Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. NP/Carroll photos provided courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography…CLICK HERE to go directly to the GIRLS' BASKETBALL GALLERY.
NORTH PENN 44, ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 41
By Anissa Gardizy for SuburbanOneSports.com
The North Penn Knights are proving that although they lost three varsity starters, they are still tough a contender with depth on their bench. Archbishop Carroll (1-1) learned that firsthand when a less than stellar second quarter seemed to cost them the game.
Both the Knights and the Patriots started out steady. After a pretty back and forth first quarter, Archbishop Carroll led 11-10. Carroll’s senior Molly Masciantonio and junior Harlem Jennings led all scorers with five and four respectively, and North Penn put up their 10 between four shooters.
The first quarter was close, but the second was the exact opposite. Carroll didn’t score for the whole quarter, and North Penn put up nine points themselves. However, the second quarter shutout was not necessarily credited to the North Penn defense.
“You know what, I think there is something wrong with that basket,” joked North Penn Head Coach Maggie deMarteleire, “They had a lot of open shots, [but] they were missing layups and open threes.”
“We didn’t get any energy from our defense, so there was no energy on offense,” said Archbishop Carroll Head Coach Renie Shields.
After leading 19-11 at halftime, the Knights extended their momentum into the second half.
“I think we started out slow, but in the second half, we picked it up on defense. We didn’t let up,” said North Penn senior Jenny Hulmes.
Solid shooting and consistency at the foul line were also factors in North Penn’s 31-22 lead going into the final quarter.
Although trailing by nine, Carroll started the fourth quarter by reeling off seven unanswered points. Then both teams went back and forth on the line, racking up foul shot after foul shot. It just so happened that North Penn was freshly prepared to take their shots at the line.
“Yesterday we worked on pressured foul shots,” noted Hulmes.
In the fourth quarter, North Penn was 11-for-12 at the foul line and Carroll was 7-for-10. Overall, North Penn was 17-for-19 and Archbishop Carroll was 9-for-15.
“Everyone stepped up and made foul shots. That was big,” said coach deMarteleire.
Masciantonio racked up 11 points in the final quarter, including two threes, the second of which made it a 40-39 game with only thirty seconds on the clock. Despite the Patriots’ late burst of energy, North Penn’s freshman Alli Lindsay went to the foul line with three seconds left in the game secured the Knight’s 44-41 win.
“It was a great game in the fourth quarter, it's too bad we didn’t start it in the first quarter,” said coach Shields.
Although the Knights pulled out the win, they didn’t play one of their best games. In coach deMarteleire’s eyes, that is not necessarily such a bad thing.
“It’s a good sign when you are not playing your best and you beat a good team like that,” said coach deMarteleire, “We are further ahead than I thought we would be at this point.”
For the Patriots, Masciantonio led scores with 21, and for the Knights, Jenny Hulmes and Bri Hewlett both led with 10 points each.
North Penn (3-) will be facing Mt. St. Joseph in a non-conference game on Thursday at 5:30 pm on the road.
Archbishop Carroll 11-0-11-19 41
North Penn 10-9-12-13 44
Archbishop Carroll (4) – DeSimone 1, Dougherty 1, Sweeney 4, M.Masciantonio 21, Jennings 14.
North Penn (44) – Jenny Hulmes 10, Cayla Sharkey 4, Alli Lindsay 5, Alaina Mullaly 3, Kate Early 5, Carley Adams 3, Morgan Farrell 4, Bri Hewlett 10
North Penn (44) – Hulmes 10, Hewlett 10, Lindsay 5, Early 5, Sharkey 4, Farrell 4, Mullaly 3, Adams 3
WILLIAM TENNENT 54, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 50 (OT)
There are comebacks and then there are comebacks.
The visiting Panthers – who trailed 45-25 heading into the fourth quarter – had a comeback they’ll be talking about for a long, long time.
“I told the girls at the end of the third quarter that if we were going to make a push we needed to get stops on the defensive end and that we couldn’t trade baskets,” coach Laura Whitney said.
Whatever else the second-year coach told her players, it certainly struck a responsive chord as the Panthers closed out regulation with a 29-7 run, knotting the score and sending the game into overtime where they outscored the Hawks 4-0.
“We switched up our defense and were able to increase our pressure on the ball, and it turned out to change the momentum of the game,” Whitney said. “We capitalized on the turnovers and made big free throws down the stretch.
