Check out all the SOL girls’ basketball results from Friday.
Continental Conference
SOUDERTON 44, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 41
The celebration at the final horn was a long time coming for an Indians squad that had endured some heartbreaking losses to the conference’s top squads this season.
“I am speechless,” junior Bianca Picard said. “The way my teammates stepped up tonight really goes to show that no matter what the situation in a game – everybody can come back.
“The last time we played them we lost in overtime. I can’t even express how happy I am right now. I’m not going to be able to sleep. I don’t know what to say. This is a positive moving forward. It’s a great thing we achieved tonight.”
Friday’s win not only knocked the Bucks from the ranks of the undefeated in conference play, it was an advertisement for the determination of an Indian squad that found itself trailing 32-22 after three quarters but rallied for the win.
“We were tired of missing shots,” junior Allison Gallagher said. “We were focusing more, and we just wanted it. We had the heart to get it.
“We were sick of losing these close game – well, not so close in the third quarter, but we were sick of losing to good teams when we’re just as good as them.”
Third quarters have not been especially kind to the Indians recently. They scored four points in the third quarter in a loss to North Penn and two in a win over Neshaminy, and it looked as though the Indians might be doomed by another dismal third quarter that saw them manage just a foul shot until sophomore Sarah Derstein scored on a foul line jumper with 36 seconds remaining.
Nicole Munger answered with a driving basket at the other end, making it a 10-point game at the end of three quarters.
Katie O’Connor admitted the Indians are puzzled by their third quarter funks.
“In the locker room, we were so pumped because we know every third quarter is our toughest,” the junior guard said. “We always know what it feels like at the end of the third quarter and how upset we are about what just happened.
“This time it was like, ‘We are not letting this happen again. We’re not getting so close and letting it slip away again.’ We were all just really supportive of each other. We were there for each other, and I think that pumped us up even more. We know that feeling, and we were not letting that happen again.”
This time, instead of letting the third quarter define them, the Indians battled back.
After Picard buried a three-pointer, the Bucks were whistled for a five-second violation inbounding the ball under their own basket, and Derstein connected on a baseline jumper for the Indians. Picard sank one-of-two at the foul line after a West miss to pull the Indians to within four at the 5:32 mark (32-28).
“When our defense started getting better, it gave us more confidence, saying, ‘We can get back in this. If we get stops and make some shots, we’re right in this,’” junior Allison Gallagher said. “Once we got within five, I think we knew we definitely could get back in it.”
An O’Connor steal on the inbounds after a West timeout set the stage for a tough basket by the junior guard, who drove to the bucket out of the Indians’ set offense, and suddenly, it was a 32-30 game.
Munger buried a pair of foul shots to extend the Bucks lead to four, but Gallagher sank one-of-two at the other end to make it a three-point game. West had a chance to extend its lead but misfired on a pair from the foul line. Gallagher made it hurt when she buried a three off a screen at the top of the circle, knotting the score 34-34 with 3:36 remaining.
Mackenzie Carroll connected on a pair from the foul line to put the Bucks back on top by two, and after an Indians’ turnover on the inbounds, Payton Traina sank one-of-two from the line to stretch the Bucks’ lead to three. Gallagher scored on a drive at the other end, but Traina found Maggie Gratz for a bucket and a 39-36 West lead.
A Libby Wetzler putback after a Souderton miss made it a 39-38 game, and when the Bucks turned it over at the other end, Derstein came up big for the Indians, scoring on a tough shot on the low post to put the Indians on top 40-39 with less than a minute to play.
“We fundamentally did zero coming down to the end,” coach Terry Rakowsky said. “We didn’t hit a screen, we couldn’t get the ball in, and defensively we didn’t rotate.
“I thought one of the biggest plays was the one putback they had where they missed and our guards didn’t rotate down. I was telling them, ‘When you fundamentally do things right, things go your way. When you fundamentally do things wrong, generally losses come your way.’ Give Souderton credit. They’re well coached, they play us tough every year, especially up here.”
