Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Saturday. Pennsbury/Phoenixville photos courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography, and Bensalem/Wissahickon photos courtesy of Greg Lindsay. Check back for galleries. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ GIRLS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
Non-league
All-American MLK Classic (at Audenried Charter HS)
UPPER DUBLIN 68, AUDENRIED 43
(Check back for a follow-up on Morgan Funsten’s milestone win.)
Add coach Morgan Funsten’s name to the rapidly growing list of those attaining milestones for Upper Dublin this season. The veteran coach – in his 14th season at the helm – notched win number 300 of a stellar career.
“Our own players – there’s a lot of milestones that were on the board this year, and it just happened to be brought to my attention that I was pretty close to 300,” the UD coach said. “It kind of seems like the season of milestones between Emilia (Coleman) scoring her thousandth, and Megan (Ngo) her 500 assists and then setting the school record for assists and then Tamia (Clark) scoring her thousandth.”
As wins go, Saturday’s over a highly regarded Audenried squad was an especially good one.
“I knew the potential of this team, and the most exciting part of everything is just how well they’re playing together,” Funsten said. “And today – if it wasn’t our best game of the year, it was really close. We just played together.
“Audenried was 15-2, and their only two losses were to Westtown and Friends Central, who are arguably two of the best teams around. Their big girl, Nasiah Russell – I watched her dunk five times in warmups. I’ve never seen that before. She just committed to St. John’s. They’re running layup lines, and everybody lays the ball in except her – she dunks.”
The marquee game started more than two hours after its scheduled start time of 5:30 pm
“We got there a little before five o’clock, and we didn’t tip off until eight o’clock,” Funsten said. “Audenried was also there early. I just thought whoever was mentally tougher was going to win the game.”
It turned out the Cards were mentally tougher.
After edging Audenried 13-11 in the first quarter, the Cards began to seize control of the game, outscoring the Rockets 19-11 in the second quarter and 55-35 the rest of the way.
“Our girls came out, and it seemed like Audenried was very confident in taking it to us, and our girls had other plans,” Funsten said. “We shot the ball well tonight, and we defended the way we typically defend and held them to their lowest point output of the season.
“It was just a great team win. It finished off a great week but a really mentally draining week.”
Saturday’s win capped a stretch of four games in eight days that began with a trip to Imhotep last Saturday and included a road trip to Pennsbury Tuesday and an away game at Central Bucks East on Friday. The road warriors won all four games.
Key players: Tamia Clark led the Cardinals with 20 points that included a pair of 3-pointers. She also shared the team lead with eight rebounds. Emilia Coleman had 18 points – 12 in the first half that saw the Cards open up a 32-22 lead. She also had eight rebounds. Megan Ngo finished in double figures with 11 points that included a 4-for-4 effort at the foul line in the fourth quarter. She had nine of her points in the second half. Ngo also had six assists and two steals and earned game MVP honors.
Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten:
–Props: “You can just kind of go down the list of girls on our team who were difference makers. Clark had 20 points, and she made her only two 3-point attempts. Emilia Coleman had 18 in the first three quarters. Megan Ngo was named MVP of the game.
“The key to beating Audenried is to be able to handle their pressure because they’re so athletic and they’re always running two at the ball. I thought if we were able to stay connected offensively and we were able to take care of the ball, we had a really good chance against them.
“You look at Megan and Emilia – they were the two mainly in charge of at least breaking the first line of defense, and then it was important for the other three girls on the court at all times to stay connected to them. I thought Meg did a great job all night just getting the ball to where it needed to go.”
–300th win a memorable one: “This was awesome, especially seeing some people in the stands. I’m obviously very biased, but the greatest coach I’ve ever met is my dad (Tony Funsten)– and the support that he’s given me. He comes to practice every day. He’s an assistant coach that doesn’t sit on the bench. It just means a lot all the time and effort and great advice he’s given me over the years – I definitely could not have done this without him.
