Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Tuesday.'
National Conference
NESHAMINY 54, ABINGTON 42
The Redskins pulled off the stunner of the young season, upsetting the defending conference champion Ghosts. Abington was ranked seventh in the latest Penn Live/Harrisburg Patriot News Class AAAA rankings and was coming off a strong showing in the She Got Game Classic in Washington, D.C.
“It was pretty exciting,” coach Joe Lally said. “I don’t know where they were ranked in the state, but obviously, they’re a very good basketball team.”
Four Neshaminy players finished in double figures. Leading the way were senior captains Devon Storm and Morgan Goldenbaum – both finished with double-doubles. Storm had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Goldenbaum, 10 points and 11 rebounds. Storm was 8-for-11 from the foul line. Senior Tiara Porterfield added 11.
“We have had a lot of great freshman play, and we had great freshman play tonight from Allison Harvey and Brooke Mullin,” Lally said. “You look at the senior leadership from Morgan and Tiara, who scored 11, and getting Devon back (from an injury) for 15 and 11 is just huge.”
Brooke Mullin finished with 10 points while Allison Harvey added eight.
According to Lally, the story of the game was the Redskins’ defense.
“I think we defended really well,” the Redskins’ coach said. “We were able to give them a little trouble with their high-low offense, and they were forced to take a lot of perimeter jump shots. I think we also contested them well too. I thought all night we played very good defense.”
The Redskins established the tone early, outscoring their visitors 12-6 in the opening quarter. By halftime they had a 29-16 lead, and the ‘Skins all but played the Ghosts even in the second half to maintain their double-digit lead.
“Any time you can get a win like that, it’s a great win, but we pretty much put it in check right after the game,” Lally said. “Enjoy the moment, but we have a tough William Tennent team coming in next – don’t take anything for granted. Just keep playing hard.”
Lally pointed to his team’s three non-league games against Central Bucks East, Central Bucks South and Central Bucks West as significant even though his squad lost all three.
“I think it really helped,” he said. “Whether that was going to be a good thing or a bad thing – I think tonight it proved to be a good thing. Where we couldn’t get over the hump against those teams, we got over the hump tonight.
“Big credit to all the girls because when you lose three tough games to start the season and then you play a really good team like Abington, it would be easy to put your head between your legs and cower away from the tough schedule. They showed up tonight. I’m really proud of them. They did a great job.”
Abington was led by the double-digit performances of Sam Brusha (12 points) and Sammy Lochner (10 points). Lizzie O’Leary added seven.
“Neshaminy outplayed us from start to finish in every aspect of the game,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “They wanted it more, and it showed.”
Neshaminy (3-3, 2-0 SOL) will host William Tennent on Thursday, and Abington (2-3, 1-1) will host Council Rock South on Friday.
Abington 6-10-10-16 42
Neshaminy 12-17-9-16 54
Abington: Britney James 5, Sammy Lochner 10, Lizzie O’Leary 7, Leah Simmons 2, Sam Brusha 12, Miranda Liebtage 3, Kassondra Brown 1.
Neshaminy: Morgan Goldenbaum 10, Tiara Porterfield 11, Devon Storm 15, Allison Harvey 8, Brooke Mullin 10.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 55, BENSALEM 39
The Golden Hawks blew open a close game with a 23-5 third quarter scoring burst, turning a 15-14 halftime advantage into a 38-12 lead.
Payton Spadaccino led all scorers with 18 points. Caroline McGovern and Faith Turner both added eight points while Christiana Deo had six.
For the Owls, Savannah Jordan led the way with 16 points while Destiny Rogers added 10 and Samantha Werth, nine points.
Council Rock South (4-1, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Abington on Friday night. Bensalem (2-3, 0-2) will host Pennsbury.
Bensalem 7-7-5-20 39
Council Rock South 5-10-23-17 55
Bensalem: Destiny Rogers 10, Samantha Werth 9, Savannah Jordan 16, Alayna McSeed 4.
