Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Saturday
Non-league
NORTH PENN 48, UPPER DUBLIN 39
Caleigh Sperling had herself quite a week.
Heading into Saturday’s non-league game, the junior scored 53 points in her previous two games combined this week. She led all scorers with 16 points in Saturday’s road win.
“She’s been critical,” North Penn coach Bri Cullen said of her junior sharpshooter. “We’re giving her an incredibly difficult matchup every single game, and she does it without any complaints.
“I’ve said it a few times – she’s stepped into an unselfish role, so today, in the first half of the game, it wasn’t for her. She found her points down the line.”
After taking just three shots in the first half – but scoring six points, Sperling scored 10 points in a second half that saw the Knights outscore their hosts 22-14.
“I like to see whatever’s open,” Sperling said. “I’m trying to take it to the basket a bit more now because sometimes there are a few mismatches.”
Sperling was also assigned the task of guarding freshman Colleen Besachio, whose nine points were well below her average. Included in Sperling’s 15 points was a 4-for-5 effort at the foul line as well as two 3s.
Also coming up big were senior Abby Plaugher (14 points) and junior Olivia Stone (12 points). Plaugher is back in action after being sidelined with an injury she sustained in the Knights’ one-point loss to Pennsbury last week.
“She’s a great team leader for our team, and she’s really good on the 3-point shots,” Sperling said. “She sets a good example for the rest of our team. We had to step up more while she was gone, but we’re really glad to have her back.”
She’s such a critical piece,” Cullen said of Plaugher. “Not only offensively because she makes us run. She really is the fuel for this team both on and off the court.”
The Knights opened a 9-3 lead out of the gate, but the Cardinals – thanks to 3s from Besachio and Nora Brady in the final 90 seconds – evened the score 9-9.
The second quarter featured end to end action with the Knights – sparked by six points from both Sperling and Plaugher and five from Stone – outscoring the Cardinals 17-16 to go into halftime with a 26-25 lead. Megan Ngo’s 11 points – eight in the second quarter – allowed the Cardinals to keep pace with the Knights. Nora Brady added six points on a pair of 3s.
“We know they like to play at a slower pace than us, so we were trying to push it and make it a bit more fast paced how we like to play,” Sperling said.
The second quarter may have delighted the fans in attendance, but UD coach Morgan Funsten was not share their enthusiasm.
“We actually had some momentum heading into the second quarter,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “I said to the girls after the game – I thought we lost the game in the first half on the defensive end. A lot of missed responsibilities. There’s times where you don’t have to defend completely all five girls on another team, and we knew coming in today we had to defend all five girls. They have five talented offensive players at all times on the court, and we have to get better defensively when that’s the case.
“We’ve talked about it being an issue this year getting stops after scores. When things go our way for a little while, we seem to relax, and it’s no more telling than when you get a basket and they get a basket. We don’t have the offensive firepower to be trading baskets with teams. It was a one-point game at halftime, and it felt worse than that because of how poorly we played defensively.”
The Knights sealed the win with a remarkable showing at the foul line in the fourth quarter, burying 10-of-10 in the quarter and 17-of-19 in the game.
“I think a little bit of experience has helped us,” Cullen said. “We’ve seen a lot of very close games at the end, and with our inexperience, we haven’t been able to finish, so now coming down the stretch in tight games playing against very talented teams, we’re able to be composed and finish the game strong.”
Ngo’s 15 points and six assists led the Cardinals. Besachio added nine, and Nora Brady had eight.
North Penn (6-7, 5-4 SOL) will travel to Bensalem Tuesday, and Upper Dublin (8-5, 6-3) will host New Hope-Solebury Tuesday.
North Penn 9-17-7-15 48
Upper Dublin 9-16-4-10 39
North Penn (48) – Cam Crowley 0 4-4 4; Caleigh Sperling 5 4-5 16; Abby Plaugher 4 5-6 14; Kelly Donnelly 0 2-2 2; Liv Stone 4 2-2 12; TOTALS 13 17-19 48.
Upper Dublin (39) – Brighid Brady 1 0-0 2; Megan Ngo 5 3-6 15; Lilli Kleiman 1 0-0 2; Kaitlyn Zacharia 1 0-0 3; Colleen Besachio 4 0-0 9; Nora Brady 3 0-0 8; TOTALS 15 3-6 39.