“This also just makes me think of the players I’ve coached over the years and the assistant coaches I’ve had, and it’s just been a great experience. I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity I was given when I got the job. I really was just trying not to mess anything up because I stepped into what was already a really good program. It’s just been a great experience so far, and I am looking forward to a lot more successful years to come.”
Up next: Upper Dublin will host Wissahickon Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 13-19-22-14 68
Audenried 11-11-17-4 43
Upper Dublin (68) – Bridget DiMartile 1 1-2 4; Tamia Clark 9 0-0 20; Megan Ngo 3 4-4 11; Lexi Ngo 2 2-2 7; Emilia Coleman 7 2-2 18; Ella Morris 2 0-0 6; Ryniah Sharpe 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 25 9-10 68.
Audenried (43) – Nasiah Russell 6 3-4 15; Heaven Reese 8 2-2 20; Iyonna Ellison 1 0-0 3; Ashlee Boykin 2 1-2 5; TOTALS 17 6-8 43.
3-point goals: UD – Tamia Clark 2, Emilia Coleman 2, Ella Morris 2, Megan Ngo, Lexi Ngo, Bridget DiMartile, A – Heaven Reese 2, Iyonna Ellison.
McShane 17
Beck 15
Bell 3
Ellzy 2
Daut 1
BENSALEM 38, WISSAHICKON 33
The Owls trailed by one after one quarter but outscored their visitors 13-8 in the second to go on top 20-15. The Trojans cut into the Owls’ lead in the third quarter and trailed by just one, 27-26, heading into the final
quarter when the Owls outscored the Trojans 12-6 to earn the win.
Key players: Grace McShane’s 17 points led the Owls while Mary Beck added 15.
For the Trojans, Katelyn Thomson led the way with 18 points.
Bensalem coach Steve Johnson:
–The game: “Wissahickon did a good job of keeping us out of a groove. We didn’t shoot the ball well at all from the field, but we did a nice job of getting to the foul line and converting from there. An ugly win is still a win, so we are going to enjoy it because wins are not easy to come by.”
–Props: “Grace may not have had a strong showing from the field, but she went a perfect 10-10 from the foul line. Mary Beck saw the ball go in the net a few times which we will need moving forward as we go back into league play on Tuesday.”
Up next: Bensalem will host Council Rock North Tuesday, and Wissahickon will be on the road at Upper Dublin Tuesday.
Wissahickon 7-8-12-6 33
Bensalem 7-13-6-12 38
Wissahickon (33) – Maura Jacob 3, Bella Butcher 1; Katelyn Thomson 18, Julia Lee 5, Kai Potter 6.
Bensalem (38) – Mary Beck 15 Grace McShane 17, Jordyn Bell 3, Mischa Ellzy 3, Sydney Daut 1.
3-point goals: W – Maura Jacob; B – Mary Beck 3, Grace McShane.
PENNSBURY 40, PHOENIXVILLE 27
The Falcons and Phantoms were deadlocked at eight apiece after one quarter, but the Falcons used a 13-5 second quarter to go on top 21-13. They never looked back.
Keira Socha had the hot hand in the second quarter, burying three shots from beyond the arc for nine points.
Key players: Alyssa Thomas and Keira Socha led a balanced Falcon attack with 10 points each. Sammie Haws added eight points and nine rebounds.
Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla:
–The game: “Phoenixville is having a good season with their only losses being to the #4, #5 and #6 ranked teams in the district in Perk Valley, Downing town East and Spring-Ford. They have an alpha scorer in Kayden Baratta, who had 40 in a win at Souderton earlier this year.
“So, we knew we’d have to be ready, but we came out slow. They started out up 8-0 but after a timeout we settled down. Keira Socha hit a couple 3s and we started to move the ball better
“We’ve been in a bit of a funk for a bit shooting the ball overall, but just like Thursday night, we got some really good, wide-open looks but they didn’t fall.
