Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Friday. To view photos of the CR North/Neshaminy and Truman/Bensalem games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
Continental Conference
HARRY S TRUMAN 74, BENSALEM 50
For the past four years, Khristaijah Jackson went into Truman’s SOL games believing the Tigers could win. It never happened. As a matter of fact, it hadn’t happened in over a decade.
Until, that is, Friday night.
A league losing streak dating back to 2004 came to a glorious end when the Tigers – on their home court – defeated Bensalem with an impressive offensive performance.
“It was frustrating not being able to win a game,” Jackson said. “It was very – what’s the word – I don’t know, but this just made us all feel better. I think from now on we’re going to start winning because everyone was really hyped for each other.
“We just wanted to get a win. We’ve been talking about getting a league win for a long time. I didn’t know how to react to it.”
Things didn’t look all that promising when the Tigers found themselves on the short end of a 27-22 score at halftime.
“I got on them,” coach Collette Munford said. “I said, ‘I can tell you’re a better team than this team. Why are you giving them hope?’”
Things changed in a hurry in the third quarter. Shappelle Brewton delivered the play that turned the tide.
“She made a three-pointer, and right after she made that, they tried to pass the ball in – she stole the ball and put two more up, and that was the spark,” Munford said. “From there on, there was no turning back.”
The Tigers outscored the Owls 22-10 in the quarter to go on top 44-37. A 30-13 scoring explosion in the fourth quarter put the finishing touches on the big win.
“The kids worked so hard, and they waited for this day,” Munford said. “The smiles on their faces were priceless. It was priceless.”
Jackson led the Tigers with another monster performance, finishing with a dazzling double-double that included 28 points, 22 rebounds, three steals and four assists. Brewton finished with 21 points – all in the second half.
“After Shappelle came with that spark, they started playing as a team – looking up the floor, passing,” Munford said. “We had a lot of fastbreaks, fastbreaks all day. They were making the layups.
“I told them – defense creates offense, and that’s what they did. I’m proud of them. They’re just so happy. It’s unbelievable.”
Taylor Gasperi added eight points, Jayda Campbell had seven, Tianna Coleman had six and Jasmyn Wilson had four.
“To be honest with you, I thought we could have done it against a couple of other teams,” Munford said of winning an SOL contest. “We should have pulled it off against Pennsbury the other night, but we left that go in the fourth quarter, so they really were mad.
“I said, ‘You might as well take it out on Bensalem on Friday,’ and they did. I’m proud of them.”
For the Owls, Bridget Watson led the way with 14 points. Samantha Wertz added 14 points, and Lyric Lewis had 11.
The Owls, according to coach Don Bogan, have been hit with a serious injury bug.
“Three starters have been sidelined so far this season,” he said. “Our starting two ‘big men’ have played a total of five games all season.”
Kelsey Long has played five games but has been sidelined since Dec. 20, and Nicole Wajda has yet to play this season, but after Friday’s loss, Bogan tipped his hat to the Tigers, whose last win in 2004 was also against Bensalem.
“Truman played an excellent second half,” he said of the Tigers’ 52-point second half.
While Bensalem will host Abington on Tuesday, the Tigers (4-7, 1-5 SOL) will travel to Tennent on Tuesday night.
“Hopefully, this is the spark that they needed,” Munford said. “Our problem was it seemed like they couldn’t figure out how to win.
“They would always play one good quarter or maybe a good half. Today the first half wasn’t that bad, but we left Bensalem have hope. I told them – we’re going to win if we play as a team, and they pulled it out. Hopefully, they can take this into the next game against Tennent.”
On Monday, the team will take the time to celebrate with pizza. It’s a celebration that was a long time coming.
“I went into games thinking we would win, but with our team, we try to play hard all four quarters, but our best quarter is the fourth quarter, so it never worked out,” Jackson said. “This showed us that it’s possible, and we can actually play as a team.
“Everybody contributed and was happy for each other, so that made it even better.”
Bensalem 13 14 10 13-50
Harry S Truman 14 8 22 30-74
NESHAMINY 50, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 37
The Redskins outscored the Indians in each of the four quarters in Friday night’s National Conference showdown, and according to coach Joe Lally, the story of the game could be summed up in just one word – defense.
