PW advanced to the PIAA 6A semifinals with its win over Perk Valley. Pennsbury saw its successful season come to an end. PW/PV photos provided courtesy of Larry Small. Check back for a gallery of photos. All SOS photo galleries for GIRLS BASKETBALL can be viewed by clicking HERE.
PIAA 6A Quarterfinals
#1-1 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 56, #1-6 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 31
They just keep winning and winning and winning some more.
They’ve done it with methodical precision, winning all but three of their 32 games by double digits. On Tuesday night, the Colonials were without senior Jordyn Thomas. The four-year starter and Jefferson University commit was sidelined with a non-COVID related illness.
Their fans needn’t have worried – the Colonials once again took care of business. They blew open a close game with a dazzling 31-13 second half tear, delighting the PW faithful who packed the stands at Upper Dublin High School.
“We’re so appreciative of not just the students but the whole community – the teachers, the little girls from the WGBL,” PW coach Daniel Dougherty said. “The girls were really appreciative just how big of a crowd was there tonight. I think it rattled PV a little bit too. They’re young kids.”
As a result of the win, PW advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 1985. The Colonials – just one win away from Hershey and the state title game – will face Cedar Cliff in a semifinal contest on Friday.
“We just take it one day at a time, one game at a time, and not having Jordyn shows just how fragile this all is,” Dougherty said. “We took Saturday off, and on Sunday, we started to game plan. We were 50-50 whether we would have Jordyn or not, and yesterday we knew we weren’t going to have her. It just shows how fragile this is.”
For one half, the Vikings were able to keep it close and trailed by just a 25-17 margin at halftime. Junior Abby Sharpe accounted for 12 of PW’s points and had eight in the second quarter.
“It was defense into transition points,” Dougherty said. “Many of those baskets were off a long, rebound, a defensive stop, an outlet to Abby.
“I don’t know how many assists (Kaitlyn) Flanagan had, but it was impressive. What we were trying to do against them – number 33 (Quinn Boettinger), their post player, is very talented, and she anchors their defense, so any time there was a rebound or made shot, we tried to sprint the ball up the floor and use out athleticism to beat her up the court and try and score. Abby did a great job of that in the second quarter.”
Any thoughts that the Vikings would be able to stay within striking distance were put to rest in a third quarter that saw PW go on a 17-6 tear to go on top 42-24. The young Vikings managed just 13 points in the second half as the Colonials – whose lineup is loaded with offensive weapons – threw some serious defense at the Vikings
“My assistant, TJ DeLucia, had a great in-game adjustment tonight,” Dougherty said. “We took Lainey Allen off their big (Boettinger) and put Erin Daley on her, and Erin was phenomenal.
“What it caused them to do – it kind of invited them to throw the ball to her. With Erin fronting and Lainey behind, we were able to get a lot of steals in that third quarter and into the fourth quarter too. That was a big adjustment in the game tonight.
“Also, taking Lainey off of number 33, that allowed her to run the floor, and a couple of passes from Flanegan to Lainey must have been 50 feet – Lainey catches over her shoulder, takes a dribble and finishes through contact. It was really impressive.
“But they kept hanging around. It was a five-point game, seven-point game, and with their ability to shoot the three, we knew it was just a couple of possessions and they could be right back in it.”
The Vikings never did get back in it as the Colonials rolled to another big win.
While Sharpe led all scorers with 20 points, Flanagan – in addition to setting up her teammates – scored 14 points, which included an 8-for-10 effort at the foul line.
“You can’t say enough good things about Kate Flanagan,” Dougherty said. “She was a coach on the floor tonight. The crowd was enormous. In the second half, you can’t hear, and she’s directing traffic. It was really special.”
Allen also finished in double figures with 10 points while Daley added nine points as the Colonials picked up the slack in the absence of Thomas.
“Fiona Gooneratne stepped right in, and the girls just stepped up,” Dougherty said. “Over Christmas break, we played three games without Abby Sharpe against really good teams. Fiona and (Angelina) Balcer filled in in those three games and got some quality experience.
“The whole team has a lot of confidence in Fiona and Balcer too. While we certainly missed Jordyn – it’s not the same without her out there, the girls embraced the challenge and really stepped up.”
For the Vikings, Boettinger and Emma Miley each had 10 points.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (32-0, 16-0 SOL) will face District 3’s third place team, Cedar Cliff, in Friday’s semifinal game at a time and place to be determined. Cedar Cliff has just one loss, and that came at the hands of Central Dauphin in a District 3 semifinal contest.
“It was very dramatic – it came on a half-court buzzer beater,” Dougherty said. “It was tied up, and a kid for Central Dauphin hit a half-court bank shot to win the game.
“When you look at who they’ve beaten in the state tournament, they beat Haverford, they beat (Archbishop) Carroll, and they beat Pennsbury, so they beat three really, really good teams. They have a freshman, Olivia Jones, that is like a double-double machine and gets 15 (points) and 10 (rebounds) a game. They have a really good 3-point shooter. It’s going to be a challenge, and there’s only a two-day turnaround.”
Perkiomen Valley 6-12-6-7 31
Plymouth Whitemarsh 12-13-17-14 56
Perkiomen Valley (31) – Bella Bacani 1 0-0 2; Jennifer Beattie 3 0-0 7; Lena Stein 1 0-0 2; Emma Miley 5 0-0 10; Quinn Boettinger 3 4-6 10. TOTALS 13 4-6 31.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (56) – Kaitlyn Flanagan 3 8-10 14; Fiona Gooneratne 0 2-2 2; Erin Daley 3 2-2 9; Abby Sharpe 8 4-4 20; Rhianna Gooneratne 0 1-2 1; Lainey Allen 4 2-5 10. TOTALS 18 19-25 56.
