Upper Dublin & PW competed in Sunday’s Blue Star Challenge at Jefferson University. UD notched another impressive win, and Megan Ngo became the program’s all-time assist leader.
Blue Star Challenge (Jefferson University)
UPPER DUBLIN 50, McDONOGH SCHOOL (Md.) 31
Tamia Clark scored 21 points to lead the Cardinals to another big win while teammate Megan Ngo continued to rewrite the program record books, breaking the career assist record of 542 set by Jess Polin in 2021. The senior point guard entered Sunday’s game needing four assists – she more than doubled that with nine assists.
“Meg was all over the place – I feel like I’ve said that several times this year already,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “You can see she has the explosion back in her legs that she didn’t necessarily have last year coming off of her injury.”
The Cardinals took the suspense out of this game early, burying three 3-pointers and outscoring McDonogh 18-6 in the opening quarter. Clark’s six points led the way, and Emilia Coleman added five.
UD took a 26-12 lead into halftime and added to that with a 17-9 third quarter on its way to the decisive win.
By the numbers: Tamia Clark (21 points, 6 steals), Megan Ngo (11 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, took 2 charges), Emilia Coleman (7 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals), Bridget DiMartile (5 points, 6 rebounds, 6 deflections), Ella Morris (6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 assists)
Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten:
–Ngo sets new standard: “Meg’s just a gamer. It’s been so fun to coach her over these four years, and her assist numbers are outrageous, and what’s even more outrageous are her assists to turnovers. Right now, she is at 71 to 16 assists to turnovers for the year, which is about a 4.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. Good point guards are like 2 to 1, and here she is at borderline 5 to 1. It’s just her ability to compete. I think she’s taken even more of a leadership role on our team this year than she did last year. And she’s taken a lot of pride in it. And I’m very proud of her getting the school record. She’s projecting to be in the high sixes. I’ve never heard of a high school player with these assist numbers, so it’s just been really fun to be a part of, and the intensity at which she plays is something that I admire. She’s special, there’s no question about it.”
–The game: “I thought we played well all day, especially defensively. We struggled to shoot the ball in the second quarter. We shot 2-for-13 in the second quarter but still outscored them 8-6 and then made some shots in the third quarter and went up 22 going into the fourth quarter, so it was a comfortable win against a good team from Maryland.
“They were huge. They start three six-footers, and they have two good guards, but one of the things I was very pleased with was we only gave up four offensive rebounds all day, and it’s certainly something that we’ve been working on. It was great to see it against a team that physical and with that size that we were able to rebound and limit second-chance opportunities for them. It was a big reason we won the game comfortably.”
–Props: “Tamia Clark was great – she shot an efficient 9-for-15, and she had six steals. She also played the other team’s best player.
“Bridget DiMartile guarded a 6-3 girl in the post who was their best big and held her to zero points. So, she did another great job against another big girl.
“Emilia Coleman was all over the place defensively and rebounding. She was a big reason why we were able to rebound at the level that we were able to rebound. She didn’t have the best shooting day, but she played well. She made plays offensively, and she was all over the glass defensively. I was very pleased with her performance.”
Up next: Upper Dublin will host Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday.
McDonogh 6-6-9-10 31
Upper Dublin 18-8-17-7 50
McDonogh (31) – Arianna Benjamin 2 7-7 12; Brooke DeMont 0 0-2 0; Jade Russell 4 1-1 9; Losie Faimanifo 3 0-0 6; Ifee Umeh 2 0-1 4; TOTALS 11 8-11 31.
Upper Dublin (50) – Bridget DiMartile 2 0-0 5; Tamia Clark 9 2-3 21; Megan Ngo 3 2-3 11; Emilia Coleman 2 2-2 7; Ella Morris 2 0-0 6; TOTALS 18 6-8 50.
3-point goals: McDonogh – Arianna Benjamin; UD – Megan Ngo 3, Ella Morris 2, Bridget DiMartile, Tamia Clark, Emilia Coleman.
GEORGE SCHOOL 59, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 35
The Cougars led 15-11 after one quarter and then extended that to 30-16 by halftime on their way to the win.
By the numbers: Kenna Winland (15 points, 4-for-4 from the field, 4 assists), Liv Patete (9 points)
Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Dan Dougherty: “We were able to compete for first 10 minutes. The game was 15-11, but we got into foul trouble and lost our confidence. Early in the season we answered the bell in some physical games, but we just didn’t have it today. Liv Patete had a hot hand early but was saddled with foul trouble in second half. Kenna Winland knocked down some tough shots today, continues to be a great leader for us.”
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh will travel to Upper Dublin on Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11-5-6-13 35
George School 15-15-10-19 59
Plymouth Whitemarsh (35) – Liv Patete 4 0-0 9; Kenna Winland 4 5-6 15; Eliza Meersman 2 1-2 5; Grace Harvey 1 4-10 6; TOTALS 11 10-18 35.
George School (59) – Maya Ravindranathan 2 2-2 8; Kamyrne Stokes 2 1-1 5; Zamiya Lowe 2 0-0 4; Olivia Grant 1 1-2 3; Olivia Vieira 1 2-2 5; Selena Kareem 3 0-0 6; Oceane Yagoli 11 3-5 25; #35 1 1-5 3; TOTALS 23 10-17 59.
3-point goals: PW – Kenna Winland 2, Liv Patete; George School – Maya Ravindranathan 2, Olivia Vieira.
Non-league (at West Philly HS)
CHELTENHAM 50, ABINGTON FRIENDS 37
Paige Powell had herself a day, scoring 26 points and leading the Lady Panthers to the decisive non-league win Sunday. Included in her glittering offensive performance were a pair of 3s and an 8-for-11 effort at the foul line.
Maya Simmons added a double-double with 10 points and 18 rebounds.
The Lady Panthers led 16-8 after one quarter and all but put the game out of reach with a 12-4 second quarter to go into halftime with a 28-12 advantage.
By the numbers: Paige Powell (26 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals), Maya Simmons (10 points, 18 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocked shots), Isabella Brown (11 points).
Up next: Cheltenham will host Springfield Twp on Tuesday.
Cheltenham 16-12-10-12 50
Abington Friends 8-4-18-7 37
Cheltenham (50) – Paige Powell 26, Kaylyn Washington 2, Maya Simmons 10, Kennedy Tolbert 1, Isabella Brown 11.
Abington Friends (37) – Christine Lahtaw 1, Ella Hawkins 5, Demi Sayles 20, Mayonna Smith 4, Milan Carr 7.
3-point goals: C – Paige Powell 2, Isabella Brown 2; AFS – Demi Sayles 2, Ella Hawkins.
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