Check out the results from SOL girls’ basketball teams in action on Tuesday.
American Conference
UPPER MERION 49, UPPER DUBLIN 47
The Vikings did what no American Conference team had been able to do since coach Bob Schaefer and his ‘CC’ Andrews-led Cheltenham squad handed the Flying Cardinals a 50-48 loss on Jan. 19, 2012 – they beat Upper Dublin.
“That’s a great basketball team,” Upper Merion coach Tom Schurtz said after his team handed the Cardinals their first loss of the season. “Morgan Funsten is doing a great job with that program.
“They haven’t had a league loss since he took over, and in the last five years, Upper Dublin and Cheltenham have been the top teams in our league. It was a small but frenzied crowd, and I think we caught them at the right time.”
The Flying Cardinals lost Kayla McAneney, who was averaging 18 points a game, to a knee injury early in Friday’s win over Plymouth Whitemarsh, and while they battled their way to a come-from-behind win over North Penn, they came up just short on Tuesday night.
It took some late-game heroics to make it happen for the Vikings. Junior Regie Robinson connected on a floater with four seconds remaining to give the Vikings the lead and the win.
To be honest, we didn’t really call a play,” Schurtz said. “We opened up the floor, put the ball in Regie’s hands and said, ‘It’s a tie game. Go win it.’ Sometimes you have to put the ball in your best player’s hands and let her make a shot, and she did with four seconds left.”
While Robinson stole the spotlight in the game’s closing seconds, it was the play of Shekema Gentles and Jessie Michael off the bench that was the difference in the game. The duo combined for 17 points with Gentles, a 6-3 center who has been getting some varsity minutes, scoring 10 points and also pulling down 13 rebounds.
“Really, the story of the game was Shekema Gentles,” Schurtz said. “She has been playing great on jayvee, and we’re getting her more and more time on the varsity. She has a lot of raw ability, and as a coach, you want to bring them along and put them in a situation where they find success. Today she just really turned the corner.
“(Regan) Gallagher and (Julie) Cross are such good post players that we were in some foul trouble, so Shekema got more minutes, and she responded with a double-double. What it allowed us – we were able to continue to play physical defense on their posts the entire game, and that made a huge difference.”
The Vikings led 12-7 at the end of one quarter, but the Flying Cardinals came back to take a 24-19 halftime lead, thanks to a 17-point second quarter.
“If you had told me Regie Robinson would have zero points at the half and we would only be down five, I wouldn’t have conceived a way that was possible,” Schurtz said. “Upper Dublin did a great job of constantly keeping a body on Regie early, and she didn’t get any easy looks at the basket.
“Our guards in the first half – Jessie Michael, Katherine Bailey and Anna Davis – were all able to make a three, and that sort of loosened up their defense, and we were able to isolate low.”
Upper Merion’s post players – Gentles, Eryn Brady and Tatiana Pleasant – combined for 20 points and 35 rebounds in Tuesday’s win.
“Those outside shots early allowed us to open the floor and isolate the low block, and for the first time this season, we really did that,” Schurtz said. “We kept pounding the ball inside.”
The Vikings still trailed 35-28 heading into the final quarter.
“With four minutes to go, we were down five, and Jessie Michael hit a corner three,” Schurtz said. “After their sophomore guard (Allison Chernow) made a three late to put them back up by five, Jessie immediately responded with another three to bring us within two.
“With a minute left, Katherine Bailey got a steal, took it full court and laid it in to tie it. We got a defensive stop, and we isolated for Regie Robinson and just let her play.”
The rest is history, and the Vikings had notched their biggest win in memory.
“Regie was 3-for-19 from the field, and she still took that shot with confidence,” Schurtz. “She finished 4-for-20, and that just tells you how well everybody played tonight.
“Anna Davis played great on the defensive end. It was one of those games – as a coach, you constantly talk about team wins, but there’s always one player who steps up. To be fair, this was a complete, total team win. Everybody stepped up and played with confidence.”
Robinson and Gentles led the way with 10 points each. Bailey added eight and Michael, seven. Brady had six points, and both Davis and Pleasant had four points.
“We as a team have been talking about – we have a lot of pieces that just really don’t always come together, and we’re working on that,” Schurtz said. “We’re young and we also have some experience, and it’s hard to get all the pieces to work.
“We’re trying to adjust to different style of play, and tonight the guards were able to play free and loose, but we were able to get the ball inside. Upper Dublin has two tremendous post players in (Julie) Cross and (Regan) Gallagher.”
