Plymouth Whitemarsh and Pennsbury advanced to the PIAA 6A Elite Eight with wins in Friday’s second round.
1-1 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 44, 11-2 NORTHAMPTON 28
The Colonials keep rewriting the record books.
Friday’s win was their 31st without a loss and represents the most by any PW basketball team – boys or girls. Appropriately, they set the record for wins in a single season just two days after cracking MaxPreps Top 25 national rankings at number 25. The Colonials are the lone Pennsylvania team to earn a spot in the top 25.
“There aren’t many public schools on that list,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “It’s quite an accomplishment.”
The Colonials found themselves in an unusual position at the end of one quarter, trailing by one (10-9). They more than made up for that slow start with a 15-2 second quarter to go into halftime with a 24-12 lead.
“We came out in our press, and they scored quickly and easily against it a couple of times,” Dougherty said. “I think there was just some nerves – our kids missed layups, shots they usually make to start the game, so instead of jumping on them early like we typically try to do, we weren’t able to.
“So in the second quarter, we took our press off and just picked up our man defense, created some turnovers and then just kind of settled in. (Kaitlyn) Flanagan hits Abby Sharpe in transition for an easy basket to put us up 11-10, and then Fiona Gooneratne hits a three to put us up 14-10, and now it’s a big emotional lift in the second quarter. From there, we started to pull away at halftime.”
Sharpe’s eight points led the Colonials in the opening half while Lainey Allen added six and Erin Daley, five points.
The Colonials outscored the Konkrete Kids 11-5 in the third quarter to go on top 35-17.
“In the third quarter, we held them to five points,” Dougherty said. “Once we backed off our press and stepped up our half court man defense, it made a difference.”
Sharpe led a balanced PW attack with 12 points while Allen added a double-double, finishing with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Flanagan added six points.
“Lainey Allen was really good tonight,” Dougherty said. “Kaitlyn Flanagan was just incredible. Her defense – she had multiple five-second counts against them, and she hit an almost nail-in-the-coffin three in the third quarter that put us up 18.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (31-0, 16-0 SOL) will face District One’s sixth place team, Perkiomen Valley, in a quarterfinal contest on Tuesday. The Vikings defeated Methacton 38-31 in a second round contest.
“We’ve never played a regular season game against them,” Dougherty said. “We’ve played them in the summer sometimes. They’re young, but they’re rolling.”
Northampton 10-2-5-11 28
Plymouth Whitemarsh 9-15-11-9 44
Northampton (28) – Taylor Kranzley 4 0-0 8; Kylie Gilliard 3 0-0 7; Nicole Yellen 1 2-2 4; Devyn Demchek 0 1-2 1; Grace Lesko 3 2-4 8. TOTALS 11 5-8 28.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (44) – Kaitlyn Flanagan 1 3-4 6; Fiona Gooneratne 1 0-0 3; Erin Daley 2 4-5 8; Abby Sharpe 5 2-2 12; Lainey Allen 3 5-10 11; Jordyn Thomas 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 14 14-21 44.
3-point goals: Northampton – Kylie Gilliard; PW – Kaitlyn Flanagan, Fiona Gooneratne.
1-3 PENNSBURY 37, 11-1 PARKLAND 28
Unfinished business.
Almost two years ago to the day, the Falcons defeated Owen J Roberts 50-27 to earn a spot in the PIAA 6A quarterfinals against District 12 champion Cardinal O’Hara. Then – without warning – the COVID-19 pandemic brought the season to a screeching halt. It never resumed. In last year’s COVID-shortened season, only the District One 6A champion advanced to the state tournament.
Thanks to Friday night’s win over the District 11 champions, the Falcons are back in the exact same spot they were two years ago – the state’s Elite Eight – with a date against District 3’s third place squad, Cedar Cliff, on the horizon.
“Given that this wasn’t a COVID year in comparison to last year, we kind of entered this year thinking unfinished business,” Pennsbury senior Ava Sciolla said. “We are at the point right now exactly where it ended two years ago. I think that’s on everyone’s mind – how badly that hurt when it ended. It didn’t end on a loss, it just ended. Our full attention is to ride this to the end because we have the momentum to do so.