A Gallagher steal resulted in a pair of O’Connor foul shots – she buried both. Another West turnover set the stage for two more foul shots by O’Connor to put the Indians on top 44-39 with 23 seconds remaining.
“I was so nervous and all I could think to myself was – if they went in - just how rewarding that would be for me as an individual and for our team,” O’Connor said. “It was just me on the line, I couldn’t let my team down.
“I was just thinking to myself, ‘You practice these so many times. You just have to make it.’”
Munger scored on a drive at the other end to make it a three-point game, and after the Indians misfired on a pair at the foul line, the Bucks still had 11 seconds to set up for a shot for the tie. It never happened, and the Indians had earned the big win.
“Our girls just stepped up in the fourth quarter and made plays,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “They could have easily decided, ‘This is too hard’ after scoring three points in the third quarter.
“Momentum is such an important part of the game of basketball, and once you have it, it’s like you’re unstoppable, and we had it. We had it early in the fourth quarter, and we kept it. Kids stepped up and made plays and were intelligent enough in the end to get the win. It was great.”
Gallagher led a balanced Indian attack with 11 points while Picard and Derstein each had 10. O’Connor added nine. For the Bucks, Munger, who was playing with four fouls in the fourth quarter, led the way with 11 points. Maggie Gratz had eight while Carroll and Traina both had six.
The Bucks saw their record drop to 9-1 in league play (13-5 overall) while the Indians improved to 7-3 in the league (10-5 overall).
“This is a big game for us,” Gallagher said. “It’s a turning point for our season. We’ve been beating the easy teams and always fighting in close games but coming out on the short end of the stick.
“To pull this game out, I think it gives our team more confidence to start playing as a team, playing hard and playing together.”
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 44, NORTH PENN 37
Any chance the Maidens had of capitalizing on CB West’s loss to Souderton to move up in the standings went out the window, thanks to yet another standout effort by the suddenly red hot Patriots. East won for the eighth time in nine games on Friday, a win that came just three days after the Patriots lost by one to conference-leading Central Bucks West.
“We didn’t have a whole lot of experience coming back from last year,” coach Melissa Carr said. “I remember coach (Tom Lonergan) saying in the fall, ‘If we can just get through the first half of the season, I know we’re going to mesh.’
“He’s totally right. The girls, especially on defense, are starting to know where we’re at, and we’re starting to tweak it for each game. They’re really starting to trust each other and know what their roles are, and I think that’s really important. They’re not trying to do too much anymore. They each know what they’re good at, and they’re each focusing on that, and I think that’s really helped us a lot.”
The Patriots threw some serious defense at the Maidens, who managed only two foul shots in a first quarter that saw the Patriots open up a 16-2 lead.
“We came out in a zone,” Carr said. “Our zone has been working real, real well for us lately, but we learned the hard way against West not to stay in it too long if they’re starting to hit shots.
“We shut them down in the first quarter, and Morgan Kelly hit three three’s in the first quarter, so she was just on.”
While Kelly torched the Maidens for nine points, junior point guard Karoline White, who also buried a three, added five points. The Maidens regrouped to outscore the Patriots 13-8 in the second quarter to make it a 24-15 game at halftime. Junior Vicky sparked the Maidens with three three-pointers of her own in the quarter.
“In the second quarter, they started going off, so we had to switch it up, and we went to man,” Carr said. “We were a little concerned with how we were going to match up with man.”
The Patriots’ coach need not have worried. Lindsey Nier was assigned the task of containing Maiden standout Lauren Crisler while Katelyn Miller was asked to defend Erin Maher. The duo combined for just 12 points with both players scoring six.
“We were a little bit concerned because of their size,” Carr said. “Lindsey Neir did a fabulous job on Crisler. She worked so hard.
“The thing that’s good about Lindsey is she’s very thin, but she’s very agile. We were just telling her to front Crisler in the post, so even fronting her in the post, it’s still hard to throw over her. Not only was Lindsey actively fronting her, but Karoline (White) would come all the way down from the three-point line, and Courtney (Webster) was helping off her girl. We really did a great job of defending their inside game.”