Chernow led the Cardinals with 16 points, which included three three-pointers. Cross had nine points and eight rebounds, and Gallagher added eight points and nine rebounds. Larissa Leyes also had eight points.
The Vikings upped their league record to 3-4 (7-6 overall) while the Flying Cardinals are 6-1 in the league (11-1 overall).
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 46, SPRINGFIELD 38
The Colonials held a 6-4 lead after one quarter and took a 21-16 lead over the pesky Spartans into halftime. They outscored the Spartans 17-12 in the third quarter to take a 38-28 lead into a final quarter that saw the Spartans hold a 12-8 scoring edge.
Sophomore Khadijah Hickson provided a spark for the Colonials, scoring 12 points and grabbing six rebounds in her first career start subbing for missing captain Rachel Konowal.
Asia Baker (16 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, two assists) and Alynna Williams (15 points, three rebounds, two assists) also delivered standout performances.
Maura Ryan led the Spartans in scoring with 10 points while Meghan Wheatley, Jewell Ringgold and Jayla Greene added six each. Bailey Krewson and Molly Dugan each had four points. Wheatley led the Spartans under the backboards with 11 rebounds, and she also had four assists.
The Colonials, who find themselves once again sharing the conference’s top spot with PW, improved to 6-1 in league play (10-2 overall) while the Spartans fell to 1-6 in the league (3-10 overall).
Springfield 4 12 10 12-38
Plymouth Whitemarsh 6 15 17 8-46
UPPER MORELAND 43, WISSAHICKON 28
The Golden Bears found themselves staring at a 15-11 deficit at halftime, but they outscored the Trojans 14-7 in the third quarter and 32-13 in the second half on their way to the big win.
Senior Karli Lynch led all scorers with 18 points while Lindsay Walder added 16. The Trojans were led by the 10-point efforts of Brittany Gelman and Julie Weber.
The Golden Bears upped their record to 2-5 in league play (4-9 overall) while the Trojans fell to 1-6 in the league (2-9 overall).
Wissahickon 4 11 7 6-28
Upper Moreland 5 6 14 18-43
NORRISTOWN 45, CHELTENHAM 42
In a battle for third place in the conference standings, the Eagles took a 21-11 lead into halftime and then withstood a second half charge by the Lady Panthers, who exploded for 31 second half points.
Keifonna Ferguson led the Eagles with 16 points, and Briana Hedgepeth had 11. For the Lady Panthers, freshman Ashley Jones had 19 points and Amarri Trueheart had 15.
The Eagles are 5-2 in league play (7-5 overall) while the Lady Panthers fell to 4-3 in the league (8-4 overall).
Cheltenham 5 6 15 16-42
Norristown 11 10 11 13-45
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 35, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 32
Jordan Vitelli’s stat line will show that she didn’t score a point in the first three quarters of Tuesday’s showdown. The sophomore guard more than made up for that with a dazzling final frame, exploding for 11 points including the game-winning three at the buzzer.
“We were just trying to get a shot off in the amount of time we had left,” said Vitelli, who was mobbed by her teammates in a euphoric postgame celebration.
South coach Beth Mattern was left searching for words after the dramatic win that saw her team rally from eight points down in the final quarter.
“Before the play started, I said, ‘Okay, there’s 11 seconds. If you have any trouble, you have a timeout,’ but for some reason, I never called timeout,” Mattern said. “I’m grateful.”
For a Patriot squad that had the lead for the better part of 32 minutes, it was a heartbreaking ending.
“They just got a shot off, and that’s all you have to do – just get a shot off,” East senior Courtney Webster said. “It was a contested shot. It’s very disappointing because I know we had that game.”
Webster led all scorers with an 18-point effort.
“I thought (Courtney) Webster played a great game,” Mattern said. “Karoline White did a great job controlling the ball.”
“Things started off slowly for both teams. The Patriots managed just one field goal in the first six-and-a-half minutes but still held a 3-2 lead as the Titans needed close to five minutes to get on the scoreboard. The two teams were deadlocked 7-7 after a low-scoring first quarter.
The Patriots outscored the Titans 10-4 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 17-11 lead. Webster accounted for nine of her team’s points.
“At halftime we knew they would make adjustments,” East coach Liz Potash said. “They started double teaming and were even triple teaming Courtney.
“We’re confident that it’s more than Courtney who can score for us, but we just weren’t able to hit some shots outside of her tonight.”
Things didn’t change a whole lot in a third quarter that saw Webster score seven points, and the Titans led 28-20 heading into the final frame. Senior Lindsay Nier turned a missed foul shot into a basket at the buzzer to give the Patriots their eight point advantage.
