New Hope-Solebury advanced to Friday’s District One 4A title game at Gwynedd Mercy Academy.
Class 4A
#2 NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 39, #3 POPE JOHN PAUL II 35
There were plenty of tense moments in Tuesday’s semifinal battle for a spot in Friday’s District One 4A title game. Twice in the third quarter, the Lions opened up a six-point lead, twice the Golden Panthers erased it and took a 31-30 lead into the final quarter.
“We did get out of our groove a little bit,” NHS sophomore Reagan Chrencik said. “I don’t think we were nervous. We knew we could win the game. Even when we got down one, it was obviously a little nerveracking, but I don’t think any of us were doubting our ability to win that game.
“We knew we just had to get our heads in it a little more, stay on track and do what we were doing the entire game. I think we did a really good job coming back from that.”
The Golden Panthers led 32-30 early in the fourth, a lead that was erased when Kate Dougherty calmly sank a pair at the foul line. A Madi Fasti three-pointer with five minutes remaining put the Lions on top 35-32, a lead grew to 37-32 after a basket by Chrencik, but the game was far from over.
The Lions survived some serious fullcourt pressure by PJP, overcoming some turnovers with tough defense of their own. Rachel Saxton sank a pair of foul shots to all but seal the Golden Panthers’ fate down the stretch.
“I tried to call timeouts when the snowball was starting with those turnovers just to break the momentum,” coach Steve Polinsky said. “To duplicate that kind of pressure in practice, it just can’t be done, and that’s kudos to the players on that team because they were all over the place. They did a great job double teaming, their formation on the floor was so good, they were killing the angles for us. I was really impressed with how they played.
“I just think we persevered. We were up against the wall. They had a lot of momentum. We had some bad turnovers, quite frankly, but we persevered. I give credit to the older girls and Reagan (Chrencik) for keeping it cool. Reagan was talking out there on defense, doing a great job and rebounding the basketball in a tight situation – if they get another opportunity to shoot the ball, we’re in trouble. They were huge, and the foul shooting was huge. It was a good win.”
Chrencik’s 12 points led the Lions. She also pulled down 11 rebounds to complete an impressive double-double.
“Personally, I never really focus on certain things except rebounding – I’ll go in saying I have to go after every shot,” Chrencik said. “I feel as though today we crashed pretty well. Offensive boards could have been a little stronger, but overall, our rebounding was there, and it definitely helped us out a lot.”
Chrencik had a pair of 3s and eight points in a first half that saw the Lions open up a 21-16 lead at the intermission. They led 9-7 after one quarter and then received a three from four players – Chrencik, J Covino, Saxton and Emily Primavera – in a 12-point second quarter.
Saxton’s 3 to open the second quarter put the Lions on top 12-7, and Primavera’s gave the Lions 21-16 lead late in the quarter.
“I give Emily all the credit in the world coming off the bench,” Polinsky said. “She’s going to be an important part of our future, and that three was huge to break the momentum.”
The Lions – in their first year in Class 4A – didn’t know a whole lot about PJP.
“We hadn’t played them before,” Chrencik said. “We obviously studied up on them. I knew their offense was going to be very active.
“We adjusted better to that in the second half, but we knew they were going to have a lot of off-ball movement, a lot of curl screens. That wasn’t a surprise to us. They also had a really good defense, but we worked around it. We had our shots going in the first half, which helped us out a lot, so we were threats inside and outside, and I think that’s what helped us win the game.”
In addition to Chrencik’s double-double, Saxton and Dougherty both added seven points. Fasti had five points – all in the second half.
“I thought Madi Fasti had a good second half,” Polinsky said, going on to credit PJP. “Kudos to coach (TJ) Lonergan and his team. You watch film and you see stuff – I knew they were tough, but they get after it, they really do, and I appreciate that.
“The game could have gone either way. We hit foul shots at the end of the game, which were huge. When we got a lead, they just wouldn’t go away.”
PJP was led by the 15-point effort – which included three 3s – of Kallan Bustynowicz. Amelia Kennedy added 10 and Tess Crossan had seven.
“I thought Bustynowicz was outstanding,” Polinsky said. “She’s a very good player. She gave us some fits because she was shooting the three really nice as well as some inside moves. She’s a very versatile player. I didn’t know she could shoot like that, but she did damage against us.”
New Hope-Solebury (16-4, 9-1 SOL) will travel to Gwynedd Mercy for Friday’s District One 4A title game at 4:30 p.m.
“It is definitely really exciting,” Chrencik said. “We knew we were playing a good team the first round of districts, having moved up to 4A, and having a chance to prove ourselves on Friday in the championship – we’re all really excited for it. We all wanted to get to this game, and we have a lot to prove.”
Pope John Paul II 7-10-14-4 35
New Hope-Solebury 9-12-9-9 39
Pope John Paul II (35) – Tess Crossan 3 1-1 7; Amelia Kennedy 4 1-3 10; Kayla Ciuba 1 1-1 3; Kallan Buskynowicz 5 2-4 15; TOTALS 13 5-9 35.
New Hope-Solebury (39) – Madi Fasti 1 2-3 5; Reagan Chrencik 5 0-0 12; Juliana Covino 2 0-0 5; Kate Dougherty 2 2-2 7; Rachel Saxton 2 2-2 7; Emily Primavera 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 13 6-7 39.
3-point goals: PJP – Kallan Buskynowicz 3, Amelia Kennedy. NH-S – Madi Fasti, Reagan Chrencik 2, Juliana Covino, Kate Dougherty, Rachel Saxton, Emily Primavera.
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