“We’re in the Elite Eight,” Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla said. “We are so proud of these kids for the year that we are having.
“I remember our last playoff game (last year’s season ending loss to Central Bucks East) – Bella Arcuri, who played for Kutztown today, Abbi Nassivera who’s at Pitt and Mia Spinelli who’s at Temple, all these girls that are not here, and we’ve had new people step in. Nevaeh Dash, Layla Mathias, who was effective on the backboards again, Sofia Vitucci, who made a couple of big shots, especially a big one in the fourth.
“Tonight we played a different style of play than we normally do, but we had to because of the way they were playing. I walked in there and told the girls – you always want to be pretty in life, and that’s always a goal. Sometimes a big part of life is just taking the next step forward and getting to the next day, and now we have a chance to play again in the final eight.”
Nothing came easily for either team in Friday night’s state battle, and after falling behind 7-0 less than two minutes into the game, the Falcons went on a tear of their own, opening an 11-7 lead after Sofia Vitucci sank a pair at the foul line. The Timberwolves trimmed that lead to two at the end of the quarter.
“We anticipated how they were going to play, but you can never anticipate the vibe our team has coming into a game, especially an away game when we’re on the bus an hour and half,” Ava Sciolla said. “I think we’re in a different atmosphere, and we just needed to adjust. At the end of the day, we were fine.
“Regardless of them coming back or getting a stop, we executed what we wanted to do. Obviously, we had more turnovers than usual, but we were getting what we wanted, we were getting downhill, and we were getting stops.”
In arguably the game’s prettiest plays, Ava Sciolla attracted a crowd as she drove into the paint and found Layla Matthias for an easy basket in close that put the Falcons on top 17-9. They took a 17-14 lead into halftime.
The Falcons opened up a 23-14 lead midway through the third quarter on a Sciolla bucket off the dribble, but the Timberwolves closed out the frame with a pair of baskets – the second a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Madie Siggins that made it a 23-19 game heading into the final quarter.
The Timberwolves pulled to within three (25-22), but Vitucci, out of a timeout, scored a big bucket in the paint.
“If the lane’s open, and it’s obviously open with (Ava) on the floor – if I see an opening, I’ll take it,” Vitucci said.
Siggins answered with a traditional three-point play for Parkland, and suddenly it was a 27-25 game with just over three minutes remaining. With her team in dire need of a bucket, Sciolla scored over a pair of defenders on a tough drive, upping the Falcons’ lead to four. It was just Sciolla’s third basket of the game as she spent the night serving as the facilitator.
“I like to play the right way,” she said. “I don’t need to score for us to win. When it comes down to it, I will score. I don’t like to force it.”
Sciolla finished with eight points, which included a 2-for-2 effort at the foul line.
“Sometimes she has to juggle the balance between a playmaker and the fact that we need her to shoot the ball,” said coach Sciolla. “There have been games like this. At Upper Dublin, she didn’t shoot in the second half until the final shot. Then when we need the bucket in the fourth quarter, she goes and she makes a big-time move.
“This has been Ava’s MO her entire career. She has been a playmaker, a passer. I know the points are sometimes what people focus on, but she’s always been somebody – if she sees a double coming, she’s trying to hit people.
“Tonight she was leading people on passes – they were going out of bounds, and they weren’t forced. We were telling her to just hold onto it, but she’s right – they are open. She’s throwing them into layups, she’s throwing them into open shots, and tonight, we weren’t making that read. I will credit Parkland. Parkland plays a style – they’re physical, they grind the game. Their win over Easton to win the District 11 title showed that they can play a certain way.”
The Falcons spent the game’s final minutes taking trips to the foul line, converting 8-of-13 in the fourth quarter. Vitucci was 4-for-5 from the line in the quarter and led the Falcons with 16 points.
“I thought tonight we were able to have success in our pressure,” Sciolla said. “We didn’t turn them over a ton, but we sped them up into quicker shots.
“Nevaeh Dash was tremendous on number one (Talia Zurinskas), and Ava (Sciolla) kept defending from block to block on number 24 (Madie Siggins) and making it tough on her.”