“I’m so proud of the fight our girls showed tonight. They just never gave up and kept playing. This is a game where if this was last year I don’t think we overcome the deficit, but tonight we showed a lot of maturity and that we have the mental toughness to win tough games.”
The Golden Hawks, who led 13-8 after one quarter, certainly appeared to have the upper hand, opening up a 29-14 halftime lead that got even larger in the third quarter.
“We just never got into any type of rhythm in the first half,” Whitney said. “We struggled on both ends of the floor.
“Offensively, we had too many unforced turnovers and only had one made field goal. Defensively, we weren’t getting back in transition, we gave up too many open shots and did an awful job on the boards.”
The Panthers, who were outscored 16-11 in the third quarter, showed signs of turning things around, but it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that everything came together.
Haley Crossley led the Panthers with 23 points. Emma Stanfield had 14 and Kelly Scipione added nine.
William Tennent (2-0) will host Council Rock North in the rescheduled title game of its own tournament on Thursday at 6 p.m. Council Rock South (2-1) will host Central Bucks East on Friday at 7 p.m.
William Tennent 8-6-11-25-4 54
Council Rock South 13-16-16-7-0 50
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 48, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 42
The Indians turned a three-point halftime deficit into a 32-22 lead, outscoring the visiting Titans 16-3 in the third quarter. The Titans turned the tables on their hosts in the fourth quarter, closing out the game with a dazzling 26-point quarter.
It was especially impressive for a squad that scored 30 and 35 points in its two wins.
“We got ourselves in a lot of foul trouble early in the game, and we came out at halftime, and we just weren’t really that aggressive and scored three points in the third quarter,” coach Beth Mattern said. “Council Rock came out, and they drew some more fouls on us, and they took the lead.
“Between the third and fourth quarters, we told them, ‘Just go out and play. What do we want out of this game? We can either shut down because we’re in foul trouble, or we’re going to go out and play. If you foul out, you foul out, and next person up. We’re just going to keep fighting.’
“They decided they wanted to fight. We got much more aggressive on the offensive end. We converted some shots. That was what we needed. We ended up scoring 26 points, and in the first two games, we barely scored in the 30s.”
Junior point guard Alexa Brodie was a catalyst in the quarter, scoring 11 of her game-high 20 points in the final frame.
“Alexa was attacking, we got some transition, we got some turnovers because we were in a situation where we had to press and put pressure on them,” Mattern said. “We did a nice job converting. I was just happy to see them be more aggressive and attack more rather than be passive on offense. I thought we were too passive in the third quarter. I felt like in the fourth quarter we just went out and played and let things happen.”
Mackenzie Ehresman, who finished with 11 points, scored six points in the final quarter. Haley Meinel also had six points in the frame, and if there was a play that turned the tide, it came, according to Mattern, when Meinel converted a three-point play after scoring on a drive to the basket.
“ I thought Haley’s and-one was a huge turning point because she hadn’t really been scoring, and she’d been in a lot of foul trouble and sat a lot,” the Titans’ coach said. “When Haley finished, everyone was really into it because that’s how we wanted to play. To me, that was a big moment.”
Sparking the Indians in their third quarter surge was Dana Bandurick, who scored nine of her team-high 11 points in the frame. Mackenzie Tinner scored eight of her 14 points in the second half. Both had big nights for the Indians. In addition to leading the Indians in scoring, Bandurick had nine rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Tinner finished with an impressive double-double – 12 rebounds and 14 points. Becca Margolis added 11 points.
The two teams were whistled for a combined 42 fouls that resulted in 51 foul shots. South – led by Brodie’s 8-of-10 – connected on 18-of-24 from the charity stripe. CR North converted 20-of-27 with Margolis (8-of-10), Bandurick (7-of-11) and Tinner (4-of-4) leading the way.
Central Bucks South (3-0) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh in a non-league contest on Friday, and Council Rock North (1-1) will travel to William Tennent on Thursday for the 6 p.m. title game of the William Tennent Tipoff Tournament that was postponed on Saturday night because of snowy conditions.
Central Bucks South 7-12-3-26 48
Council Rock North 5-11-16-10 42
Central Bucks South (48) – Lindsay Scott 4, Haley Meinel 8, Natalie DiSandro 1, Alexa Brodie 20, Maddie McShane 4, Mackenzie Ehresman 11.