Behind a pair of Tumasz three-pointers, the Maidens outscored the Patriots 8-4 in the third quarter to make it a 28-23 game, but the Patriots used six points from Webster and an 8-for-11 effort at the foul line to outscore the Maidens 16-14 in the frame.
Kelly led a balanced East attack with 15 points while Webster added 13 and White 10. Tumasz led the Maidens with 15 on five three-pointers. Underscoring just how effectively the Patriots shut down the Maidens inside game was the fact the Maidens connected on just two two-point field goals in the game and nine three-pointers.
While the Maidens saw their record drop to 8-2 in league play (15-3 overall), the Patriots improved to 6-4 in the league (13-5 overall).
QUAKERTOWN at CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH (Postponed to Wednesday, Jan. 31)
PENNRIDGE at HATBORO-HORSHAM (Postponed to Monday, Jan. 29)
American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 55, CHELTENHAM 35
The Flying Cardinals led 11-8 at the end of one quarter and took a 24-14 lead into halftime. They blew the game wide open with an 18-11 third quarter burst. Senior point guard Curtrena Goff had another big game for the Cardinals, contributing 20 points, which included four three-pointers. Regan Gallagher added 12 points and seven rebounds. Kayla McAneney finished the day with seven points and five boards, and Brianna Spector had six points and seven rebounds for the Flying Cardinals (17-0, 10-0 SOL), who notched their 17th consecutive win. The Lady Panthers fell to 4-6 in league play (5-12 overall).
WISSAHICKON 42, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 31
Both teams took identical 5-4 records into Friday’s showdown for a share of third place in the conference standings, but it was the Trojans outlasting the Colonials in a defensive battle.
“The players came into tonight’s game with an attitude the coaching staff has been waiting to see all year long,” Wissahickon coach Rodney Cline said. “We knew they had this in them, but the question all along was when would the animal be let out of the cage. Tonight it was on the loose.”
In the initial meeting between the two teams, PW earned a 55-35 win.
“The girls stated at the conclusion of that game – ‘We will definitely beat them in our house. This will not happen again,’” Cline said. “Tonight that became a reality.”
The Colonials led 9-6 at the end of one quarter and took a 20-18 lead into halftime. It was a 27-27 game at the end of three quarter when the Trojans put it away with a 15-4 fourth quarter burst.
“They used their size advantage and aggressive defense to force us into turnovers, missed shots and mental mistakes,” PW coach Daniel Dougherty said.
“This was a great team effort,” Cline said. “The defense proved to be the difference in the end, holding PW to only two field goals in the second half.
“The coaching staff emphasizes- to play great defense you need to have heart, determination and the willingness to do whatever it takes to make sure you get the job done. No excuses.”
Rachel Stone led the Trojans with 16 points, which included an 8-for-8 effort from the foul line. The senior guard was 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter. Sierra Eskridge (three points, four steals seven rebounds), Dominique Earland (six points, six blocks, seven rebounds) and Donyea Tate (10 points and five steals) also came up big. Earland was forced to play much of the game with four fouls.
The player of the game, according to Cline, was Bridget Sweeney, who had seven points.
“She was just in the zone,” the Trojans’ coach said. “She did it all – from reverse layups to handing out assists like Magic (Johnson).
“The coaching staff is proud of our team’s efforts.”
Cline also offered a special thanks to the eighth grade girls’ basketball team and their parents for their support at Friday’s game.
The Colonials were led by Maya Thomas (13 points) and Alynna Williams (10 points). While PW saw its record drop to 5-5 in the league (7-9 overall), the Trojans improved to 6-4 in league play (10-8 overall).
UPPER MERION 42, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 34
The Spartans and Vikings battled to an 8-8 tie at the end of one quarter. The Vikings led 21-16 at the half and 35-26 after three quarters on their way to the win.
