Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Thursday. Pennridge/CR South photos provided courtesy of Diana Leferovich. CR North/Neshaminy photos provided courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for galleries of both games.
SOL National Conference
NESHAMINY 56, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 34
The Redskins earned the early advantage in the battle for supremacy in the SOL National Conference, handing the visiting Indians a loss in the first meeting between two squads who shared a tri-championship with Abington.
If the Redskins were looking to set the tone early, they did just that, opening up a 17-7 lead after one quarter and extending that to 33-17 by halftime. Kelli Kowalick’s six points ignited the Redskins in the first quarter.
“Kelli has been very good – she took a charge tonight, she rebounds the basketball, she defends really well, and she’s capable of scoring, but she plays within the team system really well,” coach Joe Lally said. “
Also in the first quarter, Kristin Curley added five points and Alexis McCoy had four.
“I thought we had a really good team effort,” Lally said. “It was a total team effort from the jump ball.
“North is well coached, they have good players. I think they got it to eight in the third at one point, and we were able to get it back up to 11-12 and then eventually put the game away. We knew they weren’t going away. It’s a league game, it’s a fun rival. Lou (Palkovics) does a great job with his girls.”
The Indians outscored the Redskins 13-7 in the third quarter to make it a 40-30 game, but behind seven points from Brooke Mullin, the Redskins closed it out with a 16-4 fourth quarter tear.
“At the beginning of the season, we talked about it, and we knew we had to be a better defensive team,” Lally said. “I think we’re showing signs where we’re playing really good defense, and we’re able to hold teams down.
“There are still times where we find ourselves struggling. It’s a difficult transition when you really accept playing the game 100 percent at both ends of the floor, and tonight was a good night for us. Hopefully, we’ll keep moving in that direction. It’s all to their credit – they’re working hard. They’re the ones putting the work in, they’re the ones that understand that’s where they need to be in order to compete with teams like North and Abington and Pennsbury and everyone in our league.”
Mullin led a balanced Redskins attack with 12 points while Curley, McCoy and Olivia Scottie all had eight points. Kowalick and Emily Tantala both had six points.
“I thought Alexis McCoy and Olivia Scotti both had great nights,” Lally said. “We’ve been kind of using them as a combined one player. Lex might start the game, but Liv comes in for Lex. You look at their stats and put them together, and we’re getting a ton of production from that position from the two of them, so we’re really happy.
“Again, Kristin Curley had another rock solid game, looking for her offense, defending better – all positive steps in the right direction, but we’re not there.”
The Redskins connected on 22-of-35 shots from the floor (61 percent), which included a near-perfect 5-for-6 effort from beyond the arc. The Indians, meanwhile shot just 31 percent from the floor (11-for-35). They buried just 3-of-14 shots from beyond the arc.
The Redskins limited the dangerous Dana Bandurick to 12 points, five rebounds, one steal and on blocked shot, which led the Indians. Olivia Boyle – who was 4-for-7 from the field – had 10 points. Camryn Polinsky added seven.
Neshaminy (9-1, 4-0 SOL) will host Villa Joseph Marie in a non-league game on Friday, and Council Rock North (7-3, 3-1) will travel to Central Bucks South on Tuesday for a non-league game.
Council Rock North 7-10-13-4 34
Neshaminy 17-16-7-16 56
Council Rock North (56) – Camryn Polinsky 7, Sydney Blum 3, Olivia Boyle 10, Dana Bandurick 12, Abby Jones 2.
Council Rock North (34) – Sydney Tryon 2, Emily Tantala 6, Olivia Scotti 8, Brooke Mullin 12, Kristin Curley 8, Alexis McCoy 8, Kelli Kowalick 6, Allison Harvey 3, Meghan Ansel 3.
PENNSBURY 43, WILLIAM TENNENT 30
The Falcons, who led by four after one quarter, outscored the Panthers 28-15 in the middle two quarters, opening up a 36-19 lead on their way to their second conference win.
“I thought Tennent played really well,” coach Frank Sciolla said. “They played hard. (Haley) Crossley was very effective in the second half getting to the basket.
“Laura (Whitney) does such a really good job as a coach. They hung. They may have scored the last 12 or 13 points of the game and played hard all the way to the end.”
Cami Wiegand led a balanced Falcon attack with 12 points. Ava Sciolla added eight points and five assists while Mary Miller had six points, four rebounds and two steals. Abbi Nassivera also had six points. Bella Arcuri had five points in a second quarter that saw the Falcons turn an 8-4 lead into a 22-10 halftime advantage.