Council Rock North (42) – Becca Margolis 11, Juliana Shields 1, Dana Bandurick 16, Mackenzie Tinner 14.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 44, PERKIOMEN VALLEY 33
Bailey McManus was on some kind of roll.
The Patriots’ senior point guard converted a layup off the opening tap. On her team’s next possession, she buried a jumper in the lane, and the Patriots were off and running.
McManus led all scorers with 23 points, which included five 3-pointers.
“We know she can score, and Bailey was on fire the entire game,” coach Liz Potash said.
McManus ignited the Patriots with 11 first-quarter points, propelling East to a 13-6 lead after one quarter. By halftime, McManus had 19 points, and the Patriots led 26-16. East took a 39-26 lead into the fourth quarter. The Vikings never threatened.
“We kept waiting for them to make a run,” Potash said. “Every time they hit a shot, we would answer.
“The girls played well. Everyone contributed. It was nice.”
Also for East, Sophia Mancuso contributed eight points, six rebounds and six assists, and Caroline Pla had five points and four steals.
Another key for the Patriots was their ability to contain the Vikings’ bigs, Megan Jonassen (13 points) and Taylor Hamm (11 points).
“They’re tough because Hamm and Jonassen are really nice players inside, and we don’t necessarily have that much size to match up with them, but we contained them and did what we had to do,” Potash said. “Defensively, we only gave up 33 points, but we definitely struggled boxing them out.
“They got more offensive rebounds than we would have liked them to, but defensively, we were all over the place. We ended up with 18 deflections on the night, which was huge – that’s a big stat that we track, so we were getting our hands on a lot of different balls.”
Tuesday’s win came on the heels of back-to-back losses to Neshaminy and Upper Dublin.
“We knew our first three games of the year were tough games,” Potash said. “We honestly felt like we could win one of those two games this weekend, but we didn’t.
“We had a tough practice yesterday, and we were pretty hard on the girls. We keep saying to them, ‘You have two choices – you can either be the team that everyone thinks you are that graduated seven players and lost four starters, or you can find out what your own identity is and make your own season.’
“That was obviously a struggle for us this weekend because Bailey (McManus) is the only one that has really big-time varsity experience. Soph (Mancuso) and Gina (Russo) got a little bit last year, and we’re playing two juniors who have zero varsity experience. We figure it will take a little bit of time to get our legs under us, but hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Central Bucks East (1-2) will be on the road at Council Rock South on Friday.
Perk Valley 6-10-10-7 33
Central Bucks East 13-13-13-5 44
CB East (44) – Sophia Mancuso 8, Mia Salvati 2, Carolina Pla 5, Audrey LaBouliere 2, Bailey McManus 23, Elyse Shine 4.
Perk Valley (33) – Marinacci 2, Hurd 2, Owens 3, Moore 2, Jonassen 13, Hamm 11.
UPPER DUBLIN 48, BISHOP SHANAHAN 34
With the final seconds of the third quarter ticking off the scoreboard clock, Meg Barbera threw up a prayer from well beyond the midcourt stripe that hit nothing but net. Talk about a momentum swing – this was it.
“(Shanahan) made a shot off of an out-of-bounds play with maybe four seconds to go in the third quarter to tie the game 28-28,” coach Morgan Funsten said. “Meg Barbera took two dribbles, shot it from 10 feet behind the half court line and swished it at the buzzer.
“Instead of a tie game going into the fourth quarter with them having momentum, the momentum swung our way, and we outscored them 17-6 in the fourth quarter, so if there was one turning point, it was that. Meg made a great play of being aware of how much time was left. It’s something we’re trying to improve on. We don’t ever want the buzzer to go off without getting a shot off. It’s something we’ve focused on, and it looked like it paid off there.”
Dayna Balasa’s six points on a pair of 3-pointers led the Cards in the fourth quarter.
“In the first half, we jumped out to a nice little lead, and they just wouldn’t go away,” Funston said. “They were doing a pretty nice job on Jackie Vargas.
“She had seven points in the first half, but they were really hounding her. We were getting some great shots on the perimeter, and they just weren’t falling. In the second half, those outside shots did fall. We felt like we were getting good shots all night, and they fell in the second half.”
