky added 17 points, which included a 5-for-6 showing at the foul line. Cairone added nine points, including a big three in the fourth quarter. Bandurick finished with eight points and four blocked shots.
Palkovics – whose team had lost by 17 and 22 points in the initial two meetings against the Redskins – had nothing but praise for his players.
“They bought into some changes that we did in practice, but their toughness in this game was much better than the last two times we played them,” the Indians’ coach said. “If they bring that toughness into the next couple of rounds of districts, I think that even though we’re not that deep we have a chance to make a run.”
Neshaminy (23-3, 12-0 SOL) will face Abington in Wednesday’s district semifinal at Bensalem (6 p.m.). It will be the third meeting between the two squads. Neshaminy won the first in overtime (59-57) and the Ghosts won the second in the title game of the SOL Tournament (51-44). Council Rock North (18-5, 10-2) will travel to Souderton for a playback game for seeding purposes on Wednesday.
Council Rock North 11-15-6-22 54
Neshaminy 6-14-17-21 58
Council Rock North (54) – Camryn Polinsky 4 5-6 17; Anna Cairone 2 4-4 9; Sydney Blum 4 6-6 18; Dana Bandurick 2 4-8 8; Abby Jones 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 13-19-24 54.
Nesahminy (58) – Emily Tantala 1 4-6 6; Brooke Mullin 8 4-9 21; Kristin Curley 1 2-2 4; Alexis McCoy 2 0-0 4; Kelli Kowalick 2 2-2 6; Allison Harvey 5 5-5 17; TOTALS 19 17-24 58.
3-pointers: CRN – Camryn Polinsky, Sydney Blum 4, Anna Cairone; Neshaminy – Allison Harvey 2, Brooke Mullin.
#1-4 SPRING-FORD 41, #1-5 UPPER DUBLIN 39 (OT)
The one that got away – that’s how it undoubtedly felt to the Flying Cardinals after falling to the Rams in overtime in a contest they led for the better part of three quarters.
“This loss hurts,” coach Morgan Funsten said. “When you lose in overtime in the quarterfinal game that you pretty much were winning the whole time, the girls and myself included were all pretty upset.
“It’s going to be a big test on Monday as to what type of team we are as to how we’re going to come out and practice. I know I’m looking forward to getting back together with the girls to start getting better and figure some things out. Right now I feel bad for the girls because pretty much as always, they’ve done exactly what we’ve asked of them.
“I feel like I’ve let them down, and maybe they feel like they’ve let me down. If we both have that feeling, I think that’s a healthy way to get better. I’m trying to get better as a coach, they’re trying to get better as players. We can give each other input to hopefully accomplish that. Looking back at this game, it was definitely there for the taking.”
The Flying Cardinals led by three at the end of one quarter and led by as many as eight in the second quarter.
“They scored the last four points of the second quarter to make it 19-15 at halftime,” Funsten said. “I thought we had a chance in the second quarter to get some distance, and we couldn’t.
“We couldn’t find a way to either make a shot that would really start them scrambling or to get a stop when we really needed to get a stop. The third quarter was similar. We went up six, they came back to cut it to one or two.”
The Flying Cardinals pushed their lead back up to six, 31-25, heading into the final quarter only to watch the Rams even the score 38-38 with three-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation.
“We basically played defense for about two minutes and 20 seconds,” Funsten said. “We got a stop with eight seconds to go, but we couldn’t get a shot off.
“It went into overtime. We got the tip and missed a shot. They came down and (Cassie) Marte made a three. We made a foul shot, and that was it for the scoring. We had multiple chances in overtime. They missed the front end of two one-and-one’s, and that gave us second and third lives, but we couldn’t get the job done today.”
“It just seemed every time we got it into that six to eight-point range and had a couple of possessions where we could get to double digits, we weren’t able to do it,” Funsten said. “We weren’t able to get enough stops. A big credit goes to them because they missed some wide open threes in the first half, and they made contested threes in the second half. They made six threes in the second half.”
Marte – who did not score in the first half – buried three three-pointers in the second half and also had the three that turned out to be the game-winner in overtime.
The Cardinals, who connected on 15-of-34 shots from the floor (2-of-10 from beyond the arc), were led by the 19-point effort of Vargas. She also had four rebounds.
“Jackie Vargas came out and scored 10 points in the first quarter and 14 points in the first half,” Funsten said. “She was really dominating the game.
“In the second half, she got into a little bit of foul trouble, and it messed our rhythm up a little bit offensively and defensively, but she battled and had a great game.”
Kara Grebe added six points and eight rebounds.”