The Titans made it a 28-25 game when Vitelli sank her first of two treys in the quarter, this time using a pass from teammate Alysha Lofton after pulling down an offensive rebound.
Sophomore point guard Chloe Entenberg was fouled after coming up with a steal. She buried both foul shots to make it a 28-27 game. Buckets by Nier and Webster (White assist) gave East a 32-27 lead, but the Titans weren’t finished yet.
Vitelli sank one-of-two from the foul line, and that 32-28 score held for more than two minutes until Lofton pulled down a defensive rebound and found Emma Gardy for a basket in transition to make it a 32-30 game. The Patriots misfired on the front end of a one-and-one, and although the Titans missed on their shot for the tie, Vitelli was there for the rebound. She was fouled going back up and buried both foul shots to knot the score with 29 seconds remaining.
An East turnover 18 seconds later set the stage for Vitelli’s heroics.
“I told the girls – that shot wasn’t the shot that beat us,” Potash said. “It was the three minutes before that led up to it when we kept attacking and had poor execution.
“That’s my fault – I have to do a better job of getting us ready to execute at the end of the game.”
For South, Tuesday’s dramatic win came on the heels of a heartbreaking 29-27 loss to Souderton four days earlier.
“It had the same feel as Friday night’s game,” Mattern said. “Friday night was a great defensive effort. We had to come back in the fourth quarter. We tied it up, and we did that again today.
“I was just grateful we came out on the other end of it tonight.”
“It was a low-scoring game like Souderton,” Vitelli said. “It was high intensity, and their zone was definitely good.
“This is a big win. We couldn’t lose this one, and we had to come out with higher intensity than them and try and win it.”
The Titans are 4-2 in league play (10-3 overall) while the Patriots fell to 4-3 in the league (7-4 overall).
Central Bucks East 7 10 11 4-32
Central Bucks South 7 4 9 15-35
SOUDERTON 61, QUAKERTOWN 32
The Indians sprinted to a 20-3 lead at the end of one quarter, and although the Panthers battled gamely – scoring nine or more points in each of the next three quarters, they never could claw their way back into the game.
Allison Gallagher and Bianca Picard led a balanced Souderton attack with 14 and 13 points respectively, while Marissa Sandone added nine. Katie O’Connor and Devon Boehm both had seven points, and Hannah Bergey had six.
Ashlee Ruzicka had a big night for the Panthers, scoring a game-high 16 points. Meghan Klee added nine points.
The Indians closed out the first go-round in conference play with a 5-2 record (10-3 overall) while the Panthers fell to 0-7 (1-11 overall).
Souderton 20 13 12 16-61
Quakertown 2 11 10 9-32
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 66, HATBORO-HORSHAM 30
The Bucks took a 15-5 lead at the end of one quarter and led 32-18 at halftime. A 24-5 third quarter gave West a 56-23 lead on its way to the big win.
Nicole Munger led the Bucks with 20 points, which included three three-pointers. Corrinne Godshall added 16 points, and Peyton Traina had 11, including three treys. Mackenzie Carroll chipped in with seven points.
For the Hatters, sophomore Cassidy Quattro led the way with 17 points.
The Bucks improved to 5-2 in league play (10-3 overall) while the Hatters fell to 1-5 in the league (1-9 overall).
Hatboro-Horsham 5 13 5 7-30
Central Bucks West 15 17 24 10-66
NORTH PENN 72, PENNRIDGE 48
Sam Carangi had a big game for the Lady Knights, scoring a game-high 20 points, which included four three-pointers. The freshman standout has buried nine three’s in the last two games. Carangi scored 15 points in the second quarter as the Lady Knights, who led 20-10 after one quarter, took a 42-29 lead into halftime.
Vicky Tumasz added 15 points, and Bri Cullen – forced to play in the post in the absence of Mikaela Giuliani – had 14 points. Cullen scored 10 of her points in the opening quarter.
Also for the Lady Knights, Erin Maher scored nine points, Irisa Ye had eight and Jess Huber chipped in with six points. North Penn handed out 14 assists.
Ashley George had a big night for the Lady Rams with 16 points. Devan Rimmer added nine points, Jess Tennett had eight and Shelby Schoonover added seven.
The Maidens (10-2) completed their first go-round in conference play with a 6-1 mark and a one-game lead over CB West. The Lady Rams are 2-5 in league play (4-8 overall).