“We defended the whole time,” the Redskins’ coach said.
Leading the defensive charge once again was senior Megan Schafer, who finished the game with eight steals to go along with 10 points and nine assists as she came close to finishing with a triple-double.
“Megan was really good,” Lally said. “But tonight was really a great team effort.
“It was probably our best game of the year as far as cohesiveness and execution. It was balanced too.”
Sarah Oliveira and Maddie Murray both finished with 12 points to lead the Redskins while Morgan Goldenbaum and McKenna Mullin each had eight. For the Indians, Jessica Gerber led the way with 14 points. No one else had more than five.
The Redskins upped their lead mark to 5-0 (7-2 overall) while the Indians fell to 3-2 in the league (5-3 overall).
Rock North will host Pennsbury on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in a rescheduled contest. Neshaminy will travel to Pennsbury on Tuesday.
Council Rock North 10 10 7 10-37
Neshaminy 14 12 12 12-50
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 49, WILLIAM TENNENT 37
Allison Taub had herself a career night.
The junior forward did it all for the Golden Hawks, contributing an impressive double-double with 17 points and 17 rebounds to go along with a team-high seven assists.
“She had the game of her career,” coach Monica Stolic said. “She got offensive rebounds, she went to the hole, she posted up. She was all over the place.”
For good measure, Taub also did a good job of containing Tennent’s Nikki Alden, limiting the senior forward to six points.
Junior Cara Barlow also had a big night for the Golden Hawks, scoring 15 points. Taylor Dillon added eight points.
“We shot pretty well from the floor,” said Stolic.
That might be an understatement.
The Golden Hawks connected on 9-of-20 shots from the floor in the first half and 8-of-15 in the second half. Do the math. The Golden Hawks shot close to 50 percent for the game.
“It was a nice game,” Stolic said.
The Golden Hawks led 15-10 at the end of one quarter and took a 26-14 lead into halftime. They never looked back.
Angie Pomponio led the Panthers with 12 points. Alyssa Christiansen added seven.
While the Panthers fell to 1-4 in league play (6-5 overall), the Golden Hawks are 2-3 in the league (3-7 overall).
The Golden Hawks return to action Saturday when they will face Boyertown in the Play-by-Play Classic at Philadelphia University at 12:15 p.m. Tennent will host Truman on Tuesday.
William Tennent 10 4 12 11-37
Council Rock South 15 11 17 6-49
ABINGTON 42, PENNSBURY 26
The Ghosts led 8-4 after one quarter but seized control with a 17-4 second quarter burst to go into halftime with a 25-8 lead as they handed the Falcons their first league loss of the season.
Deja Rawls led the Ghosts with 18 points, seven assists and six steals. Sammy Lochner had nine points and three assists. Michael Harris had a big game under the boards with 11 rebounds.
Sajanna Bethea led the Falcons with 16 points while Kaitlin Kelly added eight on a night that saw just three Pennsbury players contribute scoring.
The Ghosts (7-4, 5-1 SOL) return to action on Saturday when they will face Ursuline Academy at noon in the Play-by-Play Classic at Philadelphia University. Pennsbury (5-5, 4-1) will travel to Council Rock North Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. game.
Pennsbury 4 4 10 8-26
Abington 8 17 7 10-42
Continental Conference
SOUDERTON 29, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 27
Senior Devon Boehm converted a layup with 14 seconds remaining, breaking a 27-27 tie and allowing the Indians to survive a fourth quarter scoring drought that saw them score just one basket.
“I think the first five possessions of the fourth quarter were turnovers for us,” said coach Lynn Carroll, whose team took a 27-19 lead into the fourth quarter. “We just couldn’t get back into a rhythm, and they kept coming after us and eventually they tied it.
“We got a defensive rebound. Devon took off, and it was just her and the basket. She made it. They were the only two points for us in the fourth quarter.”
The most the Titans could manage was a desperation three attempt at the buzzer, and the Indians escaped with the important win.
“We were without Allison (Gallagher) almost half the game and she doesn’t score a point and Bianca (Picard) scored five, but we still found a way to win,” Carroll said. “It was Sarah Derstein’s best game of the year, easily.
“Katie O’Connor played great defense, intelligent defense. Noelle Noble gave us really good minutes. It wasn’t pretty, but we apparently wanted to make it interesting at the end.”
