Upper Moreland defeated William Tennent in SOL girls’ basketball action Wednesday. Photos provided courtesy of Diana Leferovich. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
UPPER MORELAND 45, WILLIAM TENNENT 21
The Golden Bears opened up a 12-2 lead after one quarter and never looked back on the way to their ninth win in 11 games.
“A win is a win, especially in league play, but for a lot of the game it wasn’t the prettiest,” UM coach Matt Carroll said. “We have really high expectations for ourselves as both players and coaches and when we don’t consistently meet them, which is normal, it’s disappointing.
“For some reason it always happens at that gym. Laura (Whitney) does a good job, and her kids work super hard. They never back down, they’re tough and they don’t make things easy. (Chase) Dubzak and (Courtney) Bragen lead them by example. They rarely get breaks and play physical. We were happy to get out of there with a win, especially a league win. Now it’s time to get ready for PW. They’re the cream of the crop. One of the best teams in the state and we are very excited for the challenge.”
For the Panthers, it was another disappointing loss as they struggled to find their offense.
“It wasn’t the way we wanted it to go, but again, I’m just proud of how our girls responded and how they just keep battling,” Tennent coach Laura Whitney said. “It hasn’t been an easy last couple of weeks, but the girls never quit, they play hard for 40 minutes, and they just really have a positive attitude.
“That’s what I told them after the game – ‘Keep your heads up.’ It’s tough, it can be deflating losing the way we have and having this tough stretch, but we’re going to learn from it. It will help us. We just have to find a way to stay together as a team and keep fighting.”
Kiera Coyle buried a pair of 3-pointers in the opening quarter, and the Golden Bears were off and running. In the second quarter, Holly Gohl had seven points to lead the Bears on their way to a 21-7 halftime lead. The Panthers outscored their visitors 10-7 in the third quarter, but the Golden Bears closed it out with a 17-4 fourth quarter.
“Early in the first quarter, number 15 for them, Kiera (Coyle), hit two open corner 3s, and right away, you had that feeling – ‘Is this the way the game’s going to go?’” Whitney said. “For stretches, it was like that, but other times, I felt we did play well defensively.
“We held them to seven in the third quarter, and that’s when we finally started to find a little bit of rhythm offensively because that’s really been our struggle in some of the games we’ve lost recently – just the inability to score the ball and turnovers. We climbed our way back into the game and somehow got it to eight. Even early in the fourth quarter, it was 11. When we’re burning so much energy at both ends of the floor – at some point, you just can’t overcome it. As fast as we got it to 11, that fast it’s back up to 20. It was tough, but Upper Moreland played well. We just have to move on and keep playing.”
Gohl’s 19 points led the Golden Bears. EmmyFaith Wood also finished in double figures with 12. Coyle added six points.
Ella Mednick and Alyssa Lewicki both had five points for the Panthers.
“Give credit to Upper Moreland,” Whitney said. “They were definitely prepared. Matt does a great job with his team. They’re always ready to play. They execute very well.
“Obviously, Holly (Gohl) and Emmy (Wood) are tremendous players. We knew they were going to get theirs. We were trying to take them away as much as we could. For stretches, we did a great job on them and other times, not as well, and they got some easy baskets.”
Upper Moreland (9-2, 7-1 SOL) will be on the road at Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday, and William Tennent (2-11, 2-7) will travel to Abington on Friday.
Upper Moreland 12-9-7-17 45
William Tennent 2-5-10-4 21
Upper Moreland (45) – Brooke Lobban 1 0-0 2; Alyssa Wiley 1 0-0 2; EmmyFaith Wood 5 2-3 12; Kiera Coyle 2 0-0 6; Holly Gohl 7 3-4 19; Mikel Lancit 1 2-3 4; TOTALS 17 7-10 45.
William Tennent (21) – Ella Mednick 2 0-0 5; Courtney Bragen 0 2-4 2; Alyssa Lewicki 3 1-2 8; Kate Smith 1 0-2 2; Morgan Volz 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 8 3-8 21.
3-point goals: UM – Kiera Coyle 2, Holly Gohl 2; WT – Ella Mednick, Alyssa Lewicki.
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