Council Rock South: Caroline McGovern 8, Payton Spadaccino 18, Carly Rizzo 3, Emma Jones 2, Kasey Schlupp 5, Rachel Millstein 5, Faith Turner 8, Christiana Deo 6.
WILLIAM TENNENT 56, HARRY S TRUMAN 36
Kyla Gibson scored 22 points while teammates Braylin Dougherty and Sarah Richie both added eight to lead the Panthers’ attack in Tuesday’s win. Brianna Broccardi contributed eight points, and Kelly Scipione, five.
Gibson jumpstarted the Panthers with seven points in the first quarter. Dougherty and Richie both added five as the Panthers opened up a 19-12 lead. They took a 29-16 lead into halftime. Gibson’s eight points sparked the Panthers in the third quarter as they outscored their visitors in all four quarters.
Sabria Lytes was the only Truman player in double figures with 10. Daeja Moore added six.
William Tennent (4-1, 1-1 SOL) will travel to Neshaminy on Thursday, and Truman (2-3, 0-2) will be on the road at Council Rock North on Friday.
Harry S Truman 12-4-11-9 36
William Tennent 19-10-13-14 56
Harry S Truman: Darnella McMillan 3, Daeja Moore 6, Jayda Campbell 5, Maylissa Clarke 5, Alexis McCoy 5, Sabria Lytes 10, B.Cliney 2.
William Tennent: Braylin Dougherty 10, Kelly Scipione 6, Kyla Gibson 22, Sarah Richie 10, Brianna Broccardi 8.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 39, PENNSBURY 31
The Falcons sprinted to an 11-4 lead over the visiting Indians, who rallied to go into halftime with a 17-15 lead. The Indians outscored the Falcons 12-3 in the third quarter to extend their lead to 29-18 before the Falcons used a 13-10 fourth quarter to trim the Indians’ final margin of victory to eight.
Pennsbury’s Sydney Buell was the lone player in double figures, finishing with 10 points. Kate Mix added nine points and Niasia Boone, eight.
For the Indians Becca Margolis had nine points, which included a 7-for-9 effort at the foul line. Mackenzie Tinner contributed eight points, and Dana Bandurick, six points.
Council Rock North (2-2, 2-0 SOL) will host Harry S Truman on Friday, and Pennsbury (0-5, 0-2) will be on the road at Bensalem.
Council Rock North 4-13-12-10 39
Pennsbury 11-4-3-13 31
Council Rock North: Becca Margolis 9, Camryn Polinsky 5, Tara McGuigan 1, Kaelin Mealey 4, Dana Bandurick 6, Samantha Saifer 2, Mackenzie Tinner 8, Hannah Weiler 4.
Pennsbury: Abby Wick 2, Niasia Boone 8, Mackenzie McGill 2, Kate Mix 9, Sydney Buell 10.
Continental Conference
SOUDERTON 33, QUAKERTOWN 31
The Indians needed some late-game heroics to eke out a win over the pesky Panthers. Souderton led 10-7 after one quarter and took a 17-15 lead into halftime. The Panthers responded with an 11-6 third quarter to go into the final frame with a 26-23 lead before the Indians staged a comeback.
The Indians – who did not have a field goal in the fourth quarter and managed only two in the second half – won it at the foul line.
“We couldn’t have shot worse,” said coach Lynn Carroll, whose team was 2-for-18 from the field in the second half. “Some of that was shot selection, but certainly a lot of it was Quakertown.
“Quakertown did a nice job defensively, but they were shots you just expect would go in and they weren’t. Krista (Schneider) did a really nice job in the fourth quarter getting to the basket and getting fouled.”
With her team on top by just one midway through the final quarter, Carroll elected to deviate from her usual coaching philosophy.
“I never, ever do this, but the way we were shooting and executing defensively, we started to stall with four minutes left,” Carroll said.
The Indians connected on 10-of-13 from the charity stripe in the final quarter. Alana Cardona was 6-for-6 while Schneider was 4-for-6.
“Quakertown had opportunities at the end,” Carroll said. “We were up four at one point, and they went down and scored.