“When you have times like this with so many distractions going on, it’s difficult to focus on the task at hand,” coach Tom Schurtz said. “We came out and missed some shots, and they made some shots.
“To their credit, they played solid defense the whole game, really hung around, were patient with the ball and possessed it. We just sort of found a way to win.”
Kristina O’Sullivan led all scorers with 21 points while Regie Robinson added 13.
“O’Sullivan was tremendous again tonight,” Schurtz said. “I was pleased to get out of there with a win. I felt we left a lot of things out on the floor offensively.
“We didn’t execute our game plan very well today, but that’s how it goes. You need to show up every night ready to play. Tonight we did have a night where we weren’t focused, and they did a great job of coming out and taking it to us.”
For the Spartans, whose strong defense created at least 15 turnovers or steals, senior Maisey Bradley and sophomore Jewell Ringgold led the way with nine points each while junior Meghan Wheatley added six points.
While the Spartans fell to 0-10 in league play (2-14 overall), the Vikings improved to 6-4 in the league (12-4 overall).
NORRISTOWN 71, UPPER MORELAND 31
The Eagles sprinted to a 25-11 lead at the end of one quarter and took a 41-21 lead into halftime on their way to the decisive win. Briana Hedgepeth led a balanced Eagle attack with 16 points while Keifonna Ferguson added 15. Sydney Morse and Brianna Kennedy both scored 12 points.
Megan Penecale led the Golden Bears with 14 points while Amanda Getz added nine. The Golden Bears fell to 1-9 in league play (2-15 overall) while the Eagles upped their record to 8-2 in the league (12-5 overall)
NORRISTOWN 50, PENNSBURY 47 (Wednesday, Jan. 24)
The Eagles trailed by two heading into the final quarter but used a 17-12 fourth quarter burst to earn the important non-league win. The Falcons took a 21-10 lead into halftime and still led 35-33 at the end of three quarters.
Briana Hedgepeth (17 points) and Keifonna Ferguson (10 points) led the Eagles while Sajanna Bethea scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Falcons.
National Conference
WILLIAM TENNENT 44, BENSALEM 42
The Panthers used a 16-3 third quarter surge to turn a 21-16 halftime deficit into a 32-24 lead. The Owls, who outscored the Panthers 28-12 in the fourth quarter, never could fight their way out of that eight-point hole.
“It was a good game,” Bensalem coach Don Bogan said. “The third quarter was the difference, but we made a great comeback and had a chance to tie the game but missed two shots in the paint in the last 10 seconds.”
Allison Chatburn and Nikki Alden led the Panthers with 12 points each while Angie Pomponio added 10 points. For the Owls, Ashida Cooper had 14 points, Alexa Kohler added 12 points and Tyra Roberts, 10 points.
While the Owls fell to 3-7 in league play (7-10 overall), the Panthers improved to 4-6 in the league (12-6 overall).
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 70, HARRY S TRUMAN 36
Jessica Gerber established a school record for the most three-point field goals in a single game, connecting on seven en route to a game-high 24 points. The sophomore guard recently tied Lisa Brennan’s previous record with six. Her 24 points were also a new career high. Gerber also had four steals, two rebounds and two assists.
Michaela Finneyfrock also had a big game for the Indians, contributing 11 points, seven rebounds, six steals and four assists. Krista Campbell also had 11 points for the Indians, who opened up a 21-7 lead at the end of one quarter and took a 33-17 lead into halftime. They blew the game wide open with a 28-9 third quarter.
Khristaijah Jackson led the Tigers with 16 points while Shappelle Brewton added 10 points and Angelica Mena, eight points.
While the Tigers fell to 0-10 in the league (5-13 overall), the Indians evened their league mark at 5-5 (9-9 overall)
To read game wraps from Thursday night’s Abington/Neshaminy and Council Rock South/Pennsbury games, please click on the following SuburbanOneSports.com link: http://www.suburbanonesports.com/article/content/sol-girls-basketball-wrap-1-24-13-0031719
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