“Our girls were great executing the defensive game plan,” Funsten said. “They have a point guard in Lucy Olsen who’s a really special player. She’s about as complete of a player as you can have. We held her to single digits, which was our goal.
“They had two seniors who stepped up and made huge shots. (Cassie) Marte had four threes in the second half. When it was 38-35, Olivia Olsen stepped out and made a three over (Jackie) Vargas to tie it. Hats off to Spring-Ford. They made big shots. We couldn’t match them. I was proud of my girls’ effort and execution. It was one of those things I’m really feeling for my girls right now. I know how bad they wanted it, and they did everything I asked. I feel like I left them down not putting them in better spots.”
Upper Dublin (20-5 13-1 SOL) will host #8 Downingtown East in a playback game for seeding purposes on Wednesday.
Upper Dublin 12-7-12-7-1 39
Spring-Ford 9-6-10-13-3 41
Upper Dublin (39) – Dayna Balasa 1 0-0 3; Sarah Eskew 1 0-0 3; Kara Grebe 2 2-4 6; Jess Polin 1 2-2 4; Anajae Smith 2 0-0 4; Jackie Vargas 8 3-4 19; TOTALS 15 7-10 39.
Spring-Ford (41) – Hailey Hudak 0 1-2 1; Cassie Marte 4 0-0 12; Lucy Olsen 3 0-1 8; Olivia Olsen 4 2-3 11; Emily Tiffan 2 1-1 6; Alyssa Yuan 0 3-4 3; TOTALS 13 7-11 41.
3-pointers: UD – Dayna Balasa, Sarah Eskew; SF – Cassie Marte 4, Lucy Olsen 2, Olivia Olsen, Emily Tiffan.
Playbacks (9th through 11th)
#1-12 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 30, #1-13 HAVERFORD 28
Sophomore Anna McTamney broke a 28-28 tie when she scored on a drive at the buzzer, giving the young Colonials the heartstopping win that keeps them alive in their quest for a state playoff berth.
“What an exciting win for our young girls tonight,” coach Dan Dougherty said. “When you hear the starting lineups. Haverford – senior, senior, senior, senior, senior, and then us – freshman, freshman, freshman, sophomore, sophomore.
“They have eight seniors who have been pretty much playing varsity basketball for four years. We really only went six deep tonight. For this group of girls to have 20 wins, we’ve lost five games, but they’ve only been to two teams. All of them have been to Abington and Upper Dublin.”
The Fords led 7-4 after a low-scoring first quarter, and they took a 17-13 lead into the intermission.
“It was a really ugly start for us,” Dougherty said. “We were turning the ball over non-stop, but defensively, the girls stayed in it.
“I thought the end of the first quarter/the beginning of the second quarter the game could have really gotten away from us, but Gabby Cooper stepped up and got a big steal. Kate Flanagan got a big steal. We weren’t able to convert on them, but it kept us in the game.”
The Colonials threw some serious defense at the Fords in a third quarter, keeping them off the scoreboard while scoring six points to go on top 19-17.
“The third quarter was a defensive battle/offensive struggle,” Dougherty said. “It kind of turned the tide of the game.
“In the fourth quarter, we were winning by two, and Anna McTamney hits a free throw to put us up by three, and we completely lose track of their shooter who’s kind of sneaking down the other side of the floor. They bring the ball up the floor and give it to her. She hits a three to tie the game.
“A turnover our way and we get a stop on the other side, so it’s a tie game. We get the ball over half court and call a timeout, set up a play for Anna McTamney in the left hand corner. She comes off a staggered screen and just explodes down the middle of the lane and lays it up over the rim as the buzzer goes off. It was super exciting.”
McTamney led the Colonials with 11 points while Lainey Allen and Jordyn Thomas had six each. The Colonials connected on just 5-of-12 at the foul line.
“Haverford is very, very similar to Upper Dublin,” Dougherty said. “They run a very deliberate man offense. Their man defense is very disciplined, and they do a good job of taking your quick hitters away.
“Haverford is a really good team. They’re a senior-laden team, they’re very well coached, and I would say they’re the best team we’ve beaten all year. Now we play Methacton on Wednesday night with a chance to qualify for states, which is just incredible.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (20-5, 10-4 SOL) will travel to #9 Methacton for a playback game on Wednesday.
Haverford 7-10-0-11 28
Plymouth Whitemarsh 4-9-6-11 30
Plymouth Whitemarsh (30) – Sydney Kesselman 1 1-2 4; Gabby Cooper 1 1-2 3, Anna McTamney 5 1-2 11; Lainey Allen 3 0-4 6; Jordyn Thomas 2 2-2 6; TOTALS 12 5-12 30.