“They pressed us, we turned the ball over, and they took a shot and got at least three offensive rebounds. I would say they had four opportunities to tie the game. The ball kind of bounced around the rim, and you didn’t know what was going to happen. With less than two seconds left, it was a jump ball on a rebound – our ball, and the game was over.”
Cardona led the Indians with a double-double, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Schneider added 10 points.
Quakertown’s Jill Martin led all scorers with 16 points.
“Martin played great for them,” Carroll said. “She really played well. She was disrupting everything.
“When we tried to go to the basket, she blocked everything. We tried to limit (Meghan) Klee as much as we could. Krista was on her and did a nice job, but Martin played great. Brittany (Remmey) is doing a really nice job. In the three years she’s been there, she’s done a lot of good.”
Souderton (3-2, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West on Friday while Quakertown (1-4, 0-2) will be on the road at North Penn.
Souderton 10-7-6-10 33
Quakertown 7-8-11-5 31
Souderton: Tori Dowd 3, Krista Schneider 10, Alana Cardona 12, Megan Walbrandt 2, Mia Sherer 4, Marissa Sandone 2.
Quakertown: Brooke Alwine 5, Joelle Simeau 1, Olivia Morano 4, Marina Cooke 3, Meghan Klee 2, Jill Martin 16
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 51, PENNRIDGE 37
The Bucks may have a lot of new faces in their lineup, but so far, the results have been the same. The defending league and district champions blew open a close game in the second half, rolling to their fourth win without a loss.
West led 13-11 after one quarter and took a 28-24 lead into halftime. The Bucks came out of halftime and outscored their hosts 13-6 in the third quarter to go on top 41-30 and capped the game with a 10-7 fourth quarter.
Senior Makenzie Mason led a balanced attack with 13 points to go along with six rebounds, two steals and five blocked shots. Abby Spratt added eight points, and Alex Burkauskas added seven points, five rebounds, two steals and two assists. Maggie Rakowsky contributed six points and four rebounds. Maddie Maio (five points, four rebounds) and Tracy Bailey (five points, four rebounds) also made contributions.
Devan Rimmer led the Lady Rams with 12 points, three assists and two steals. Lydia Konstanzer added eight points, 14 rebounds and three steals while Sam Muredda added seven points and four rebounds. Brooke Bachtle had six points and seven rebounds.
Central Bucks West (4-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Souderton on Friday night while Pennridge (3-2, 0-2) will be on the road at Central Bucks South.
Central Bucks West 13-15-13-10 51
Pennridge 11-13-6-7 37
Central Bucks West: Makenzie Mason 13, Maggie Rakowsky 6, Tori Abelson 4, Abby Spratt 8, Alex Burkauskas 7, Bailey Tracy 4, Izzy Treon 2, Molly Rodenbach 2, Maddie Maio 5.
NORTH PENN 55, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 25
The Lady Knights exploded for 32 points in the first half of Tuesday’s conference showdown while the Patriots couldn’t find the hoop, scoring just five.
Interestingly, the two teams were deadlocked 2-2 with 2:41 remaining in the first quarter.
“Then all of a sudden we just exploded,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “We scored 11 points in the last 2:41.
“CB East missed a lot of shots. I felt like it was us against Perk Valley – they just missed a lot of shots. I don’t even know if they hit a perimeter shot in the first half. They just struggled shooting, and then our kids started to play better and better.”
The Lady Knights owned the backboards, allowing the Patriots just three offensive rebounds in the game. Mikaela Giuliani pulled down 15 rebounds to go along with eight points.
“We did a really good job rebounding,” deMarteleire said. “My kids were very unselfish, and everyone contributed.
“We do have a lot of kids that can score. On any given night, any one of my top seven can score in double digits, which is something I don’t know if I’ve really had as a coach ever.”
Jess Huber led a balanced North Penn attack with 14 points while Irisa Ye and Bri Hewlett each added nine points. Mia Melchior added eight points, and Sam Carangi had six.
For the Patriots, Bri Talbot had eight points.
North Penn (5-2, 2-0 SOL) will host Quakertown on Friday while Central Bucks East (4-1, 1-1) will host Hatboro-Horsham.