3-point goals: PV – Jennifer Beattie; PW – Erin Daley.
#3-3 CEDAR CLIFF 42, #1-3 PENNSBURY 36
The Falcons came up just short in their bid to earn a coveted spot in the state semifinals, falling to Cedar Cliff in a contest at Governor Mifflin Middle School. When it was over, Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla tipped his hat to this opponent.
“First of all, congratulations to Cedar Cliff on a great game and the best of luck moving on,” the Falcons’ coach said. “We watched them several times earlier in the season, and then in watching seven or eight of their games this week, you saw a unifying theme that they are extremely physical, and that certainly played itself out because they beat an Archbishop Carroll squad that was one of the two best teams in their Philadelphia Catholic League this year.
“Carroll is also physical and certainly bigger than us, and we saw the difficult time they had on the backboard (against Cedar Cliff). The backboard is a challenge for us normally, and we knew it would be again tonight. Ultimately, their play on the backboard was the difference in the game.”
Both teams had 14 fields goals – which included two 3-pointers, but the Colts were 11-for-16 at the foul line while the Falcons were 6-for-6. Eight of Cedar Cliff’s foul shots came in the fourth quarter when the Falcons were playing catch up, but there was no mistaking fouls took their toll on the Falcons.
Ava Sciolla was whistled for her fourth foul early in the fourth quarter on a Falcons’ offensive possession.
‘It was brought to my attention last week that this was my 95th district or state playoff game, and I always say you have to be ready to see something that you’ve never seen before,” coach Sciolla said. “This was the first time this year that Ava was in foul trouble. She’s usually so good with that, and I feel like she was again tonight, but I’m obviously biased.
“After a rebound inside (in the fourth quarter), she went up to shoot the ball, and the girl behind her flopped, and we absolutely thought we were going to get the technical foul for flopping, but instead, it was a ruled a charge. It was her fourth foul and we still had over a quarter to play.”
Sciolla spent the remainder of the game subbing in for offensive possessions and subbing out for defensive possessions. The Falcons trailed 29-23 when Sciolla went to the bench but pulled to within one after a 3-pointer by Daniella MacDonald.
Back-to-back baskets by Taylor Ferraro gave the Colts a 33-28 advantage, but Sofia Vitucci scored on a drive for the Falcons. Cedar Cliff freshman Olivia Jones buried a pair at the foul line, and Sciolla did the same for the Falcons, making it a 35-32 game with two minutes remaining.
A basket inside by Jones upped the Colts’ advantage to five. Pennsbury junior Nevaeh Dash scored on a drive to make it a three-point game, but Sam Reilly got those points back, connecting on both ends of a one-and-one. A basket by Pennsbury sophomore Layla Matthias with 38 seconds remaining pulled the Falcons to within three, but Ferraro sank two at the line, and the Falcons did not score the rest of the way.
“What’s impressive about Cedar Cliff’s physicality is that when I looked up with two minutes to go in the fourth quarter – they only had two fouls in the entire game,” coach Sciolla said. “They picked us up three-quarter court and played man-to-man, and they were really aggressive. Even though we kept attacking the basket and creating contact, we just weren’t able to draw fouls, and getting to the foul line is usually such a big part of our game.
“Ironically, on the other hand, we were dealing with major foul trouble with Layla (Matthias) and Ava, and we were really proud of our girls in how they navigated the game without them on the floor. Clearly, they are big pieces for us, and having to play chunks of the game without them changes the dynamic for us defensively. You have to give them credit because they really took advantage of that. We are already small with them on the floor, and without them, it’s really difficult. You just have to give Cedar Cliff credit for cleaning up the glass on both sides and being solid in the free throw line.”
Vitucci – only a sophomore – led the Falcons with 12 points. Despite foul woes, Sciolla contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
“Daniella MacDonald and Neve Davis both stepped up off the bench for us today as they have all year, and that was great to see,” coach Sciolla said. “Sofia carried us early offensively. She only shot two free throws, but I give her credit because she kept getting contact and battling against bigger girls. Neve helped to keep us close late in the game – she was fierce on defense as she always is.”
Pennsbury closed out its successful season with a SOL Patriot Division title and a 27-5 record (14-2 SOL).
“It was an incredible season for us on so many levels,” coach Sciolla said. “Mostly because so many girls were able to play and get opportunities and make the most of them. The girls showed the strength of our program in replacing excellent players from last year.
“Obviously, we are proud of our seniors, Nicole (Pompili) and Ava (Sciolla), for what they have done. It’s impossible to put into words what they have meant to the dynamic of basketball in our community. We are forever indebted to them. They are big reasons we were able to rise from the ashes.”
Pennsbury 10-4-9-13 36
Cedar Cliff 6-9-14-13 42
Pennsbury (36) – 3 4-4 10; Layla Matthias 2 0-0 4; Daniella MacDonald 1 0-0 3; Sofia Vitucci 5 2-2 12; Nicole Pompili 1 0-0 3; Neveah Dash 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 14 6-6 36.
Cedar Cliff (42) – Taylor Ferraro 6 2-2 16; Sydney Bryant 1 1-2 4; Ryan Kaercher 1 0-0 2; Sam Reilly 1 3-4 5; Olivia Jones 5 5-8 15. TOTALS 14 11-16 42.
3-point goals: Pennsbury – Nicole Pompili, Daniella McDaniel; CC – Taylor Ferraro 2, Sydney Bryant.
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