PW and Wissahickon picked up wins on Wednesday night.
SOL American
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 47, UPPER DUBLIN 25
Looking for a word to describe a young PW squad in Wednesday’s conference showdown?
Fearless would fit the bill.
The Colonials came into Upper Dublin’s house and went on the attack at both ends of the court, taking the home team and its fans out of the game by the end of the first quarter.
Kaitlyn Flanagan talked about her team’s mindset heading into the game.
“The way I would describe it was hungry – we lost to them three times last year, so we really wanted to get in here and prove that we could beat them,” the Colonials’ sophomore point guard said.
The Flying Cardinals led 6-1 after back-to-back three-pointers by Jackie Vargas and Sarah Eskew. Freshman Erin Daley scored on a putback, and after a Cardinal miss, Flanagan scored. A foul shot by Flanagan knotted the score, and the Cardinals regained a 7-6 lead after Vargas sank 1-of-2 at the foul line with 2:55 remaining in the first period. A bucket by Jordyn Thomas down low gave the Colonials an 8-7 lead after one quarter.
The second quarter belonged to the Colonials. They led 12-7 after Anna McTamney and Thomas each buried a pair at the foul line. Gabby Cooper pulled down a UD miss and took it coast to coast for an easy bucket, prompting the Cardinals to call a timeout.
“We don’t want the pace of the game to slow down, especially when they got a couple kids in foul trouble,” PW coach Daniel Dougherty said. “We want the game to be high-paced. If that means we have to risk things defensively and offensively, then that’s what we’re going to do.
“Offensively, our kids are so talented – there’s no reason to stall the ball. We’re deep enough – seven, eight kids deep – to just keep playing.”
Not a whole lot changed after the Upper Dublin timeout.
McTamney picked off a pass and turned it into a layup at the other end, and after a Cardinal miss, McTamney buried a short baseline jumper. Daley connected on both ends of a one-and-one, and then came a play that summed up the Colonials effort when – after a Daley deflection on the defensive end – Cooper somehow saved the ball from crossing the end line, and Flanagan scored at the other end, capping a dazzling 22-1 run.
“When you press a team like Upper Dublin, they’re not going to turn the ball over on the inbounds play,” Dougherty said. “But you can start to find tendencies, and if you keep the same kids on the floor, you can read the passes, jump passing lanes.
“I think our kids did a good job of it. On deflections, we were the first kids to the ball, and that was the difference.”
With two minutes remaining in the half, Vargas connected on a three at the top of the circle, bringing an end to a scoring drought of close to nine minutes. The Colonials led 23-10 after a half that saw the Colonials get what they were looking for on the offensive end while the Cardinals struggled mightily.
“We really try to find the lanes in their zone, which they were sitting back in,” Flanagan said. “When we’re able to score, then we could get into our press, and our offense really feeds off our defense because we like to be high energy with that.
“The chemistry on and off the court – it affects our play definitely, so that really helps us feed off each other.”
A driving basket by Bliss Brenner to open the second half sparked a 9-2 UD run that included five points from Jess Polin and a bucket by Vargas down low that pulled the Cardinals to within six, 25-19.
Flanagan connected on a short pull-up, and the Colonials regained momentum – and a double-digit lead (30-19) – when freshman Abby Sharpe calmly buried 3-of-3 shots at the foul line with one second remaining in the third quarter.
The Colonials put an exclamation point on the win with a 17-6 fourth quarter that featured three consecutive possessions of Flanagan penetrating and dishing to a teammate.
“Kate is outstanding,” Dougherty said. “She is one of the best players around. She’s starting to believe in herself more, and she’s just so smart.
“Her basketball IQ is through the roof. She knows our offense inside and out, she knows Upper Dublin’s offense inside and out. She’s a joy to coach.”
Flanagan and Thomas both scored 10 points to lead the Colonials. Daley added nine points, McTameny had seven and Cooper had six.
For the Cardinals, Vargas had nine points.
UD coach Morgan Funsten tipped his hat to his opponent.
“PW is rolling,” the Cardinals’ coach said. “Right now with where we are as a team, tonight wasn’t a fluke. They’re just better than us right now.
“At this point, our girls are wrestling with the expectation of the season, and we need to stop thinking about that. We need to think about what’s in front of us. The bottom line is – right now PW is a better team than us. “
Funsten put the onus on himself to turn things around.
“It starts with me getting the girls in better positions mentally and in game situations to be better,” Funsten said. “Our girls have a track record of being able to respond to adversity, and that’s something I’m excited about, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the games.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (11-0, 5-0 SOL) will travel to Upper Moreland on Friday, and Upper Dublin (6-5, 3-2) will be on the road at Wissahickon.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8-15-7-17 47
Upper Dublin 7-3-9-6 25
Plymouth Whitemarsh (47) – Kaitlyn Flanagan 3 3-5 10; Abby Sharpe 0 3-3 3; Gabby Daley 3 3-4 9; Gabby Cooper 3 0-0 6; Anna McTamney 2 3-4 7; Jordyn Thomas 3 4-6 10; Deja Evans 1 0-0 2; Totals 15 16-22 47.
Upper Dublin (25) – Bliss Brenner 1 0-0 2; Brianna Felgoise 1 0-0 2; Jess Polin 2 0-0 5; Sarah Eskew 2 0-0 5; Dayna Balasa 1 0-0 2; Jackie Vargas 3 1-2 9; Totals 10 1-2 25.
3-point goals: PW – Kaitlyn Flanagan, UD – Jackie Vargas 2, Jess Polin, Sarah Eskey.
Non-league
WISSAHICKON 61, CHESTER 12
The outcome of Thursday’s non-league game was never in doubt as the Trojans opened up a 21-0 lead after one quarter over the visiting Clippers. By halftime, they led 39-9 as they coasted to the win.
Freshman Kaitlyn McGeary outscored the entire Clippers’ squad with her game-high 16 points. Anna Schools also finished in double figures with 14. Lauren Fadel added eight, and Lily Hyatt had seven.
Wissahickon (5-5, 2-3 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Friday.
Chester 0-9-1-2 12
Wissahickon 21-18-15-7 61
Chester (12) – Taylor 3, Pettiford 1, Smith 5, Bennett 3.
Wissahickon (61) – Lily Hyatt 7, Anna Schools 14, Leah Dubin 4, Kylie Freidman 5, Lauren Fadel 8, Kelly Prestipino 3, Marie Dreyer 2, Libby Kunzier 2, Kaitlyn McGeary 16.
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