Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Tuesday. Upper Dublin/Cheltenham photos provided courtesy of Geanine Jamison. Check back for a gallery of photos.
SOL American Conference
HATBORO-HORSHAM 48, WISSAHICKON 46
The Hatters won a thriller when the Trojans’ shot for a tie fell just short at the buzzer. Earlier, Anna Schools trimmed a four-point Hatter lead to two when she buried a pair at the foul line. The Hatters misfired on the front end of a one-and-one with seven seconds remaining, giving the Trojans one last shot at a tie.
Tuesday’s game was the third in four days for a young Hatters’ squad.
“It’s hard to put into words,” coach Dennis Steinly said. “We played Saturday, Monday and Tuesday. To go into these games without having practice to go over stuff – we implemented a new offense, a new defense, we have new players, I have five new coaches on the staff that have never coached together.
“It’s happening faster than I anticipated, but I set the expectations high. At practice, we demand a lot, and they’re working hard. I think sometimes I neglect to tell them how much I appreciate how hard they’re working and how much it’s coming along.”
The win came 24 hours after the Hatters edged Lower Moreland.
“We went into that game without having prepared or practiced, and they played a different style than CB East (on Saturday),” Steinly said. “Tonight Rodney (Cline) has a system in place, and his girls executed very well defensively, and they moved the ball around on offense. It was another different defense than we faced and weren’t able to prepare for.
“We just came through, and the kids made big shots.”
Leading the Hatters yet again were their two freshmen – Alice Hall and Emily Thomas.
“They’re home-grown,” Steinly said. “They came through Keith Valley and have exceeded expectations.
“They’re competitive, they play hard, and I think it’s starting to rub off on the other players. They’re getting (their points) with the help of their teammates. It’s definitely a team effort.”
Hall led all scorers with 20 points to go along with 14 rebounds.
“It was just a monster game for her,” Steinly said. “It’s having a ripple effect because other girls are stepping up and making big plays. I think the enthusiasm is contagious.”
Emily Thomas added eight points despite battling foul woes. Kylie Halko chipped in seven, and other players stepped up as well.
“Sarah Mahoney didn’t play last night, but Emily (Thomas) got in foul trouble tonight, so she was called on,” Steinly said. “She got fouled the first time she touched the ball and knocked down two free throws and then saved the ball as it was going out of bounds and we scored right at the end of the half before the buzzer.
“You hope you get those plays from your seniors, and I was just real happy and excited for her to respond that way.”
The Hatters opened up a 16-10 lead after one quarter and took a 28-23 lead into halftime. The Trojans cut into that lead, outscoring the Hatters 14-9 in the third quarter to knot the score and set the stage for the dramatic finish.
“I knew this was a big week,” Steinly said. “So far, so good.”
Brianna Tilghman led the Trojans with 13 points. Lily Hyatt added 10 and Schools had eight.
“The big thing is we fought back,” Trojans’ coach Rodney Cline said. “We were down by eight, we came back tied it up, took the lead by one. They went up by four, we come back and tie it up.
“The free throw line is what got us. We missed some crucial shots at the end, but we made some big ones too. It was fun to watch, it was exciting. They fought the entire time.
“Victoria Williams, who has been sick, came out strong. She made some plays, hit some big shots. Brianna Tilghman played her tail off, she just fought the entire time. She’s our leader, and when our train runs, she’s definitely the engine. She played really well the last two games. She’s finally starting to get healthy. This hurt, but we’re going to grow from this. We’re starting to build our chemistry. It’s very encouraging.”
Hatboro-Horsham (3-4, 1-1 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Friday, and Wissahickon (1-4, 0-2) will be on the road at Springfield Township on Thursday.
Hatboro-Horsham 16-12-9-11 48
Wissahickon 10-13-14-9 46
Hatboro-Horsham (48) – Emily Thomas 8, Camryn Ryan 2, Sydney Kemp 4, Sarah Mahoney 2, Kyle Falco 7, Alice Hall 20, Kara Kaminski 5.
Wissahickon (46) – Lily Hyatt 10, Anna Schools 8, Brianna Tilghman 13, Lauren Fadel 4, Victoria Wiliams.
UPPER DUBLIN 63, CHELTENHAM 29
The Cardinals scored 23 points in the first quarter to seize early control of Tuesday’s conference game. Junior Jackie Vargas scored seven of her 13 points in the opening quarter.
“That is a very good team and we just aren’t there yet,” Cheltenham coach Ben Bowman said. “Proud of how we worked hard regardless of the score.”
UD’s Jess Polin led all scorers with 16 points, which included four 3-pointers – three in an 11-point third quarter effort. Anajae Smith also finished in double figures with 10 points. Dayna Balasa added six.
