CB East knocked CB South from the ranks of the unbeaten, and Pennridge picked up its first win over North Penn in more than a decade. Check all of Tuesday’s recaps. Abington/Bensalem photos provided courtesy of Jon Sklut, Pennsbury/CR South photos courtesy of Diana Leferovich. Check back for a gallery of action photos...CLICK HERE to go directly to the GIRLS' BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
SOL Continental Conference
PENNRIDGE 46, NORTH PENN 41
Mike Elton didn't know when the Rams last beat a North Penn squad that has been a perennial district power, but the Pennridge coach knew it had been a long time.
“It’s obviously big,” the Rams’ coach said of a win that was the program’s first over North Penn since 2008. “We’ve been talking all along about confidence and the fact that these guys can compete.
“This was one of those games – North Penn has to be the best nine-loss team. It’s no slouch to beat them.”
It took a fast start and a strong finish to do it. Sparked by eight points from Sam Muredda, who had a pair of 3-pointers, the Rams led 21-11 after one quarter.
“We had a really good first quarter,” Elton said. “We had seven kids score that quarter, so we were very balanced.
“We came out and had 21 points in the first quarter and then it got a little tougher. We were still ahead, but the shots didn’t come as easily. The defense hung in there.”
The Rams took a 27-19 lead into halftime, but in the third quarter, the fired-up Knights outscored their visitors 15-6 to make it a 36-34 game heading into the final quarter.
“They had three threes in the quarter, and that was the thing I was worried about because they can shoot threes,” Elton said of the Knights. “They came back hard.”
North Penn took a 37-36 lead with 7:08 remaining, but if the Knights thought the Rams would go away, they were mistaken. Pennridge closed out the game with a 10-4 run to earn the important win.
“They got up a point on us, but we just shut them down,” Elton said. “That second half was a battle.
“We’re dealing with the whole mental part of the game. We have to be able to withstand those runs, and a lot of times these teams make runs on us, they don’t realize if they settle down, they’ll get through it. That’s the piece we’re really working on – getting them to understand they can compete.”
Muredda’s 13 points led the Rams. Emilee Cramer added 10 points and also played the role of defensive stopper, limiting senior Bri Hewlett to just four points.
“Emilee Cramer had a great game,” Elton said. “She had 10 points, but she also had probably the toughest defensive assignment in the game. That had a really solid game for her, but everybody contributed.”
Senior Gill Anderson added six points for the Rams, and if the season had ended on Tuesday, Pennridge would have been the 18 seed in a 24-team District One 6A field that would have included six SOL Continental Conference squads.
“I tell the kids all the time – you’re competing in arguably one of the best conferences in the state,” Elton said. “We’ve competed in just about every game, but this was big, trying to get their confidence up and get them to realize they can actually compete.”
Jess McKenzie led the Knights with 13 points, which included a 7-for-9 effort at the foul line.
Pennridge (7-3, 3-3 SOL) will travel to Souderton for a 5 p.m. contest on Wednesday, and North Penn (4-9, 0-6) will be on the road at Central Bucks East on Friday.
Pennridge 21-6-9-10 46
North Penn 11-8-15-7 41
Pennridge (46) – Corinn Mart 2, Sam Muredda 13, Sophie Cweiber 2, Brooke Bachtle 8, Gill Anderson 6, Rose McCormick 3, Evelyn Loughery 2, Emilee Cramer 10.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 49, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 37
The Titans saw their impressive 13-game winning streak to open the season come to an abrupt half on Tuesday, thanks to a gutsy effort by the Patriots who opened an early lead and then withstood a fierce Titan comeback attempt.
“South has a nice team – they’re not undefeated for no reason,” East coach Liz Potash said. “The girls are playing with some confidence and they should be.
“We know what our strengths are and we know what our weaknesses are. If we can play to those strengths and downplay some of those weaknesses, we can play with teams. We have more balance this year than we’ve ever had in my five years at East.”
Sophia Mancuso led the Patriots’ attack with a game-high 20 points – which included three 3-pointers. She also had three blocked shots.
“She’s someone that stepped up for us in big games last year off the bench, and obviously from her golf experience, she’s used to playing on the big stage,” Potash said. “This year we needed her in a different role.
“Soph’s a great kid. We asked her to defend a really tough player, and she’s also handling the ball for nearly 32 minutes a game. Whatever we need out of her, she does. She made really good decisions at the end of the game because we were trying to be patient with the ball. She’s invaluable.”
Gina Russo – who also was an important contributor off the bench last year – had a monster double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds.
“That’s what we need out of Gina,” Potash said. “She was all over the boards tonight. You need all of those things to come together to compete against really good teams, and she did it.”
Bailey McManus scored just five points but played tenacious defense on point guard Alexa Brodie.