3-pointers: Sydney Kesselman
#1-14 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 53, #1-11 OWEN J ROBERTS 45
Central Bucks West has been a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde this season. On occasions, the Bucks have shown the ability to play with top teams, and at other times, they’ve struggled against opponents with less talent.
“We’re unpredictable,” senior Izzy Treon said. “We’re like a wild card, and you don’t know what you’re going to get.”
The Bucks gave a glimpse of both squads in Saturday’s important playback game. In the third quarter, they put on a clinic at both ends of the court, outscoring the Wildcats 22-1 and turning a 29-23 halftime deficit into a 45-30 lead. In the other three quarters combined, they were outscored by the Wildcats 44-31.
“It’s like we’re not in sync with ourselves as a team,” Treon said. “We start going too fast. When we pull it out, take a breath and set up our offense and do what we know how to do, that’s when we play like the third quarter.”
“We gave up one point in the third quarter,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “A lot of it was strong defense. (Owen J Roberts) made every shot in the first half – I think they were shooting 60 percent.
“This is a great win. We’re one game away from the state tournament.”
The Wildcats came out firing on all cylinders, opening up an 18-13 lead after one quarter. Keeping the Bucks close were Treon and Maddie Burke with five points each. The Wildcats took a six-point lead into halftime.
“We came into the locker room, and we told ourselves – the shots aren’t falling, we have to keep executing and stuff will come,” Treon said. “It’s all about rebounding and doing the little things. We had that in the third quarter.
“We just have to have that in all four quarters. Hopefully, in the next couple of games, we can have that.”
On the Bucks’ opening possession of the second half, Treon got the ball rolling with a three-pointer, and after a Wildcat miss, Burke buried a three to knot the score. A turnover set the stage for a baseline trey by Tori Abelson, and in a span of less than two minutes, the Bucks had reeled off nine unanswered points.
When Emily Spratt completed a three-point play in the closing seconds of the quarter, the Bucks led 45-30. Another Treon three made it a 48-30 game, but the Bucks managed just five points the rest of the way as the Wildcats closed out the game with a 15-5 tear.
“The third quarter was good – we played great in the third quarter,” Rakowsky said. “The first quarter I just throw out because of where we are. If we’re staying close in the first quarter after driving this far, I’m sort of okay with it.
“I thought the second quarter we were better, and in the third quarter, we were really good. In the fourth quarter, sometimes we just get too fast for ourselves. We try to dribble out of trouble versus thinking our way out of trouble.”
Treon led the Bucks with 19 points, which included four three-point baskets. Burke added 16 points, which included a pair of threes. Spratt added six points.
Central Bucks West (16-9, 9-3 SOL) will host Pennsbury in an all-SOL playback game on Wednesday.
Central Bucks West 13-10-22-8 53
Owen J Roberts 18-11-1-15 45
Central Bucks West (53) – Paige Gilbert 0 2-2 2; Olivia Irons 1 2-5 4; Jess Broskey 0 1-2 1; Maddie Burke 6 2-4 16; Emily Spratt 2 2-3 6; Izzy Treon 7 1-3 19; Tori Abelson 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 18 10-19 53.
Owen J Roberts (45) – Hannah Clay 3 0-0 9; Olivia LeClaire 6 0-2 12; Brooke Greenwald 1 1-2 3; Maddi Koury 0 1-2 1; Diane Rantz 6 4-4 20; TOTALS 16 6-10 45.
3-pointers: CBW – Izzy Treon 4, Maddie Burke 2, Tori Abelson, OJR – Diana Rantz 4.
#1-15 PENNSBURY 54, #1-23 PENNRIDGE 36
The Falcons have developed quite a fan following, and they were happy to be back at the Falcons’ Nest where they took care of business against the Rams, opening up a 24-19 halftime lead and then putting the game out of reach in the second half.
“We’re establishing a home court advantage with the dynamic atmosphere we have,” coach Frank Sciolla said. “We got them to pull both sides of the bleachers out at Neshaminy on Thursday night, and that was largely a Pennsbury crowd. Obviously, Neshaminy took it to us, and they’re really good.
“Today, it was a one o’clock game on a Saturday, and you figure maybe people don’t know about it, and it was another tremendous atmosphere.”
The Falcons led by just a 9-8 score after one quarter but added to that lead with a 15-point second quarter that included eight points from Mary Miller. Ava Sciolla had six first-half points.
“Pennridge came out and they were playing very well,” Sciolla said. “They knocked some shots down early on, and we did not. We were not hitting from the outside.
“We started taking the ball to the basket. Mary Miller had some really nice drives for us, and Ava (Sciolla) had some good drives going to the basket.”
The third quarter belonged to the Falcons, who outscored their visitors 14-3 to go on top 38-22. The Rams never threatened the rest of the way.