Pennsbury (27-4, 14-2 SOL) will face District 3’s third place team, Cedar Cliff, in a quarterfinal contest on Tuesday.
Pennsbury 11-6-6-14 37
Parkland 9-5-5-9 28
Pennsbury (37) – Ava Sciolla 3 2-2 8; Layla Matthias 2 1-2 5; Daniella Macdonald 0 1-2 1; Sofia Vitucci 5 6-7 16; Nicole Pompili 1 0-0 2; Nevaeh Dash 1 2-4 5. TOTALS 12 12-17 37.
Parkland (28) – Talia Zurinskas 1 0-0 3; Marissa Olenwine 1 0-0 2; Madie Siggins 3 6-8 13; Jessie Schmitt 1 2-2 5; Zoe Wilkinson 2 0-0 5. TOTALS 8 8-10 28.
3-point goals: Pennsbury – Nevaeh Dash; Parkland – Madie Siggins, Talia Zurinskas, Jessie Schmitt, Zoe Wilkinson.
3-1 CENTRAL DAUPHIN 65, 1-5 ABINGTON 50
Central Dauphin sent its second SOL team home in as many games, defeating Abington at Governor Mifflin High School on the heels of a win over Upper Dublin in the opening round.
For one half, the Ghosts stayed with the Rams, trailing by just five at halftime, 24-19. The Rams pulled away in a third quarter that saw them outscore the Ghosts 20-10 to go into the final quarter with a commanding 49-34 lead.
“In the first half, we were getting what we wanted, and we were pushing the pace and speeding up the tempo,” Abington assistant coach Gabbie Nolan said. “In the third quarter, we got away from that, and you could see that in the score.
“They had a great game plan, and they executed it. I think the biggest thing for them was execution, and what was working the best for them was a box and one. They executed that extremely well.”
Cire Worley was the focal point of the Rams’ defense, and they limited the Ghosts’ high-scoring junior to 11 points – only two in the second half.
The box and one was one of several adjustments the Rams made heading into Friday’s game.
“They even changed their starting lineup to keep up with our tempo,” Nolan said. “They started number 35 (Alexis Ferguson), and it worked. Their two bigs – 11 (Caroline Shiery) and 13 (Alexis Buie) – were subbing in for each other instead of being on the court at the same time, so they could keep up.
“All credit to them, they did a great job with their game plan, and they executed it well. That’s what happens in states.”
Jaida Helm’s 16 points, which included a pair of 3s, led the Ghosts. She had nine of those points in the second half. Abril Bowser added 11 points, including three 3s, and Dani Brusha also finished in double digits with 10 points.
For the Rams, Megan Covali (21 points), Shiery (18 points) and Ferguson (16 points) all had big games.
Despite the disappointing ending, the future is bright for the Ghosts, who return their entire starting lineup and the nucleus of this year’s successful squad.
“We talked about how this is sports, and at times like this, one team has to lose and one team gets to win,” Nolan said. “Unfortunately for us, we lost, but for us, it’s a learning experience since we’re young and pretty much have the same team coming back. It’s definitely something that can benefit us next year when we find ourselves in similar situations.”
Abington closed out its season with a 23-7 record, 13-3 in the SOL.
Abington 11-13-10-16 50
Central Dauphin 17-12-20-16 65
Abington (50) – Cire Worley 3 4-4 11; Abril Bowser 3 2-2 11; Jaida Helm 6 2-2 16; Maya Johnson 1 0-0 2; Dani Brusha 2 4-6 10. TOTALS 15 12-14 50.
Central Dauphin (50) – Marlie Dickerson 1 4-6 6; Megan CAvoli 9 0-1 21; Caroline Shiery 7 4-4 18; Alexis Buie 0 0-4 0; Kenedy Cooper 1 0-0 2; Alexis Ferguson 1 0-0 2; Amelia Green 8 0-0 16. TOTALS 27 8-15 65.
3-point goals: Abington – Abril Bowser 3, Jaida Helm 2, Dani Brusha 2, Cire Worley; CD – Megan Cavoli 3.
About the Author