3-point goals: NP – Caleigh Sperling 2, Liv Stone 2 Abby Plaugher, UD – Megan Ngo 2, Nora Brady 2, Kaitlyn Zacharia, Colleen Besachio.
BENSALEM 60, WISSAHICKON 52
Sparked by the superb 20-point effort of sophomore Talia DiMichele – who buried six 3-pointers, the Owls erupted for 60 points, which included what could well be a program record 12 3-pointers.
“I’m real excited for our girls to get back in the win column,” Bensalem coach Steve Johnson said. “We had two tough games earlier this week between CB West and CB South.
“It was even nicer to see our 3s dropping. It was our best shooting performance by far this year with 12 made threes.”
DiMichele – who also had seven rebounds and four assists – wasn’t the only one who had a big day from beyond the arc as fellow sophomore Devon Bell knocked down three 3s for nine points.
“Both of them play extremely hard, diving on the floor and doing whatever is asked,” Johnson said. “Those two are developing strong confidence as our season progresses.”
Grace McShane had a pair of 3s for six points while Kylie Smith had one 3 and scored 13 points. Amber Howard added 12 points.
“I’m really happy how we played today,” Johnson said. “It’s always nice hitting shots, but we really moved the ball well against Wissahickon’s zone.
“Amber attacked the seams of the zone with great off-ball cuts as well as off the dribble. When we play for The Pack, we are much stronger. We did that today. Next week will be a huge test with three exceptionally strong teams.”
The Trojans – behind 12 points from Kaitlyn McGeary – led 23-22 at halftime, but the Owls – propelled by six points from Howard and five from Smith – used a 20-13 third quarter to take a lead they would not lose.
McGeary turned in a glittering 25-point, 12-rebound effort to lead the Trojans.
“McGeary had a game high 25 points,” Johnson said. “Our game plan was to slow her down, which we didn’t do much of, but the story of the game was our shooting. McGeary is unbelievably strong down low with a wonderful touch inside and outside.”
Also for the Trojans, Kylie Friedman added 10 points, five assists and two steals while Eva Schools had seven points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Bensalem (6-8, 2-7 SOL) will host North Penn Tuesday, and Wissahickon (3-10, 1-8) will host Lower Moreland Tuesday.
Bensalem 13-9-20-18 60
Wissahickon 12-11-13-16 52
Bensalem (60) – Grace McShane 2 0-0 6; Talia DiMichele 7 0-0 20; Devon Bell 3 0-0 9; Kylie Smith 5 2-4 13; Amber Howard 5 2-3 12; TOTALS 22 4-7 60.
Wissahickon (52) – Eva Schools 3 0-0 7, Julia Lettieri 0 2-2 2, Kyle Friedman 4 2-2 10, Skye Sydney 1 0-0 2, Claire Baldasano 3 0-0 6, Kaitlyn McGeary 11 2-3 25; TOTALS 22 6-7 52.
3-point goals: Bensalem – Talia DiMichele 6, Devon Bell 3, Grace McShane 2, Kylie Smith; Wissahickon – Eva Schools, Kaitlyn McGeary.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 43, OWEN J ROBERTS 34
Freshman Jules Tropea and sophomore Ella Wheeler combined for 27 points to lead the young Titans to the non-league win.
“It was a great team win with 32 minutes of effort,” South coach Beth Mattern said. “It took us a little bit to get going, but during the second quarter we started to find our way.”
The two teams were deadlocked at seven after one quarter, but the Titans outscored their visitors 17-12 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 24-19 lead. Tropea’s eight points led South in the quarter while Wheeler had seven.
The Titans took a 34-26 lead into the fourth quarter on their way to the win.
Tropea’s game-high 14 points included a 4-for-5 effort at the foul line while Wheeler’s 13 points included a 5-for-5 showing at the charity stripe. Yoyo Samayoa added eight points with two 3-pointers.
All told, the Titans were a near-perfect 13-for-14 at the foul line. Mia Klein added a 4-for-4 effort at the stripe.
“Yoyo did a great job being our leader on the floor and keeping the team on the same page,” Mattern said. “Mia Klein and Addy Geary were both big on the boards, and Juliana Tropea did a great job running the floor and had a great overall game.”