The Indians found themselves staring at an early 8-2 deficit but rallied to go into halftime with a 19-15 lead.
“We had Sarah Derstein on Alysha Lofton and Noelle Noble on (Lauren) Mosher, and they did a great job,” Carroll said. “Defensively, we were really, really solid for four quarters.”
The duo of Derstein and Nobel combined for five blocked shots to lead the Indians’ defensively. Derstein finished with eight points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. O’Connor added five points, six rebounds, two steals and four assists.
Mosher led the Titans with 12 points while sophomore Jordan Vitelli added six. Lofton was held to just five points.
The Indians (9-3, 4-2 SOL) and Titans (9-3, 3-2) are two of four teams with two losses in the Continental Conference. North Penn, alone in first place, has just one league loss.
“It’s exciting,” Carroll said. “In our conference, with the top five teams, every game you’re fighting for something. You’re playing for your place amongst the rest of the teams in the conference, and it’s fun.
“It was a lot of fun, and we’re going to have a lot more like that where it comes down to the last couple of possessions. It was fun basketball, not pretty all the time, but I was proud of the way we handled adversity in the fourth quarter.”
CB South will host Central Bucks East on Tuesday in another key SOL contest while the Indians will travel to Quakertown on Tuesday night.
Central Bucks South 9 6 4 8-27
Souderton 8 11 8 2-29
HATBORO-HORSHAM 29, QUAKERTOWN 16
Things didn’t look promising for the Hatters when they misfired on all 12 of the shots they took in the opening quarter, but they trailed by just a 2-0 score. They found their stride offensively in the second quarter, outscoring the Panthers 18-2 to go into halftime with a commanding 18-4 lead.
“The second quarter won the game,” assistant coach Mike Elton said. “Three of our sophomores scored pretty big.
“Haley Seifert had four, Hannah Mallon hit two three’s, and Cassidy Quattro had four points. We scored 18 points in the second quarter, and that was pretty much the game. In the third quarter, Mallon hit another three.”
The win was the first of the league season for the Hatters.
“It was big, especially in this conference,” Elton said. “This conference is tough.”
Mallon led the Hatters with nine points, and Amanda Brett added six. Seifert, Rachel Helton and Quattro each had four points.
The Panthers, who managed just two field goals, were led by the six-point effort of Brooke Alwine. Ashlee Ruzick added four points.
Hatboro-Horsham (1-8, 1-4 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Tuesday night while Quakertown (1-9, 0-6) will host Souderton.
Quakertown 2 2 4 8-16
Hatboro-Horsham 0 18 7 4-29
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 40, PENNRIDGE 33
The Lady Rams found themselves on top 14-12 at the end of one quarter, but the Patriots used a 10-4 second quarter to take a lead they would not lose (22-18).
Courtney Webster had a big game for the Patriots, contributing eight points, 10 rebounds and nine blocked shots. Karoline White and Katelyn Miller each added seven points while Kyra Scaliti and Emily Sebesky both added six points. Bridget Birkhead had five points.
While the Rams fell to 2-3 in the league (4-6 overall), the Patriots upped their record to 4-2 in league play (7-3 overall).
East will travel to Central Bucks South on Tuesday while the Lady Rams will host North Penn.
Pennridge 14 4 10 5-33
Central Bucks East 12 10 16 2-40
American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 53, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 33
The mood after Friday night’s big win was decidedly subdued.
As soon as the postgame handshakes were completed, Regan Gallagher - who had just filled another stat sheet with 17 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three assists – sought out teammate Kayla McAneney and gave her a hug. Her teammates followed their senior captain’s lead.
With 2:27 remaining in the first quarter, McAneney - the senior sharpshooter who was averaging 18 points a game – went down in excruciating pain, immediately grabbing her knee. She watched the remainder of the game from the sidelines in a wheelchair, unwilling to leave her teammates as they played their biggest game of the league season.
“I’m surprised she stayed the game,” Gallagher said. “She was like, ‘I couldn’t miss that – are you kidding?’ That just shows how close our team is.
“I’m hoping she comes back, but it’s going to be really hard if she doesn’t. She really stepped up this year. After losing three starters last year, she is the one who has stepped up the most.”