“Bailey really defended Alexa Brodie well,” Potash said. “She’s so tough to defend, and Bailey’s been doing it for three years. Caroline Pla took some turns on Alexa too. (Brodie) wasn’t able to get many shots off, and they were all contested.
“Soph Mancuso actually did a nice job on Haley Meinel. She ended up with 17, but a lot of those were her transition steals, but she didn’t have much in the half court sets. They made runs, and thankfully, we were able to answer each time.”
The Patriots were deadly at the foul line, connecting on 13-of-16 in the fourth quarter. Mancuso buried 7-of-8 in the frame and connected on 9-of-10 for the game.
It was four straight foul shots by Russo that stemmed the tide in the final minute of the third quarter after the Titans – who trailed 27-16 at halftime – roared out of halftime to seemingly take control of the game, opening up a 30-27 advantage.
“They were our only four points of the quarter, but it gave us a little bit of momentum,” Potash said. “We went up one (31-30) going into the fourth, and we were able to get our composure back.
“We told them at halftime – ‘It’s a game of runs. This is a very good team. They’re not going to roll over just because they’re down at halftime. You have to be ready to answer back.’ Credit to us, (South) got rid of that lead real quick, and the girls didn’t get too discouraged or too down. I thought our four seniors, our leaders – they were awesome. They did a great job tonight.”
Meinel’s 17 points led the Titans while Brodie added 13.
Central Bucks East (10-4, 4-2 SOL) will travel to Council Rock South on Wednesday, and Central Bucks South (13-1, 5-1) will host Souderton on Friday night in a battle for the conference’s top spot.
Central Bucks South 8-8-14-7 37
Central Bucks East 16-11-4-18 49
Central Bucks South (37) – Caroline McSorley 2, Lindsay Scott 4, Haley Meinel 17, Alexa Brodie 10, Mackenzie Ehresman 4,
Central Bucks East (49) – Sophia Mancuso 20, Skylar Krause 3, Gina Russo 15, Audrey LaBouliere 4, Bailey McManus 5, Elyse Shine 2.
SOUDERTON 52, WILLIAM TENNENT 24
Junior Megan Bealer had the hot hand in the Indians’ win, burying three 3-pointers en route to a game-high 18 points. She also had five rebounds.
“Megan has been giving us great minutes this year,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “Since she doesn’t always score a ton of points, she rarely gets the recognition she deserves, but she contributes in so many ways night in and night out.
“She’s our leading rebounder at 5’8” and does all the little things. She shot the ball well tonight and has been looking to attack the basket more this year, which makes us much more difficult to defend. She’s such a great kid, and I’m happy for her that she had a big game tonight.”
The Indians took control of Tuesday’s game from the outset, opening up a 9-1 lead after one quarter and upping their advantage to 28-3 by halftime.
Also for the Indians, Kate Connolly added 12 points and Alana Cardona had eight points to go along with eight rebounds and three blocks. Sami Falencki added six points on a pair of 3-pointers. Tori Dowd led the Indians defensively with four steals.
Emma Stanfield (eight points) and Haley Crossley (seven points) led the Panthers.
Souderton (11-2, 4-1 SOL) will host Pennridge on Wednesday at 5 p.m., and William Tennent (7-6, 1-5) will be on the road at Central Bucks West on Friday.
Souderton 9-17-16-10 52
William Tennent 1-2-13-8 24
Souderton (52) – Tori Dowd 2, Megan Bealer 18, Alana Cardona 8, Sami Falencki 6, Megan O’Donnell 2, Kate Conolly 12, Erica Stephens 4.
William Tennent (24) – Emma Stanfield 8, Haey Crossley 7, ess Rutkowsky 1, Bryn Evans 2, Jenna Rodebaugh 3, Hannah Reimel 1. Danielle Moss 2.
SOL American Conference
CHELTENHAM 38, HATBORO-HORSHAM 24
The Lady Panthers, who led by just two after one quarter, took an 18-11 lead into halftime and seized control of the game with a 15-6 third-quarter surge to go on top 33-17.
“I thought our defensive effort was solid tonight, although I thought we caught Hatboro-Horsham on a cold shooting night,” coach Brendan Nolan said. “They got some really good looks at the basket that didn’t fall.
“We will have to be better defensively when we play them in our gym. We are a bubble team trying to get into the playoffs, so every win is crucial for us right now.”
Savannah Roberts buried four 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 20 and also pulled down seven rebounds. Courtney Murray added 12 points, six rebounds and three assists while Kai Williams had a big game under the backboards, pulling down 12 rebounds.
“Courtney Murray was again really solid at the top of our defense,” Nolan said. “She has emerged as the leader of our team.