Central Bucks East 3-2-11-9 25
North Penn 13-19-17-6 55
Central Bucks East: Megan Lapioli 1, Bridget Birkhead 5, Kyra Scaliti 3, Bri Talbot 8, Abby Charlton 4, Mel Wetzel 4.
North Penn: Irisa Ye 9, Mikaela Giuliani 8, Jess Huber 14, Bri Hewlett 9, Sam Carangi 6, Jess McKenzie 1, Mia Melchior 8.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 62, HATBORO-HORSHAM 33
The Hatters led 9-6 after one quarter, but the Titans exploded for 18 points in the second quarter and took a 24-14 lead into halftime. They outscored their hosts 22-8 in the third quarter on their way to the big win.
Jordan Vitelli led a balanced Titan attack with 15 points, and Haley Meinel had eight. Alexa Brodie, Melissa Veal and Mackenzie Ehresman each added six points.
For the Hatters, Haley Seifert (13 points) and Cassidy Quattro (11 points) led the way.
Central Bucks South (4-1, 1-1 SOL) will host Pennridge on Friday, and Hatboro-Horsham (2-3, 0-2) will travel to Central Bucks East.
Central Bucks South 6-18-22-16 62
Hatboro-Horsham 9-5-8-11 33
Central Bucks South: Jordan Vitelli 15, Alexa Brodie 6, Taylor Dunn 5, Chloe Entenberg 4, Melissa Veal 6, Meghan Kuypers 6, Haley Meinel 8, Mackenzie Ehresman 6, Madeleine McShane 2.
Hatboro-Horsham: Haley Seifert 13, Cassidy Quattro 11, Julia Thornton 4, Bergen Sims 2, Kylie Halko 2.
American Conference
UPPER DUBLIN 42, CHELTENHAM 39
It’s a good thing for the Flying Cardinals Josie Barrett had a hot hand.
The junior sharpshooter buried a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining in a tie ball game only to see it waved off because her coach had called a timeout.
“We had the ball with about 45 seconds to go, and I thought we were holding for the last shot,” coach Morgan Funsten said. “Right about 15 seconds I wanted to draw something up, so I call timeout.
“As I called timeout, on the other side of the court, Josie had another idea to shoot a three and made it. The ref on that side didn’t hear me call a timeout, so he had his hands up for a three, and the ref on my side obviously heard me call a timeout.
“After I apologized to Josie in the huddle, then we drew a play up for her. They switched defenses to a zone. (Allison) Chernow penetrated the zone with about five seconds to go, and the attention teams pay to Allison, especially when they’re in a zone and Allison penetrates – she had her head up and found Josie in the corner. There was nobody within 15 feet of Josie. She hit nothing but net. The buzzer rang right after, and we escaped.”
The game winner put the finishing touches on a dazzling shooting display by Barrett, who connected on 5-of-6 from beyond the arc and finished with a game-high 18 points.
“She carried us offensively tonight,” Funsten said. “Allison Chernow had nine assists, and although Josie carried us scoring-wise offensively, Allison did a great job of finding girls. You could argue that Allison should have had 15 assists if we’re making shots.
“I continue to say we’re a good shooting team. Maybe I’m wrong because we’re struggling, but I think as the year goes on, the ceiling is very high on this team. I don’t think we’re playing our best right now.”
Another key to the win was the Cardinals’ ability to contain Ashley Jones, who had eight points in the first quarter and 12 in the first half but scored just four in the second half for 16 points.
“When you think you’re in Ashley Jones’ bubble – you think she’s uncomfortable, but she’s not,” Funsten said. “You really need to get in her space because in the first quarter she had back-to-back pull-up threes from deep.
“Against anybody else we play the entire season, it’s good defense, but with her, you have to re-write the rules of what good defense is.”
The Flying Cardinals found themselves in serious foul trouble much of the night.
“Chernow picked up her third in the second quarter,” Funsten said. “Maggie Weglos picked up her third in the second quarter and picked up her fourth a minute into the third quarter. Chernow picked up her fourth halfway through the fourth quarter.
