Upper Dublin and Souderton were winners in Tuesday’s District 1 6A playback games.
Class 6A Playback
#1-5 UPPER DUBLIN 44, #1-8 DOWNINGTOWN EAST 35
The Flying Cardinals opened up an early 14-3 lead and then withstood a furious second-half Cougar rally to earn the win.
“I thought the play of the game was at the end of the third quarter – the clock was winding down and Sarah Eskew made a big-time three in the corner and gave us a little bit of space going into the fourth quarter,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “Downingtown East cut it to two in the fourth quarter, and Sarah made another three to get it up to five, so she made two big-time shots. The one at the end of the third quarter let us exhale a little bit going into the fourth.”
The Cardinals iced the win with a 12-7 final frame that included a 5-for-6 effort at the foul line by Jess Polin as well as a three from Dayna Balasa.
Early on, it was Jackie Vargas doing most of the damage. The Cardinals’ junior center had six points in the first quarter and five more in the second as the Cardinals opened up a 24-19 halftime lead.
“Jackie Vargas had a dominant first half,” Funsten said. “She had some really tough fouls called against her. She rarely gets in foul trouble, and she picked up her fourth with about three minutes to go in the third quarter, and at the time, it was a one-point game.
“Kara Grebe grabbed some big-time rebounds for us. Anajae Smith came in and she had eight rebounds. That duo kind of had to pick up the slack with Jackie being on the bench with foul trouble.
“Their 6-5 center, Bella (Smuda), is really a handful, and I thought both Anajae Smith, Kara Grebe and even some of our guards in the fourth quarter grabbed some really important rebounds to get some stops down the stretch.”
If Funsten had one concern, it was the fact that the Cardinals allowed the Cougars to get back in the game after they opened up an early 14-3 lead. They led by just one late in the third quarter when Eskew sank the three to send the Cardinals into the final quarter with 32-28 lead.
“It seemed like we relaxed a little bit, which has kind of seemed to be our issue in games,” the UD coach said. “You string together some good offense, and you’re unable to get stops on defense to keep teams at a comfortable distance.
“It’s something we’re really trying to work on at practice. I don’t think it’s for lack of effort. Our half-court defense has always been our strong point, and we’re not getting stops when we need them.”
The Flying Cardinals’ coach pointed to his team’s loss to Spring-Ford in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
“We gave up baskets on five consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter,” Funsten said. “I don’t know if that ever happened before.
“I think it’s great we’re finding as a team what our weakness is to become more complete, but it’s something we need to keep working on. The girls are buying in, the girls are accepting it, and they’re not making excuses. It’s just something we need to be better at. We fell into that lull again tonight throughout the game.”
Vargas finished with 11 points – all in the first half, six rebounds and three blocks. Grebe had eight points and nine rebounds while Polin had eight points, five assists and three rebounds. Eskew had eight points and six rebounds. The Cardinals connected on 16-of-53 shots from the field (30 percent).
“I thought our offense was excellent tonight,” Funsten said. “We turned the ball over five times the entire game.
“We had trouble making shots, but that’s not our focus. Our focus is making sure we’re getting good shots, and we are. From that respect, we’re extremely happy with where we are offensively. Defensively is where we need to be better if we want to take the next step.”
Upper Dublin (21-5, 13-1 SOL) will host Souderton in the fifth place game on Friday at 7 p.m.
Downingtown East 5-14-9-7 35
Upper Dublin 14-10-8-12 44
Downingtown East (35) – Cassie Denning 0 0-2 0; Mary McFillin 2 0-0 4; Lauren Kent 1 1-3 3 Caroline Brennan 1 0-0 3; Bella Smuda 7 4-6 18; Sara Geary 1 2-4 4; Ava Irwin 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 13 7-15 35.
Upper Dublin (44) – Bliss Brenner 0 1-2 1; Meg Barbera 1 0-0 2; Jess Polin 1 5-6 8; Kara Grebe 4 0-0 8; Sarah Eskew 3 0-0 8; Dayna Balasa 2 1-3 6; Jackie Vargas 5 0-0 1; TOTALS 16 7-9 44.
3-pointers: Downingtown East – Caroline Brennan, Ava Irwin; Upper Dublin – Sarah Eskew 2, Jess Polin, Dayna Balasa, Jackie Vargas.
#1-6 SOUDERTON 44, #1-7 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 30
In a game for nothing more than seeding in the upcoming state tournament, Souderton was looking to get a win. Forget the fact that sometimes it’s more advantageous to lose. The host Indians, according to coach Lynn Carroll, needed a win.
“We had lost two of our last three, and obviously, the last one was a tough way to lose – it took away a chance at a district championship,” Carroll said of her team’s quarterfinal loss to Abington. “Right now the goal is – we want to be playing our best basketball in two weeks in the first round of states.
“That’s the approach we need to take every day in practice. Seedings coming out of districts is pretty low on the list of important items. We just want to keep playing well. When we play well, we can beat anybody on any given night. I thought it was important tonight and I think it’s important in the next one that we just feel good in the end and we’re happy with how we’re playing to get that bad taste out of our mouth. This was a good step in what we’re trying to accomplish over the next two weeks.”
While Souderton played the second half of its game against Abington without Megan Walbrandt (illness), Rock North was without senior Dana Bandurick for the entire game Tuesday. The senior standout (sore knee) was rested as a precautionary measure.
“Dana makes such a difference for them in every single way,” Carroll said.
All five starters scored in an opening quarter that saw Souderton open up a 13-5 lead. Mikaela Reese’s five points led the way. Sydney Blum accounted for all five of Rock North’s points. Souderton took a 20-7 lead into halftime and never looked back.
Reese led the Indians with 13 points while Walbrandt and Curran O’Donnell both had eight points, which included a pair of threes for both. Walbrandt also had four assists. Erica Stephens added seven points, four rebounds and three steals. Point guard Megan O’Donnell had five assists. Megan Bealer led Souderton with seven rebounds to go along with five points and three steals.
Blum’s 13-point effort – which included three three-pointers – led Rock North.
Souderton (22-4, 11-1 SOL) will travel to Upper Dublin for Friday’s fifth place game at 7 p.m.
Council Rock North 5-2-10-13 30
Souderton 13-7-12-12 44
Council Rock North (30) – Camryn Polinsky 1 2-2 4; Sydney Blum 4 2-2 13; Olivia Boyle 2 0-1 5; Emma Benson 1 2-2 4; Abby Jones 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 10 6-7 30.
Souderton (44) – Megan Bealer 2 0-0 5; Olivia Schneider 1 1-2 3; Megan Walbrandt 3 0-0 8; Erica Stephens 3 1-2 7; Curran O’Donnell 3 0-2 8; Megan O’Donnell 0 1-2 1; Mikaela Reese 5 1-2 12; TOTALS 17 4-10 44.
3-pointers : CR North – Sydney Blum 3, Camryn Polinsky, Olivia Boyle, Souderton – Megan Walbrandt 2, Curran O’Donnell, Megan Bealer, Mikaela Reese.
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