“Fortunately, like always, we defend whether we are scoring or not. Sammie Haws did a nice job
shading Baratta, and she also pulled 9 rebounds. We had some excellent passes from Alyssa and Joley and we eased away
“We are getting good at being physical on defense and also improving in that we don’t pass on the move much and we play to balance.
“Our players get a tremendous amount if freedom for decisions and shooting within our motion offense. As we get better and better at creating mismatches and hitting the middle rather than going baseline, we will be able to better complement our offense with our defense. Nice win and nice week for us.”
Up next: Pennsbury will host Harry S Truman on Tuesday.
Phoenixville 8-5-12-2 27
Pennsbury 8-13-11-8 40
Phoenixville (27) – Riley Ford-Bey 1 2-3 4; Taylor Schneider 2 0-0 4; Charlie Campbell 2 0-0 4; Allyson Turner 2 0-0 4; Kayden Baratta 3 1-1 9; Ava Breisblatt 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 11 3-4 27.
Pennsbury (40) – Bella Stewart 0 1-2 1; Sammie Haws 2 2-2 8; Alyssa Thomas 3 3-4 10; Shea Quenzer 1 0-0 2; Joley Hohman 2 1-2 6; Keira Socha 3 1-2 10; Milan Reaves 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 13 6-10 40.
3-point goals: Phoenixville – Kayden Baratta 2, Pennsbury – Keira Socha 3, Sammie Haws 2, Milan Reaves, Alyssa Thomas, Joley Hohman.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 58, MASTERY CHARTER NORTH 31
The Indians – or more specifically Alexa Bondra – set the tone offensively for this one early. Bondra torched Mastery Charter North for 10 first-quarter points. Teammates Julia Koval and Lauren Smith also had a played a huge role in the Indians’ 24-point quarter as both connected on a pair of 3s for six points.
The Indians led 24-7 after one quarter and extended that advantage to 35-12 by halftime on their way to the decisive win.
Key players: Alexa Bondra led the Indians with 20 points – 14 in the first half. Julia Koval, who had three 3-pointers, added 11 points, and Lauren Smith had eight points.
Council Rock North coach Jack Kelly:
–The game: “We are very proud of how we played today vs. Mastery Charter. We set the tone with our defense in the first quarter, and we were really unselfish offensively throughout. Ella Carroll and Tori Smith were both outstanding guarding their quick guards defensively. Alexa (Bondra) not only scored offensively, but she helped us establish great ball movement. Lauren Smith was excellent at facilitating the offense, especially finding open people on our fastbreak. Brynn (Rodgers) was aggressive at both ends of the floor, and she created scoring opportunities for teammates by making the correct read and coming up with assists.
“There were a few moments where it felt like Mastery was starting to chip away at our lead, but Julia Koval knocked down some big shots and came up with key deflections and rebounds to help shut the door on any chance they had. Haley Cruz also had a great game, hitting a big corner three and doing the little things—getting deflections, a steal, and attacking the offensive glass. All in all, we are pleased with the improvement we are showing.”
Up next: Council Rock North will travel to Bensalem on Tuesday.
Mastery Charter North 7-5-8-11 31
Council Rock North 24-11-18-5 58
Mastery Charter North (31) – Janiyah Brown 3 1-2 7; Jada Gilchrist 2 0-0 4; Bailey Byrd 2 0-0 4; Alaysha Godfrey 0 1-4 1; Lyric Lewis 4 3-6 15; TOTALS 11 5-12 31.
Council Rock North (58) – Rachael Hofman 1 0-0 2; Laney Duchowski 1 1-2 3; Tori Smith 1 0-0 3; Haley Cruz 1 0-0 3; Lauren Smith 3 0-0 8; Bryn Rodgers 2 1-2 6; Alexa Bondra 9 2-2 10; Julia Koval 4 0-0 11; Ella Carroll 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 23 4-6 58.
3-point goals: MC – Lyric Lewis 4; CRN – Julia Koval 3, Lauren Smith 2, Tori Smith, Haley Cruz, Brynn Rodgers.
CHELTENHAM 48, WEST CHESTER EAST 43.
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