North Penn 20 22 14 16-72
Pennridge 10 19 10 9-48
National Conference
NESHAMINY 62, PENNSBURY 38
The Falcons battled the Redskins to a 13-13 tie at the end of one quarter, but the Redskins blew the game open with a 19-8 second quarter surge to go into halftime with a 32-21 lead. If there was any doubt about the outcome, those doubts were put to rest when the ‘Skins added 19 points in the third quarter to go on top 51-32.
“We knew Sajanna Bethea was going to get her points, and she’s a great player,” Neshaminy coach Joe Lally said. “We just had to force the other kids on their team to make plays.
“We ran three or four different players at her and stayed in our man defense. I thought our defense really amped up, and the pressure got to them in the second and third quarters.”
No one enjoys playing pressure defense more than senior Megan Schafer, who finished with another double-double, contributing 16 points and 10 steals to go along with seven rebounds. Maddie Murray had another big night for the ‘Skins, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds.
“Maddie is really coming on,” Lally said. “She’s playing really well.”
Sophomore Morgan Goldenbaum added six points, five rebounds and eight assists.
“She had a really solid game,” Lally said.
The Redskins upped their league mark to 6-0 (8-2 overall).
“It’s a tough league to play in – there are a lot of good players, a lot of good coaches,” Lally said. “We’re pleased, but we know how difficult it is to go back and play all these teams a second time.
“Only hard work and focus is going to get us through the second half of the season. It’s going to be tough, but we’re going to be up to the challenge. Tonight it felt like we’re getting our basketball feet under us. There were some good moments. I was happy with their defense.”
Bethea led the Falcons with 22 points while Kaitlin Kelly had seven.
The Falcons fell to 5-2 in the league (6-6 overall).
Neshaminy 13 19 19 12-63
Pennsbury 13 8 11 6-38
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 58, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 57 (OT)
The Indians won a thriller when Michaela Finneyfrock buried the game winner with 1.7 seconds remaining in overtime. Finneyfrock contributed 11 points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists on a night that saw the Indians place four players in double figures. Madison Attanasio and Hailey Burns led the Indians with 12 points each. Attanasio also had four steals, three assists and one charge taken while Burns had a team-high eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Jessica Gerber finished with 11 points, six steals, one block and five assists.
For the Golden Hawks, it was yet another heartbreaking loss. They took a 31-30 lead into halftime and extended that lead to 42-37 heading into the final quarter. They led by as many as nine before the Indians rallied to knot the score. The Golden Hawks had a chance to win it in regulation but misfired on a pair of foul shots with no time showing on the clock.
Allison Taub had another huge game for the Golden Hawks, finishing with a triple-double – 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals.
“She’s getting some confidence,” coach Monica Stolic said.
Senior Taylor Dillon led all scorers with 20 points, and Cara Barlow added nine for the Golden Hawks.
The Indians improved to 4-3 in league play (6-4 overall) while the Golden Hawks fell to 2-4 in the league (3-9 overall).
Council Rock North 14 16 17 12 9-58
Council Rock South 18 13 11 7 8-57
WILLIAM TENNENT 66, HARRY S TRUMAN 53
Angie Pomponio turned in a glittering 24-point performance – which included a 7-of-8 effort at the foul line - to lead the Panthers to the win. The Panthers took a 33-22 lead into halftime and then blew the game wide open with a 25-15 scoring burst in the third quarter to go on top 58-37. Pomponio scored 11 points in the quarter while Nikki Alden added nine.
Alden finished the game with 12 points and 12 rebounds in an impressive double-double. Nine of those rebounds came on the offensive end.
For the Tigers, Khristaijah Jackson led the way with 21 points while Shappelle Brewton had 16 and Taylor Gasperi, 11.
The Panthers improved to 2-4 in league play (7-5 overall) while the Tigers fell to 1-6 in the league (4-8 overall).
Harry S Truman 12 10 15 16-53
William Tennent 14 19 25 8-66
ABINGTON 68, BENSALEM 44
Three Abington players – Michael Harris, Lea Simmons and Deja Rawls - finished the game with 14 points while Gabby Nolan had an all-around solid outing with 12 points, eight steals and six assists.
Lyric Lewis led the Owls with 21 points.
The Ghosts exploded out of the gate to a 24-9 lead at the end of one quarter and took a 35-19 lead into halftime. A 20-12 third quarter put the game completely out of reach.
The Ghosts upped their league mark to 6-1 (8-5 overall) while the Owls fell to 0-6 in league play (0-10 overall).
Abington 24 11 20 13-68
Bensalem 9 10 12 13-44
- Log in to post comments