“Those are our only two options to play Jones. That’s what Jones does – she draws fouls, she does it all.”
Weglos sat the remainder of the third quarter, but Funsten elected to keep Chernow on the court.
“She needed to play the rest of the game and absolutely could not foul, and she successfully did that,” the Flying Cardinals’ coach said. “It was a total team win.
“Everybody contributed in their own way.”
The two teams battled to a 12-12 tie after one quarter, and the Flying Cardinals took a 26-24 lead into halftime. They went ice cold from the floor in the third quarter.
“We got down seven late in the third quarter,” said Funsten, whose team misfired on its first 10 shots of the quarter. “I’m not lying when I say we got really good shots, but nothing was falling.
“It was almost like what more can we do? We were getting good shots, and when you start trying harder shooting the ball, that’s not a good thing. It usually makes it worse. It’s not an effort thing. It just wasn’t our night again.”
Nicole Kaiser sank a pair of foul shots late in the third quarter, and Barrett buried a three to make it a 33-31 game heading into the final quarter.
“That gave us a little momentum,” Funsten said. “We tied it up a couple of times in the fourth. Jones responded and put them back up two, and it was back and forth.
“It was a crazy game. I think we missed at least three breakaway nobody-was-in-the-halfcourt layups. That’s been the story of our season. We’ve really struggled finishing, we’ve struggled shooting the ball.
Barrett and Chernow both also had three rebounds. Demi Balasa added eight points and three rebounds, and Ashley Barber had four points and nine boards.
For the Panthers, Gabbi Wright also finished in double figures with 12 points.
Upper Dublin (3-2, 2-0 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Friday, and Cheltenham (3-1, 1-1) will host Penn Wood on Thursday in a non-league game.
Cheltenham 12-12-9-6 39
Upper Dublin 12-14-5-11 42
Cheltenham: Ashley Jones 16, Savannah Roberts 3, D’ajah Bouchereau 2, Mia Leonard 4, Gabbi Wright 12, Nashira Brown 2.
Upper Dublin: Nicole Kaiser, Josie Barrett 18, Allison Chernow 7, Demi Balasa 8, Maggie Weglos 3, Ashley Barber 4.
UPPER MORELAND 36, WISSAHICKON 32
The Golden Bears trailed for the better part of Tuesday’s game but rallied for the dramatic come-from-behind win, outscoring the Eagles 11-3 in the final quarter to earn their second win in as many games.
“We were down in the last quarter and we pulled it together as a team,” said UM assistant Jackie Rosenbaum. “We all stepped up, and we needed to do that.”
It was an uphill battle for the Golden Bears, who were coming off a four-point win over Chichester 24 hours earlier. They trailed 9-5 after one quarter and 17-11 at the halftime. They were still on the short end of a 29-25 score heading into the final quarter when they rallied for the win.
Jenna Getz and Maddie Pisut led a balanced attack with 10 points each. Noelle Woodman had seven points, and Emily Zanine, six points. Getz and Julia Gatto led the Golden Bears with six rebounds each. Woodman added five boards.
Upper Moreland (3-2, 1-1 SOL) will travel to Upper Dublin on Friday while Wissahickon (0-5, 0-2) will be on the road at Plymouth Whitemarsh.
Wissahickon 9-8-12-3 32
Upper Moreland 5-6-14-11 36
Jenna Getz 10, Maddie Pisut 10, Emily Zanine 6, Noelle Woodman 7, Julia Gatto 2, Phoebe Longstreth 1.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 65, UPPER MERION 31
Taylor O’Brien has been on a tear in the opening weeks of the season, but the junior guard was unstoppable in Tuesday night’s game against the neighboring Vikings. Sparked by 11 points from O’Brien, the Colonials – who led 13-12 after one quarter – outscored their visitors 20-2 in the second quarter to blow open a close game and go into halftime on top 33-14.
In addition to leading all scorers, O’Brien had four rebounds, five steals and two assists. Lauren Coscia also was a force in the first half, scoring eight of her 11 points in the opening 16 minutes to go along with four rebounds.