Central Bucks South (5-9, 1-8 SOL) will travel to Harry S Truman Tuesday.
Owen J Roberts 7-12-7-8 34
Central Bucks South 7-17-10-9 43
Owen J Roberts (34) – Ashly White 3 0-0 7; Asya Price 2 3-3 7; Samantha Martins 1 0-0 2; Gabrielle Koury 3 5-6 12; Abigail Smith 2 0-1 4; Ava Clemson 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 12 8-10 34.
Central Bucks South (43) – Ella Wheeler 4 5-5 13; Jules Tropea 5 4-5 14; Yoyo Samayoa 3 0-0 8; Mia Klein 0 4-4 4; Addy Geary 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 14 13-14 43.
3-point goals: OJR – Ashly White, Gabrielle Koury; CBS – Yoyo Samayoa 2.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 46, GWYNEDD MERCY ACADEMY 37
Led by the impressive 18-point effort of Lizzie Lustig, the Indians notched their biggest win of the season, knocking off the perennial AACA power Monarchs.
“We are ecstatic for our players – all season they have bought into having a growth mindset and playing with a relentless effort,” Rock North coach Jack Kelly said. “They have stayed positive throughout and focused on ways they can improve as opposed to focusing on results. We have lost some heartbreakers, but their resilience and effort has never wavered – they deserved this win against a good Gwynedd Mercy team.”
The Indians outscored the visiting Monarchs 22-12 in the first half with Lustig – who had 10 points in the half – scoring on a putback at the buzzer to give Rock North its double-digit advantage.
The Monarchs battled back, using an 11-4 run to trim North’s lead to 26-23 with a minute remaining in the third quarter. They had a chance to tie the score but came up empty, and on North’s ensuing possession, Kiera Katz found Jaden Wan for a layup at the buzzer to send the Indians into the final quarter with a 28-23 lead. A pair of free throws by Wan gave the Indians a seven-goal advantage, but Megan McDonnell buried a three to make it a 30-26 game with 5:36 to go. After a GMA timeout, Delaney McCaffery hit a three and also – despite being fouled – converted a layup as part of a 7-0 Rock North run. The Monarchs would get no closer than seven the rest of the way.
Rock North was 11-for-14 from the foul line in the fourth quarter, led by Wan’s 5-for-6 effort and Lustig’s 4-for-4.
“Our defense was steady throughout – we did a really nice job of limiting dribble penetration,” Kelly said. “Hannah Griffin is an excellent player, and they have some good young talent who are continuing to improve.
“However, I thought our players did a good job of maintaining proper position. We struggled rebounding in the first half, but we didn’t allow it to affect our mindset and were able to get key stops. In the second half, they made their run, which we knew they would; however, we showed great resilience and weathered the storm.”
Lustig was one of three Rock North players in double figures. McCaffery finished with 12 and Wan added 11.
“Lizzie Lustig had a great game for us – she played with confidence offensively, and defensively, she did a great job on Griffin,” Kelly said. “I thought Kiera (Katz) did a really nice job of facilitating and running our offense. I am really proud of how well our entire team bought into doing the little things on both ends of the floor and playing within ourselves.”
Griffin’s 16 points led the young Monarchs.
Council Rock North (6-8, 2-7 SOL) will travel to Souderton on Tuesday.
Gwynedd Mercy Academy 5-7-11-14 37
Council Rock North 9-13-6-18 46
Gwynedd Mercy (37) – Caral Lapp 3 0-0 8; Bailey Balkir 2 0-0 5; Megan McConnell 1 0-0 3; Emelia Coleman 1 0-1 2; Hannah Griffin 6 1-2 16; Dylan Burke 1 1-2 3; TOTALS 14 2-5 37.
Council Rock North (46) – Amara Arroyo 0 0-1 0; Lizzie Lustig 6 4-4 18; Josie Boyle 1 0-0 3; Delaney McCaffery 4 2-3 12; Jaden Wan 3 5-6 11; Ruth O’Keefe 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 15 11-14 46.
3-point goals: GMA – Hannah Griffin 3, Cara Lapp 2, Bailey Balkir, Megan McConnell; CRN – Lizzie Lustig 2, Delaney McCaffery 2, Josie Boyle.
About the Author