McAneney’s teammates responded to her loss by playing with their hearts on their sleeves, outscoring the Colonials 17-2 in an inspired second quarter performance to turn a 6-6 tie into a 23-8 halftime lead.
The explanation for that strong showing, according to Gallagher, was simple.
“I think it was Kayla,” the senior captain said. “At the end of the first quarter after she went down, we were all so out of it, but going into the second quarter, we said we would do it for her.
“As a team, we’re very close. I honestly thought we were going to go downhill after that. I don’t know how we came back or how we got together, but we said we were going to do it for her.”
The Flying Cardinals certainly picked it up for their fallen teammate on Friday night. Cate Senior came off the bench and buried a three-pointer to open the second quarter, and the Flying Cardinals were off and running. Julie Cross scored on a putback, and then Gallagher finished off a fastbreak with a layup.
Asia Baker interrupted the Cardinals run with a basket, but Gallagher found teammate Jackie Lillo for an easy bucket, and then it was Allison Chernow hitting Cross with a nifty pass for a basket. A Chernow bucket was followed by Gallagher sinking a pair from the foul line, and the Cardinals were up by 15 heading into the intermission.
“Our bench is what makes us stand out more than other teams,” Gallagher said. “Other teams play five people, but we can easily go 10 people, and everyone will come out playing just as hard. Everyone supports each other.”
In the second half, it was Chernow’s turn to step up, and step up she did, burying four three-pointers and scoring 14 of her 16 points after the intermission.
“Gallagher was tremendous offensively throughout the game, and Chernow stepped right into McAneney’s role of three-point shooter,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said.
Chernow had a pair of three-pointers and eight points in a third quarter that saw the Flying Cardinals outscore the Colonials 15-8 to go on top 38-16 at the end of three quarter.
Scoring points, however, was not Chernow’s main focus.
“My job was to shut down number 15 – Asia Baker,” she said. “I think I did my job along with the rest of girls, stepping up and helping me out when she got by me.
“It was a team effort.”
Baker finished with a team-high 12 points, but nine of those came on three fourth quarter three-pointers. Alynna Williams finished with 10 points with five of those coming in the fourth quarter. Rachel Konowal added nine points on three three-pointers.
“I’m very proud of the effort,” Dougherty said. “Both teams had each other very well scouted. Upper Dublin just executed better and used their big game experience of the past couple of seasons to their advantage and proved why they’re the best team in our league.”
While the Colonials fell to 5-1 in league play (9-1 overall), the Cardinals upped their record to 6-0 in the league (10-0 overall).
“One of our goals we set before the game was to play our best first half of the season,” coach Morgan Funsten said. “We didn’t play our best first quarter of the season, but what was there was defense.
“After (Kayla) went down, you’re always curious how a team will respond to something like that. We have a great group of girls. Not just a great group of basketball players but a great group of girls, so it doesn’t surprise me that we came out and played a quarter like that. When we’re focused, we’re very dangerous. That was an impressive second quarter. It was a total, total team effort.”
EXTRA POINTS: Watching McAneney go down was especially difficult for Chernow.
“I’ve had two ACL injuries, and I know what it’s like,” she said. “It hurts. It hurts me to watch other people get hurt. She’s a big part of this team, but if we all step up and work as a team, we can do big things.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 6 2 8 17-33
Upper Dublin 6 17 15 15-53
SPRINGFIELD 39, UPPER MORELAND 27
In a hard fought game, the Spartans rallied from a 20-13 halftime deficit to outscore the Golden Bears 34-19 in the second half to earn their first win of the SOL season. The Spartans, who outscored the Golden Bears 17-7 in the third period, took a lead in the period they would not lose.
Meghan Wheatley led the Spartans with nine points while Molly Dugan added eight. Veronica Asman and Bailey Krewson each added seven, and Maura Ryan chipped in six as the Spartans used a balanced attack to earn the win.
Springfield (3-9, 1-5 SOL) will travel to Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday while Upper Moreland (3-8, 1-5) will host Wissahickon.
Both teams are 1-5 in league play. The Spartans are 3-9 overall, and the Golden Bears are 3-8.
Upper Moreland 8 12 7 12-39
Springfield 7 6 17 17-47
- Log in to post comments