The Colonials outscored the Vikings 17-6 in the third quarter to go into the final frame with a 50-20 advantage.
“Ali Diamond and Laurel Suchsland each gave great offensive and defensive contributions,” coach Daniel Dougherty said.
Suchsland had eight points and seven rebounds, and Diamond also had eight points to go along with four rebounds. Victoria Betterly scored three points and grabbed three rebounds and, according to Dougherty, played outstanding defense during the team’s big runs in the second and third quarters.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (3-1, 2-0 SOL) will host Wissahickon on Friday while Upper Merion (2-3, 0-2) will travel to Norristown Friday.
Upper Merion 12-2-6-11 31
Plymouth Whitemarsh 13-20-17-15 65
Upper Merion: Tatiana Pleasant 16, Amya Anthony 4, Andrea Davis 2, Jessica Michael 4, Yasmin Gant 1, Jordan Wilson 4.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Taylor O’Brien 30, Ali Diamond 8, Sarah Putsch 2, Haley Zygmunt 3, Laurel Suchsland 8, Victoria Betterly 3, Lauren Coscia 11.
NORRISTOWN 49, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 24
The Eagles threw some serious defense at the Spartans, limiting their hosts to just nine points over the first three quarters. By halftime, Norristown led 18-5 and took a 35-9 lead into the final quarter.
Lauren Fortescue led a balanced Eagles’ attack while Devon Morse added eight points and Patti Fortescue, seven.
Molly Dugan contributed the bulk of the scoring for Springfield, finishing with 15 points.
Norristown (5-2, 1-1 SOL) will host Upper Merion on Friday while Springfield (2-3, 1-1) will be on the road at Cheltenham.
Norristown 9-9-17-14 49
Springfield 3-2-4-15 24
Norristown: Patti Fortescue 7, Precious Milan 5, Devon Morse 8, Taijah James 3, Lauren Fortescue 14, Beyonce Collins 5, Lauren Greene 2, Morgan Culbreath 1, Tovyanah Wright 2, Ashley Schools 2.
Springfield: Molly Dugan 15, Jamy Krewson 2, Maura Ryan 4, Rachel Harmon 3.
UPPER MORELAND 34, CHICHESTER 30 (Monday, Dec. 14)
The Golden Bears scored just three points in the first quarter of Monday’s non-league contest – a three-pointer by Noelle Woodman with 2:20 remaining in the frame, but they still found themselves tied with the visiting Eagles at the end of one quarter (3-3).
Sparked by the defensive play of junior Maddie Pisut, who had four of her game-high seven steals in the frame, the Golden Bears came to life offensively in the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles 14-8 to go into halftime with a 17-11 lead. The Bears connected on four three-pointers in the frame with Pisut, Woodman, Timyla Martin and Jenna Getz each contributing one.
“Maddie’s steals really raised the tempo of how we were playing,” Getz said. “Once something (good) happens, it all falls into place.
“When one person does something, we all come together. Me doing something raises Maddie’s tempo. Maddie doing something raises my tempo. Noelle was good shooting, and we were rebounding. We played well as a team.”
The Golden Bears scored just five points in the third quarter, allowing the Eagles to pull to within 22-20. When Pisut turned a steal into a layup, Upper Moreland led 29-22 midway through the quarter. The Eagles pulled to within two, but the Golden Bears held on for the win.
“This was huge,” coach Ed Decker said. “We looked at our schedule, and we could have been 2-2 or 3-1 at this point. We could get off to a pretty good start with the way the schedule is falling out for us.”
Getz led the Golden Bears with 12 while Pisut had nine points and Woodman, six points.
Chichester 9-6-6-4 30
Upper Moreland 11-11-8-14 34
Chichester: Erica Brant 8, Maura Murray 3, Lauren Carrafa 19.
Upper Moreland: Jenna Getz 12, Julia Gatto 2, Maddie Pisut 9, Emily Zanine 2, Noelle Woodman 6, Timyla Martin 3.
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