“Savannah Roberts seemed to rebound from a rough few games and had a good effort leading us in scoring. Kia Williams was again big on the boards. Even though she did not score, she was solid defensively and rebounded well.”
Kylie Halko led the Hatters with 11 points while Lexie Brett added seven. Halko also led the Hatters under the backboards with eight rebounds.
Cheltenham (8-5, 3-3 SOL) will host Springfield Township on Thursday, and Hatboro-Horsham (4-12, 3-5) will host Springfield on Friday.
Hatboro-Horsham 9-9-15-5 24
Cheltenham 7-4-6-7 38
Hatboro-Horsham (24) – Lexie Brett 7, Cam Ryan 2, Kylie Halko 11, Sydney Kemp 4.
Cheltenham (38) – Savannah Roberts 20, Yanisha Dormil 3, Taylor Johnson 2, Courtney Murray 12, Kai Williams 1.
WISSAHICKON 55, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 36
Wissahickon led from wire to wire, opening up a 10-4 lead after one quarter and extending that to 23-9 by halftime. The Trojans outscored the Spartans 32-27 in the second half.
“We got the win, but we didn’t play as well as we could have, and Springfield came out and played pretty well tonight,” coach Rodney Cline said. “We didn’t play up to our potential tonight.
“We won by almost 20, but the staff and I still want us to play well. We played well enough to win, but we’ve got to try and keep the momentum going into these other games moving forward. We have a goal we have to reach, and we want the girls to keep progressing – don’t play to the competition but play our game.”
The Trojans were led by the double-digit scoring efforts of Victoria Selverian (16 points) and Brianna Tilghman (13 points). Anna Schools added nine points.
Defense was once again key for the Trojans.
“We forced 25 turnovers, but we didn’t capitalize on our turnovers,” Cline said. “We took over 70 shots tonight. We had a lot of opportunities. We just didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. It’s a good teaching moment. We’ll learn from it.
“Moving forward, we know we have to rise to the occasion and be a little more focused. We have to take every team like it’s a championship, like it’s our last game. We have to go in with that mentality the entire time. It’s our job as a staff to keep enforcing that. Hopefully the girls put that in their mindset moving forward.”
For the Spartans, Mary Kate Smith led the way with 15 points, and Rileigh Serroni also finished in double figures with 10.
Wissahickon (5-6, 5-2 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Friday, and Springfield Township (2-8, 1-4) will be on the road at Cheltenham on Thursday.
Springfield Township 4-5-13-14 36
Wissahickon 10-13-15-17 55
Springfield (36) – Grace Barraclough 5, Mary Kate Smith 15, Davis 2, Rileigh Serroni 10, Yoder 3, Emily Guicheteau 1.
Wissahickon (55) – Victoria Selverian 16, Sydney Ott 2, Carly Fadel 4, Brianna Tilghman 13, Anna Schools 9, Macey Segal 5, Rebecca Selverian 4, Victoria Williams 2.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 65, QUAKERTOWN 23
Ten players contributed scoring for the conference-leading Colonials. Taylor O’Brien led the way with 20 points to go along with five steals and five assists. Ali Diamond also finished the game in double figures with 12 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers. She also had four assists and four rebounds. Lauren Fortescue added nine points on three 3-pointers. Anna McTamney and Sydney Kesselman both had six points. Kesselman had a pair of threes.
The Colonials, who led 43-17 at halftime, seized early control of the game and never looked back.
Kimmy Best’s seven-point effort led the Panthers.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (1-13, 0-6 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Friday, and Quakertown (1-13, 0-6) will host Wissahickon Friday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 31-12-13-9 65
Quakertown 5-1-7-10 23
Plymouth Whitemarsh (65) – Issa Crawley 2, Taylor O’Brien 20, Lauren Fortescue 9, Gia Schweitzer 1, Ali Diamond 12, Lily Belle McGrorty 2, Mackenzie Leszcynski 1, Bria Rivers 6, Anna McTamney 6, Sydney Kesselman 6.
Quakertown (23) – Abigail Dickson 4, Kimmy Best 7, Samantha Howard 3, Emma Pizzullo 1, Hannah LaBone 4, Abigail McClaskey 3, Roni Best 1.
UPPER DUBLIN 49, UPPER MORELAND 18
Nicole Kaiser led a balanced Flying Cardinal attack with 13 points to go along with nine rebounds. Jackie Vargas added 12 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots, and Maggie Weglos contributed eight points and three rebounds.
The Flying Cardinals, who led 15-4 after one quarter, took a 25-7 lead into halftime on their way to the decisive win.