“Bella Arcuri played well,” Sciolla said. “At halftime, we decided to put her on the wing to take advantage of Ava’s passing ability.
“I thought Bella looked for her shot a little bit tonight. We have talked to her about being more aggressive and looking to shoot the ball. I think she needs to shoot more than she did tonight. At times when she plays up top, she’s trying to get the ball to other people, and she sacrifices her own offense.
“Tonight she knocked down a couple of shots, and she was very active. We need her to continue to look for her offense because she is someone who can score. The good thing about her is she just wants to win and make winning basketball plays. She’s so mentally tough, and she’s a really fun kid to coach. She’s one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached in my career. I would absolutely put her in the top five, so it was good for her to see the ball go through the hoop.”
The win was the eighth in 10 games for the improving Falcons.
“We’re at an interesting spot that I knew was coming,” Sciolla said. “To go from bad to average isn’t that hard because you can make some adjustments, but you’re not asking for too much in terms of sacrifice from your team.
“But to go from average to good means you’ve really got to take the id and put that to the side and you’ve got to have 100 percent buy-in. One of the best parts of being a teacher and coach is that your whole life is based on improvement, and you know that improvement is so hard and that it takes so much work. It can’t be done overnight in the market or on a one-night sale or in a courtroom but rather over a process.
“We are proud of the improvement we have made in the program, but now we’re in that tricky spot where – are we happy that we are winning or were we more comfortable with the warm blanket of mediocrity because that often gives you a better opportunity for statistics or the perception of what you are. I love this personally. This has been my favorite part of the job.
“There have been years where I have failed on the boys’ side, where I have not been able to convince the guys that winning was fun and winning was a great life lesson, and there have been years when I have. Now we’re right in that point where – can we handle success or did we feel more comfortable when we had the lack of accountability that comes with losing? The next two weeks are going to teach that lesson. I’m very interested to find out how that will go.”
Pennsbury (8-2, 2-1 SOL) will host Council Rock South on Tuesday, and William Tennent (2-8, 0-3) will host New Hope-Solebury in a non-league game on Saturday at 1 p.m.
William Tennent 4-6-9-11 30
Pennsbury 8-14-14-7 43
William Tennent (30) – Caitlin Somerville 4, Chelsea Meltzer 6, Jenna Rodebaugh 3, Haley Crossley 17.
Pennsbury (43) – Lily Hochhausler 2, Abbi Nassivera 6, Bella Arcuri 5, Kate Mix 4, Mary Miller 6, Ava Sciolla 8, Cami Wiegand 12.
Non-league
PENNRIDGE 47, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 32
The Rams trailed by five points at halftime (23-18) but turned things around completely in the second half, outscoring the Golden Hawks 29-9. They seized control of the game with a 17-2 third quarter tear.
Evelyn Loughery led the Rams with 16 points while Sam Muredda had 10. Julia Kreider and Emilee Cramer both added six points.
Pennridge (7-3, 1-1 SOL) will host Central Bucks South on Friday, and Council Rock South (4-5, 1-1) will host Bensalem on Friday.
Pennridge 8-10-17-12 47
Council Rock South 11-12-2-7 32
Pennridge (47) – Corinn Mart 2, Sam Muredda 10, Sophie Cweiber 3, Julia Kreider 6, Evelyn Loughery 16, Ashley Gordon, Emilee Cramer 6, Kiersten Moyer 2.
UPPER MORELAND 53, CALVARY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 18
The Golden Bears, who led 12-0 after one quarter, took a 22-2 lead into halftime on their way to the no-doubt-about-it win.
Bean Hughes jumpstarted the Bears with eight points in the first quarter. She finished with a game-high 18 points. Kaitie Opferman also finished in double figures with 10 points, which included a pair of threes. Phoebe Longstreth, AbbyEllen Wood and Hannah Finn each added six points.
Upper Moreland (6-2, 2-1 SOL) will be on the road at Upper Dublin on Friday.
Calvary Christian Academy 0-2-11-5 18
Upper Moreland 12-10-10-21 53
Calvary Christian Academy (18) – McKenzie Schaefer 5, Karey Stauffer 5, Rileigh Studley 8.
Upper Moreland (53) – Phoebe Longstreth 6, Katryn Morrow 2, Kaitie Opferman 2, Emma Meakim 10, AbbyEllen Wood 6, Bean Hughes 18, Hannah Finn 6, Kelley Leighton 3.
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