Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Tuesday.
Non-league
HARRY S TRUMAN 75, QUAKERTOWN 70
After stepping away from basketball for two years, Kayla Becker opted to come back out for the team. The Tigers are glad she did. On a night that saw sophomore Haniyyah Jones and junior Daisha Campbell combine for 58 points, Becker’s numbers weren’t gaudy – she scored only nine points, but her presence loomed large down the stretch.
“I knew my team wanted to win really bad, so I had to put everything else aside and help them win,” Becker said. “We got our confidence up, and we took it to them.”
Becker turned a feed from Campbell into an easy bucket that put the Tigers on top 69-63, and after the Panthers – thanks to a Kimmy Best bucket – crawled back to within two, Becker scored on a putback. Moments later, the 6-0 junior forward pulled down a defensive rebound and found Jones, who raced the length of the court for a fast break bucket that put the Tigers back on top 73-67.
“She’s getting a feel for it,” coach Collette Munford said of Becker. “It’s the beginning of the season, and slowly but surely, it’s all coming back to her.”
The Panthers didn’t go down quietly. Best found freshman Laney Mitchell for a basket, and when Best sank one-of-two from the foul line, the Panthers trailed by just three with 21 seconds remaining in regulation. Jones all but sealed the Panthers’ fate when she scored at the other end.
“I have a headache,” Truman coach Collette Munford said. “They listen but they don’t listen, and we were able to pull it through.”
Early on, it looked as though the Panthers could be in for a long night when they fell behind 17-5. Munford called a timeout to stem the tide.
“I said to the girls, ‘We’re not closing out properly. You’re letting their girls catch it and go on the sideline. If you cut the sideline off and make them go in, your help is in,’” Munford said. “As soon as the timeout was over, we did that, and we flipped it.
“The next thing you know it was 19-19 and then we went up off of that. That quick we created at least five or six turnovers and we scored. That was the turning point in the game.”
“We had to tighten up our defense,” Becker said. “That’s the main thing (coach Munford) was telling us – tighten up the defense. Defense, defense, defense and just push.”
The game was a one-hour and 54-minute marathon as the two teams were unofficially whistled for a combined 43 fouls, resulting in 74 trips to the foul line. The Tigers were 24-of-44 from the charity stripe while the Panthers were 16-of-30. Four Quakertown players fouled out in a span of just over three minutes in the fourth quarter.
“It was wild,” Munford said. “I’m just glad we pulled it out because they killed our jayvee team, so I said, ‘You have to win it for them,’ so they did. Our jayvee is super young, and they’re literally learning.”
The Panthers were led by the 14-point effort of sophomore guard Kayla Horning. Sophomore Fallon Grandinetti added 10 points while sophomores Abigail McClaskey and Morgan Sipprell both had nine points. Freshman Laney Mitchell had seven points
Harry S Truman (2-2) will travel to Council Rock South for its SOL opener on Thursday. Quakertown (0-3) will be on the road at Central Bucks South for its opener Friday.
Harry S Truman 19-15-17-24 75
Quakertown 19-12-21-18 70
Harry S Truman (75) – Haniyyah Jones 32, Daisha Campbell 26, Hannah Smith 8, Kayla Becker 9.
Quakertown (70) – Bri Lefkoski 6, Kimmy Best 5, Laney Mitchell 7, Kayla Horning 14, Morgan Sipprell 9, Katie Offner 2, Emma Pizzullo 1, Abigail McClaskey 9, Alexis Miccuci 7, Fallon Grandinetti 10.
WILLIAM TENNENT 50, HATBORO-HORSHAM 44
Sparked by the 25-point effort of Haley Crossley, the Panthers notched a non-league win over the Hatters. They opened up a 16-9 lead after one quarter and added to that in the second, going on top 30-16 before the Hatters closed out the half with four unanswered points.
Despite increased pressure that allowed the Hatters to outscore their visitors 24-20 in the second half, they never could get any closer as the Panthers held on for the win.
“It was a great team win tonight, and I’m so proud of how our girls played,” Tennent coach Laura Whitney said. “We were coming off a tough loss to CR North, and to see them respond the way they did just shows that we are growing as a team
“I know that we will continue to improve and learn how to close out games better, but at this point in the season, I was very pleased with their effort. The fact that we were playing short-handed for the second straight game and so many of our girls lack varsity experience – they really stepped up to the challenge.
Erin Hart, according to the Panthers’ coach, was huge in the second half, scoring all nine of her points, grabbing five rebounds and knocking down two big shots late in the fourth quarter.