Upper Dublin (12-3, 6-1 SOL) will travel to Cheltenham on Friday night, and Upper Moreland (3-8, 1-5) will be on the road at Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Upper Moreland 4-3-5-6 18
Upper Dublin 15-10-14-10 49
SOL National Conference
NESHAMINY 64, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 45
Olivia Scotti scored 18 points to lead four Redskin players in double figures. Teammates Brooke Mullin, Allison Harvey and Kristin Curley each added 10 points. Sophomores Emily Tantala and Kelli Kowalick both contributed seven on a night that saw the Redskins receive contributions up and down their lineup.
The visiting Redskins scored 22 points in a first quarter that saw all five starters put their names in the scoring column. Scotti set the tone for a big night with seven points while Harvey had five. The Redskins took 14 trips to the foul line in the frame with Scotti accounting for six of those
Despite the Redskins’ offensive outburst, the Golden Hawks were still in the hunt, scoring 15 points of their own in the opening quarter behind eight points from freshman Nicole Blaustein. Claudia Steinmetz added five points.
Neshaminy took a 32-21 lead into halftime and still led by that margin heading into the final quarter that saw the ‘Skins close it out with a 19-11 tear.
The Redskins connected on five 3-pointers and finished the game 25-of-31 at the foul line.
Blaustein led all scorers with 21 points. Steinmetz added seven while Bailey Vetter and Allison McGowan had six each.
Neshaminy (10-3, 6-0 SOL) will host Villa Joseph Marie on Monday in a non-league contest, and Council Rock South (5-7, 1-4) will host Central Bucks East on Wednesday in a non-league tilt.
Neshaminy 22-10-13-19 64
Council Rock South 15-6-13-11 45
Neshaminy (64) – Brooke Mullin 10, Allison Harvey 10, Kristin Curley 10, Olivia Scotti 18, Kelli Kowalick 7, Meghan Ansel 2, Emily Tantala 7.
Council Rock South (45) – Claudia Seinmez 7, Bailey Vetter 6, Nicole Blaustein 21, Allison McGowan 6, Hanna Binder 5.
PENNSBURY 55, HARRY S TRUMAN 36
Cami Wiegand scored 11 first-quarter points, propelling the visiting Falcons to a 17-9 lead. The sophomore guard finished the night with a game-high 21 points – 15 in a first half that saw the Falcons open up a 32-17 lead over the Tigers.
Mary Miller and Sydney Buell also finished the game in double figures with 13 and 10 points respectively. Abbi Nassivera added nine points.
Daisha Campbell had another big offensive performance for the Tigers, scoring a team-high 19 points. Haniyyah Jones added eight points.
Pennsbury (7-8, 3-4 SOL) will travel to Bensalem on Thursday, and Harry S Truman (2-10, 0-4) will be on the road at Council Rock North on Friday.
Pennsbury 17-15-13-10 55
Harry S Truman 9-8-10-9 36
Pennsbury (55) – Abbi Nassivera 9, Maddie Donovan 2, Mary Miller 13, Sydney Buell 10, Cami Wiegand 21.
Harry S Truman (36) – Haniyyah Jones 8, Daisha Campbell 19, Roneshia James 4, Keys 2, Briana Cliney 3.
ABINGTON 76, BENSALEM 44
Sam Brusha’s 16 points led four Abington players in double figures. Britney James added 12 points, Jordyn Allen had 11 and Miranda Liebtag contributed 10 points in a contest that saw the two teams combine for 120 points.
The Ghosts set the tone for high-scoring contest in the first quarter, exploding for 22 points. Brusha led the charge with eight points while James had six. The Ghosts connected on three 3-pointers in the frame and led 22-14. By halftime, Abington led 48-23 and took a 67-29 lead into the final quarter.
Also contributing for Abington in a contest that saw 11 Ghosts put their names in the scoring column were Kassondra Brown and Tami Wessels with eight points each. The Ghosts connected on nine 3-pointers with Allen, James and Wessels burying two each.
Chloe Munyon had a big offensive game for the Owls, finishing with a game-high 17 that included 10 first-half points. Alayna McSeed added nine points.
Abington (7-4, 4-1 SOL) will host Council Rock Norh on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., and Bensalem (3-8, 0-5) will host Pennsbury on Thursday.
Bensalem 14-9-6-15 44
Abington 22-26-19-9 76
Bensalem (44) – Sydney Bawuah 2, Mia Parker 4, Michaela Sit 2, Haley Keenan 4, Alayna McSeed 9, Chloe Munyon 17, Chloe Woollens 2.
Abington (76) – Jordyn Allen 11, Britney James 12, Camryn Lexow 2, Selena Marrero 3, Tamia Wessels 8, Becca Pohle 2, Kassondra Brown 8, Miranda Liebtag 10, Amanda Jackson 2, Hope Brower-Ancher 2, Sam Brusha 16.
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