While none loomed larger than Barbera’s, Jess Polin had three huge 3-pointers of her own in the second half and scored all 10 of her points after the intermission.
“Jess Polin stepped up again,” Funston said. “She strung together back-to-back games and just really giving us great scoring.”
Tuesday’s win marked the return of Nicole Kaiser to the lineup. She finished with seven points and three rebounds in limited action.
“She was not 100 percent – she could only play half of each quarter,” Funston said. “For her first time back, she looked pretty good. It was nice to have her back out there.”
Vargas led a balanced Cardinal attack with 12 points to go along with six rebounds, three steals and three blocks. In addition to scoring 10 points, Polin also had three steals. Maggie Weglos added seven points, four assists and four rebounds.
“From Upper Dublin to Bishop Shanahan is a long bus ride, and we played in the first half like it was a long bus ride,” said Funston, whose team led 17-16 at the intermission. “The first two possessions offensively were perfect for us.
“We got exactly what we wanted. We got a basket, and I don’t know if we then relaxed for the rest of the first half or we thought it was going to be easy. Defensively, we were not great, but in the fourth quarter, we were. The combination of that and making shots really kind of put us over the top.”
Upper Dublin (2-1) will host North Penn on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Upper Dublin 7-10-14-17 48
Bishop Shanahan 6-10-12-6 34
Upper Dublin (48) – Meg Barbera 5, Nicole Kaiser 7, Jess Polin 10, Sarah Eskew 1, Maggie Weglos 7, Dayna Balasa 6, Jackie Vargas 12.
Bishop Shanhan (34) – Abby Bailey 2, Clare Marchese 9, Megan Cox 1, Sammie McCarter 12, Kelly Greenhut 1, Kathryn Greenhut 9.
SOUDERTON 54, METHACTON 28
Megan Walbrandt had a breakout performance for the Indians, exploding for a career-high 22 points that included a pair of 3-pointers and a 2-for-2 effort at the foul line.
"Megan played great," coach Lynn Carroll said. "She was a little bit limited over the weekend with an ankle injury, so it was nice to have her back at full strength.
"She was attacking the basket well, hit a coupl of threes and consistentlly got out in transition to get some easy baskets."
Fellow junior Megan Bealer added 15 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Kate Connolly scored just three points but played a key role in the win, dominating the paint with 13 rebounds, three blocked shots and three assists. Alana Cardona added seven points.
In a marked contrast to their first two games that saw the Indians rally from five-point halftime deficits to earn the wins, they owned this one from start to finish, roaring out of the gate to a 20-5 lead after one quarter and upping that advantage to 34-12 by halftime. The Warriors never threatened.
Souderton (3-0) will travel to Abington for a non-league contest on Thursday.
Methacton (28) – Tornetta 11, Pellicano 2, Pennypacker 4, Zeroes 6, Penjuke 5.
Souderton (54) – Tori Dowd 1, Megan Bealer 15, Alana Cardona 7, Megan Walbrandt 22, Erica Stephens 2, Curran O’Donnell 2, Megan O’Donnell 2, Kate Connolly 3.
CHELTENHAM 66, GEORGE WASHINGTON 17
The Lady Panthers, who trailed 10-9 at the end of one quarter, limited their visitors to just seven points over the next three quarters on their way to the lopsided win.
Savannah Roberts sparked the Lady Panthers, scoring 10 of her game-high 20 points in a second quarter that saw Cheltenham outscore George Washington 22-1 en route to a 31-11 halftime lead.
Included in Roberts’ 20 points were four 3-pointers. Courtney Murray added nine points while Cashmear Moore and Kelia Holmes both contributed seven points for the Lady Panthers, who had eight 3-pointers on the day.
Cheltenham (2-0) will travel to Collegium Charter for a non-league game next Monday.
George Washington 10-1-2-4 17
Cheltenham 9-22-23-12 66
George Washington (17) – Ireland Smith 3, Isabella Vasquez 14.
Cheltenham (66) – Savannah Roberts 20, Taylor Johnson 3, Tamara Choitz 2, Courtney Murray 9, Madison Rorer 3, Cashmear Moore 7, Kelia Holmes 7, Kai Williams 5.
PENNSBURY 51, CONWELL-EGAN 10
Mary Miller and Kate Mix combined for 27 points to lead the Falcons to a rout of the visiting Eagles.