Crossley led all scorers with 25 points to go along with five rebounds and a steal. Chelsea Meltzer chipped in nine points, three rebounds and three steals. Jenna Rodebaugh added four points while Caitlin Somerville had three points and two assists.
For the Hatters, Kylie Halko’s 15-point effort led the way, and Emily Thomas also finished in double figures with 10 points. Alice Hall added eight points.
William Tennent (2-1) will travel to Pennridge for a non-league game Friday, and Hatboro-Horsham (1-2) will host Upper Dublin in its SOL opener on Thursday.
William Tennent 16-14-11-9 50
Hatboro-Horsham 9-11-13-11 44
William Tennent (50) – Caitlin Somerville 3, Chelsea Meltzer 9, Jenna Rodebaugh 4, Haley Crossley 25, Erin Hart 9.
Hatboro-Horsham (44) – Emily Thomas 10, Cam Ryan 2, Sydney Kemp 5, Logan Cummings 2, Kylie Halko 15, Maddie Throne 2, Alice Hall 8.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 47, WISSAHICKON 36
The Golden Hawks closed out the game with a 15-7 fourth quarter tear, turning a tenuous three-point lead into a nine-point win in Tuesday’s non-league contest.
“I’m really proud of how they’re playing together and executing,” Rock South coach Blair Klumpp said. “We challenged them to play defense and do the little things as their calling card, and they’re doing a great job of executing.
“That starts in practice. We have some things to clean up, but the attitude, energy and effort has been fantastic through three games.”
The Golden Hawks led 14-7 after one quarter and took a 22-18 lead into halftime.
“We missed opportunities,” Wissahickon coach Rodney Cline said. “We created turnovers, and we didn’t make them pay. We missed layups again, especially in the first quarter.
“We had 17 turnovers in the first half, and we were down by four going into halftime. We should have been tied. We ran a last-second play, and we missed a layup with about four seconds to go. They get a rebound, they throw up a shot, it goes in. Instead of being 20-20, it became 22-18. It should have been tied. It was a four-point swing. We play such good defense, and we don’t reward ourselves.”
Klumpp pointed to his team’s defensive stop at the end of the half as significant.
“We started out slow but really dug in on defense,” he said. “At the end of the first half, they made a run, but we got a stop. Bailey Vetter rebounded and made a great outlet (pass) to Nicole Blaustein, who hit a runner at the buzzer that gave us a lift going into halftime.”
It was a 32-29 game heading into a final quarter that saw the Golden Hawks close it out with a 15-7 run.
“In my three years on staff, every game versus them is back and forth and tightly contested except one last year when they weren’t at full strength,” Klumpp said. “Coach Kline does a really good job of having them play aggressive defensively while staying disciplined.”
Anna Schools led the Trojans with 16 points while Brianna Tilghman added seven and Lauren Fadel, six points.
“Their two leading scorers are good players,” Klumpp said. “Schools got going in the middle quarters a little bit. They took the lead in the third, but we really battled.
“We had great defensive execution and focus and did a great job on Brianna Tilghman, who’s a really good player at both ends of the floor that flies under the radar. Carley Irvin did a great job communicating where she was all night. Carley and Bailey Vetter kind of quarterback and lead our defense.”
Nicole Blaustein’s stellar 21-point effort led the Golden Hawks. She also had three steals. Hannah Binder added 19 points, two steals and a team-high seven rebounds.
Jenna Culp’s name didn’t show up in the boxscore, but the Golden Hawks’ coach lauded her effort, which included five rebounds and three steals.
“Jenna Culp had a really good game,” Klumpp said. “We talk about doing other things to impact the game – her defensive positioning was perfect, and she made several tough plays. She chipped in several other areas that helped us win.
“Irvin and (Nicole) Blaustein had two good run-outs in transition to kind of give us distance at the end. Hannah Binder again was in double-double range. She shot fouls great down the stretch (6-for-6 in the fourth quarter).”
Irvin led the defense with five steals, and she also had three assists. Bailey Vetter added a team-high four assists to go along with four steals. Madison Broaddus also had a pair of steals.
Council Rock South (2-1) will host Harry S Truman on Thursday in the SOL opener for both squads. Wissahickon (1-1) will travel to Plymouth Whitemarsh on Friday for its SOL opener.
Council Rock South 14-8-10-15 57
Wissahickon 7-11-11-7 36
Wissahickon (36) – Lily Hyatt 5, Anna Schools 16, Brianna Tilghman 7, Lauren Fadel 6, Rebecca Selverian 2.