“In the second half, we gave them a little bit of trouble,” Sciolla said. “We switched up defenses a little bit, and they had a hard time adapting. They had a very difficult time scoring in the third quarter. They didn’t score until they banked in a three in the last few seconds. That’s where the game kind of opened up a little bit.
“Pennridge has had a nice year, and they’re returning some girls, so they’re on the move. Just for us being at home and really trying to go after the goal of making it to states – the girls were ready to play.”
Miller’s 18 points led the Falcons and Sciolla added 17. Sciolla led the team under the backboards with seven rebounds while Miller had four boards and one steal. Cami Wiegand added nine points.
Bella Arcuri was a defensive catalyst with six deflections and three steals. She also had four rebounds and an assist. Kate Mix added three assists and three steals.
“Bella Arcuri was very good,” Sciolla said. “She was really active. She got some great steals in back flow and did a really good job on them.
“We played some one-three-one today, and Mary Miller and Ava Sciolla at the top created problems. We’re a team that shoots the ball well from the three-point line, but we did most of our scoring in the basket area.”
Pennridge (11-14, 2-10 SOL) was led by the nine-point efforts of Emilee Cramer and Sophie Cweiber, who had three three-pointers. Evelyn Loughery added a pair of threes for six points.
Pennsbury will (19-6, 8-4) will travel to Central Bucks West for a playback game on Wednesday. A win in one of the next two games will give the Falcons a state berth.
Pennsbury
Pennridge 8-11-3-14 36
Pennsbury 9-15-14-16 54
Pennridge (36) – Sam Muredda 1 3-5 5; Sophie Cweiber 3 0-0 9; Julia Kreider 2 0-0 5; Courtney MGurd 1 0-0 2; Evelyn Loughery 2 0-0 6; Emilee Cramer 3 3-4 9; TOTALS 12 6-9 36.
Pennridge (54) – Lily Hochhausler 1 0-2 2; Bella Arcuri 0 3-8 3; Lauren Dignan 0 1-3 1; Kate Mix 1 2-6 4; Mary Miller 7 4-6 18; Ava Sciolla 5 7-8 17; Cami Wiegand 3 2-3 9; TOTALS 17 19-36 54.
3-pointers: Pennridge – Sophie Cweiber 3, Evelyn Loughery 2, Julie Kreider; Pennsbury – Camie Wiegand.
#1-9 METHACTON 61, #1-17 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 55
The Patriots found themselves staring at an early double-digit deficit and spent the rest of the game digging their way out of that early hole. Twice they tied it late in the game but never could get over the hump.
Methacton opened up an early 10-2 lead and led 18-7 after one quarter. The two teams battled to a 16-16 draw in the second quarter, and the Warriors went into halftime with a 34-23 lead. Emily Chmiel’s 14 first-half points kept the Patriots within striking distance.
The Patriots made their move in the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors 20-13 to pull to within four, 47-43. Skyler Krause was the catalyst, scoring nine points in the frame. Mia Salvati had five.
The Patriots knotted the score 51-51 with 4:42 remaining, and it was a 53-53 game with three minutes to play, but the Warriors reeled off six unanswered points to go on top 59-53. The Patriots pulled to within four but would get no closer.
Chmiel led the Patriots with 20 points and six blocked shots. Skylar Krause was right behind with 18 points, which included a 7-for-8 effort at the foul line. Gabby Wilga led the Patriots under the boards with seven rebounds.
Methacton was led by freshman Nicole Timko’s 24 points, which included four three-pointers.
Central Bucks East (7-5 SOL) closed out its season with a 14-11 record. The Patriots – who lose Elyse Shine to a torn ACL in the third game of the season – were 11-4 in their last 15 games after a 3-7 start. They also were without Aubrey DeAngelis for the entire postseason.
Central Bucks East 7-16-20-12 55
Methacton 18-16-13-14 61
Central Bucks East (55) – Mia Salvati 2 0-2 5; Gabby Wilga 1 3-4 5; Caroline Pla 2 0-0 5; Emily Chmiel 9 2-4 20; Skylar Krause 5 7-8 18; Emily Barry 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 20 12-28 55.
Methacton (61) – Sydney Tornetta 5 2-2 13; Caroline Pellicano 3 1-5 7; Sydney Hargrove 2 3-4 7; Nicole Timko 9 2-2 24; Tori Bockrath 0 2-2 2; Abby Penjuke 2 2-3 6; Allison Hazlett 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 22 12-18 61.
3-pointers: CBE – Mia Salvati, Caroline Pla, Skylar Krause; Methacton – Nicole Timko 4, Sydney Tornetta.
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