The Falcons led by double digits at the end of one quarter (12-2) and took a 27-3 lead into halftime. Miller, who led the Falcons with 15 points, scored six points in the first quarter and added a perfect 4-for-4 effort at the foul line in the second to go into halftime with 10 points. Mix – who had three 3-pointers – had nine first-half points.
Also for the Falcons, Cami Wiegand added nine points, and Sydney Buell had eight.
Pennsbury (2-1) will be on the road at Bishop McDevitt for a non-league game on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Conwell-Egan 2-1-5-2 10
Pennsbury 12-15-8-16 51
Pennsbury (51) – Bella Arcuri 5, Kate Mix 12, Mary Miller 15, Sydney Buell 8, Cami Wiegand 9, Skyler Sulby 2.
Conwell-Egan (10) – Taylor Bussey 2, Lex Mitchem 1, Lex Hyska 2, Kaylee Seslar 5.
UPPER PERKIOMEN 30, QUAKERTOWN 26
The Panthers, who trailed by three after one quarter, outscored the host Indians 6-3 in the second quarter to go into halftime deadlocked 8-8. The difference in Tuesday’s game was a third quarter that saw the Tribe outscore their visitors 10-6. Both teams scored 12 points in the final frame.
Hannah LaBonge led the Panthers with eight points, and Veronica Best added six.
Quakertown (0-2) will be on the road at Pennridge for a 5 p.m. contest on Friday.
Quakertown 2-6-6-12 26
Upper Perk 5-3-10-12 30
Quakertown (26) – Samantha Howard 5, Maggie Garlick 4, Veronica Best 6, Brianna Leftkowski 3, Hannah LaBonge 8.
Upper Perk (30) – Ayden Pigeon 2, Kaitlyn Mundy 12, Kelsey Beinhart 2, Sierra Kelly 14.
LANSDALE CATHOLIC 54, PENNRIDGE 48 (OT)
LC outscored the host Rams 10-4 in overtime to escape with the non-league win on Tuesday.
The Rams were hoping for a happier ending when they took a 25-20 lead into halftime, but the Crusaders erased that advantage with a 13-7 third quarter surge. Regulation ended with the two teams deadlocked.
Brooke Bachtle led the Rams with 18 points. Rose McCormick added nine points, and Gill Anderson had eight.
Pennridge (1-2) will host Quakertown in a non-league game on Friday at 5 p.m.
Lansdale Catholic 12-8-13-11-10 54
Pennridge 15-10-7-12-4 48
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 43, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 32
The visiting Lions opened up a 16-9 lead after one quarter only to watch the Spartans trim that advantage to 21-17 by halftime.
“We haven’t done a lot of zone defense at practice because of time limitations,” coach Dave Giordano said. “We went a little zone in the second quarter, and we did pretty well. Defensively, we held our own until halftime.”
The Lions outscored their hosts 12-4 in the third quarter to go on top 33-21 lead. The Spartans outscored their visitors by one in the fourth quarter.
“In the fourth quarter when we had to press, they executed fairly well for not having a lot of time with the new system,” Giordano said.
Springfield (1-2) will host Hatboro-Horsham next Tuesday for the SOL American Conference opener for both squads.
New Hope-Solebury 16-5-12-10 43
Springfield 9-8-4-11 32
New Hope-Solebury (43) – Sabrina Vlahovich 4, Rachel Saxton 11, Sarah Wilson 9, Kate Dougherty 9, Ives 3, Jordyn Sherman 5, Herbert 2.
Springfield (32) – Kim West 2, Grace Barraclough 10, Mary Kate Smith 7, Reileigh Serroni 7, Brielle Pratt 6.
LOWER MORELAND 43, HATBORO-HORSHAM 22
Only three players contributed scoring for the Hatters in Tuesday’s non-league loss to the visiting Lions. Junior Maddie Throne led the way with 10 points while Kylie Halko added eight.
Hatboro-Horsham (0-3) will travel to Agnes Irwin on Wednesday for a 4:15 p.m. contest.
Lower Moreland (43) – Davis 6, Malone 5, Castor 6, Krutsinger 4, Corduff 7, Amit 2, Morozon 3, Lynch 8, McGarry 2.
Hatboro-Horsham (22) – Cam Ryan 4, Kylie Halko 8, Maddie Throne 10.
POTTSTOWN 52, HARRY S TRUMAN 42
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