Council Rock South (57) – Montanna Chambers 3, Carley Irvin 2, Nicole Blalustein 21, Bailey Vetter 2, Hannah Binder 19.
PENNSBURY 48, MASTERY CHARTER NORTH 27
The fun is back in basketball for the Falcons. Not only are they winning, they are having a whole lot of fun doing it. On Tuesday night, they played host to Mastery Charter. Coach Frank Sciolla added some interesting touches.
“It was a great atmosphere in the gym,” Sciolla said. “We had WBCB there – which for a girls’ game is something we don’t always have.
“We brought in a pep band, so we had the band during the game. We had a great strings group that did the National Anthem. It was a really good scene. It was filled on the two sides, so it was a good atmosphere for our girls. We only have one home game in December, so that’s a good experience. The next piece is we head to Council Rock North on Thursday.”
The Falcons trailed 8-7 after one quarter but outscored their visitors 13-6 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 30-14 lead. Ava Sciolla was a catalyst in the second quarter, scoring six of her team’s points. She had eight of her game-high 18 points in the first half. Kate Mix, who finished with 10 points, also had eight points in the half.
“We were not making shots,” Sciolla said. “We opened it up a little bit in the second quarter – we got out on the break.”
In the third quarter, the Falcons seized complete control of the game, erupting for 18 points while allowing just six to go on top 38-20.
“It was a really good defensive effort, limiting them to one shot,” Sciolla said. “Mastery is a team that’s had a lot of success. They’re always going to be a strong program. It was the first time we’ve been able to get a team like that in our gym, and I think that was cool for our middle school girls that were there.”
The Falcons outscored Mastery 26-13 in the second half. Sciolla’s 10 points led the way for the Falcons, who buried four three-pointers in the half. Sciolla had a pair.
“In the second half, we started to knock some shots down from the perimeter, and they had a difficult time against our defense,” Sciolla said. “They’re like us – their backcourt is a ninth and 10th grade type of a thing, so you’re going to have some ups and downs. They’ll win some games this year. They’ve got a really good ninth grader. We just did a really good job defensively.”
Pennsbury (3-0) will travel to Council Rock North for its SOL opener on Thursday at 5 p.m.
Mastery Charter North 8-6-6-7 27
Pennsbury 7-13-18-8 46
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 51, DOWNINGTOWN EAST 37
Sophomore Anna McTamney scored a career-high 18 points to lead the visiting Colonials, who led wire to wire.
“It was really a great win for such a young group of kids on our first road game,” coach Dan Dougherty said. “Our team defense was really solid. That was the difference. We didn’t allow them to get into the halfcourt sets, we just pressured them and converted the pressure into some easy baskets.
“All eight players that played scored tonight. It’s a very new team, and it’s very balanced. It’s the second game in a row where all of them scored. It was a great team win.”
The Cougars provide a formidable opponent with 6-5 center Bella Smuda patrolling the paint, but the Colonials negated the junior center.
“She’s a lot to handle and she blocks shots a lot,” Dougherty said. “We tried to attack her tonight and got her in a little foul trouble in the first half.
“Once she came out of the game, Anna (McTamney) really did a good job of continuing to attack and get to the basket.”
The Colonials opened up a 15-6 lead after one quarter and took a 25-13 lead into halftime. They extended that lead to 38-21 heading into the final frame.
Dougherty started three freshmen – Kate Flanagan, Jordyn Thomas and Lainey Allen, and the trio combined for 20 points. Flanagan finished with nine, Thomas had six, and Allen chipped in five. While Flanagan handles the point, Thomas and Allen give the Colonials a presence inside.
“Lainey is 6-2 and Jordyn is 6-0,” Dougherty said. “We started the three of them, and they really did a good job.
“Lainey and Jordyn did a good job handling (Smuda). We had one in front and one behind, and they did a good job of keeping her off the offensive glass. They pressed us, and a lot of times Kate (Flanagan) was able to dribble right past it and handled that pressure for us.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh (2-0) will host Wissahickon Friday in the SOL opener for both squads.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 15-10-13-13 51
Downingtown East 6-7-8-16 37
Plymouth Whitemarsh (51) – Ally Zolty 3, Kate Flanagan 9, Sydney Kesselman 3, Gabby Cooper 4, Anna McTamney 18, Lainey Allen 5, Jordyn Thomas 6, Lily Belle McGrorty 3.
SOUDERTON 58, COATESVILLE 53
Things didn’t look all that promising for the Indians, who trailed by eight (47-39) heading into the final quarter of Tuesday’s non-league game. The Indians not only scored 19 points – sparked by Megan Walbrandt’s clutch 6-for-7 effort at the foul line in the frame – they limited the visiting Raiders to just six.
"We scouted them, and they have a kid who is the read deal," coach Lynn Carroll said of sophomore Neveyah Chester. "She's big, solid, strong, she posts up, she hits three, she drives, so our focus was on her, and their point guard, Sarah Huston, who's also good.
"Our game plan was to make somebody else beat us. They hit eight threes in the first half, 10 for the game. Every starter hit a three by halftime. I still at halftime felt like we had to stick to that game plan because that kid had 20, 28 and 20 in the three games before they played us. We changed things up a little bit defensively in the fourth quarter, forced some turnovers.
"We were having a very difficult time finishing. Shots that we normally make we were not making. The more difficult it was to score, then everything else became more challenging."
Walbrandt, according to Carroll, set the tone at both ends of the court.
"Megan Walbrandt took over the game at both ends in the fourth quarter," the Indians' coach said. "She was determined to shut down Chester and really took her out of the game in the fourth quarter.
"As a team, we forced some turnovers, got some easy baskets, and then it come down to foul shots."
Mikaela Reese delivered a breakout performance for the Indians. The junior forward, who was 4-for-6 at the foul line, had a career high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds, two steals, two assists and three blocks.
"She's a kid who most years – at least as a sophomore – would have been getting a lot of (varsity) minutes, but obviously, she was playing behind college-level kids at her position," Carroll said. "I think she's going to have a really good year for us. She just has a knack for finding a way to get the ball in the basket. She has good instincts.
"Getting mostly minutes at the jayvee level the last two years, she is quickly learning and fitting right in offensively and defensively. I trust her a lot on both ends of the court. I think she's going to have games like this where she does a little bit of everything and a lot of some things. She's well rounded. She can post up, she can hit threes, she's a good defender. She pretty much has it all."
Walbrandt finished with 14 points, and Curran O’Donnell had 11. Olivia Schneider added eight points and Megan Bealer, seven.
The Indians, who trailed 35-33 at the intermission, scored just six points in the third quarter but came to life in the final period.
Souderton (2-1) will open SOL play on Thursday with a game at North Penn at 6:30 p.m.
Coatesville 18-17-12-6 53
Souderton 13-20-6-19 58
Coatesville (53) – Peoples 6, Huston 10, Ellzy 11, Chester 19, Brown 5, Lindner 2.
Souderton (58) – Megan Bealer 7, Olivia Schneider 8, Megan Walbrandt 14, Curran O’Donnell 11, Mikaela Reese 18.
LANSDALE CATHOLIC 71, PENNRIDGE 58
The Rams found themselves on the short end of a 33-25 score at halftime. They trimmed the Crusaders lead to five at the end of three quarter only to be outscored by their hosts 21-13 in the final period.
Four Ram players finished the game in double figures. Emilee Cramer led a balanced attack with 12 points, and Evelyn Loughery added 11. Julia Kreider and Ashley Gordon each had 10 points, and Sam Muredda added eight.
Pennridge (2-1) will host William Tennent in a non-league game on Friday.
Pennridge 14-11-20-13 58
Lansdale Catholic 16-17-17-21 71
Pennridge (58) – Corinn Mart 2, Sam Muredda 8, Sophie Cweiber 2, Julia Kreider 10, Evelyn Loughery 11, Ashley Gordon 10, Emilee Cramer 12, Jillian Coughlin 3.
LOWER MORELAND 36, UPPER MORELAND 27
The Golden Bears fell behind 12-5 after one quarter and spent the rest of the game trying to dig their way out of that early hole. They trailed 20-12 at halftime and then exchanged baskets with the Lions in the second half.
UM was led by the eight-point effort of Bean Hughes while Phoebe Longstreth added seven points.
Upper Moreland (2-1) will travel to Cheltenham on Friday for its SOL opener.
Upper Moreland 5-7-9-6 26
Lower Moreland 12-8-9-7 36
Upper Moreland (26) – Phoebe Longstreth 7, Kaiya Herb 3, Kaitie Opferman 3, Emma Meakim 4, AbbyEllen Wood 1, Bean Hughes 8, Hannah Finn 1.
Lower Moreland (36) – Lynch 6, Castor 13, Corduff 8, Malone 1, Morozin 4, Kennedy 4.
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