For the Panthers, Yanisha Dormil’s 10 points led the way. Madison Rorer had nine, and Umayrah Sulayman added seven.
Upper Dublin (4-1, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Abington for a key conference showdown Thursday. Cheltenham (0-5, 0-2) will be on the road at Plymouth Whitemarsh Friday.
Cheltenham 3-7-11-8 29
Upper Dublin 23-8-23-9 63
Cheltenham (29) – Madison Rorer 9, Yanisha Dormil 10, Umayrah Sulayman 7, Shannon Nichols 3.
Upper Dublin (63) – Anajae Smith 10, Meg Barbera 5, Jess Polin 16, Kara Grebe 5, Jackie Gorman 3, Sarah Eskew 5, Dayna Balasa 6, Jackie Vargas 13.
ABINGTON 59, UPPER MORELAND 28
Kassondra Brown contributed yet another double-double and finished just an assist shy of a rare triple double. The URI-bound senior had 17 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists to lead the Ghosts.
Cam Lexow added 13 points and three steals, and freshman point guard Khalis Whiting had 12 points and five assists. Tamia Wessels added eight points.
The Ghosts, who led 17-10, after one quarter upped their advantage to 26 points by halftime.
Bean Hughes led the Golden Bears with eight points – six in the opening quarter. Emma Meakim had seven.
Abington (5-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Upper Dublin on Thursday, and Upper Moreland (4-2, 1-1) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Friday.
Abington 17-23-15-4 59
Upper Moreland 10-4-5-9 28
Upper Moreland (28) – Phoebe Longstreth 3, Kaiya Holmes 1, Kaitie Opferman 3, Emma Meakim 7, Abby Ellen Wood 4, Bean Hughes 8, Hannah Finn 2.
Abington (59) – Tami Wessels 8, Cam Lexow 13, Kassondra Brown 17, Miranda Liebtag 5, Khalis Whiting 12, Becca Pohle 2, Amanda Jackson 2.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 74, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 12
The visiting Colonials owned Tuesday’s game at Springfield from the outset, erupting for 32 first-quarter points and scoring 50 in the first half.
Sophomore Ally Zolty, freshman Kaitlyn Flanagan and freshman Lainey Allen led a balanced PW attack with 14 points each. Freshman Jordyn Thomas added nine points while sophomore Lily Belle McGrorty had six.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Cheltenham on Friday, and Springfield Township (1-4, 0-2) will host Wissahickon on Thursday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 32-18-14-10 74
Springfield Township 5-1-2-4 12
Plymouth Whitemarsh (74) – Ally Zolty 14, Kaitlyn Flanagan 14, Fiona Gooneratne 2, Leah Kaye 2, Marcaela Allen 1, Sydney Kesselman 3, Gabby Cooper 2, Anna McTamney 7, Lainey Allen 14, Jordyn Thomas 9, Lily Bell McGrorty 6.
SOL Continental Conference
SOUDERTON 48, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 33
A short-handed Indian squad pulled off the stunner of the young season, soundly defeating a West squad that entered the season a heavy favorite to capture a title the Indians owned.
The Indians were minus senior Megan Walbrandt (illness) and Megan Bealer was also under the weather and a game-time decision.
“We just got great minutes out of all the kids,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “They looked so confident. You never want to be down a kid, but if you’re going to be down a kid, this is how you want your kids to play.
“They should feel very confident moving forward. I am not looking forward to playing CB West again, believe me, but I just could not be more proud of my team. They were great.”
The Indians led 15-9 after one quarter and took a 24-17 lead into halftime.
“From the start – Mikaela Reese had two threes and eight points in the first couple minutes of the game,” Carroll said. “It was one of those games where everything was really going our way, and we had kids really step up.
“(Maddie) Burke got her second foul in the first quarter and got her third in the second quarter, so she sat a lot in the second quarter, so that’s certainly part of the story.”
A bigger part of the story was the gutsy performance of the Indians up and down their lineup. It began with feisty point guard Megan O’Donnell.
“Megan O’Donnell was phenomenal,” Carroll said. “We took her out at one point at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter because she got hit in the face and her eyes were tearing up.
“Otherwise, I kept saying, ‘Are you good, are you good?’ She said, ‘I don’t need a sub.’ West plays in-your-face defense the length of the court, trying to wear you down. Megan handled the ball, brought the ball up the court 99 percent of the time and had the task of guarding Diane Nicholson.”
O’Donnell finished the game with nine points, six rebounds and three assists, but more important was her floor leadership.
“When we started to stall at the end, she did a phenomenal job,” Carroll said.
Bealer, meanwhile, might not have felt up to speed, but her game certainly was. The senior guard scored 15 points – which included three 3-pointers, and she also led the Indians under the boards with nine rebounds to go along with two steals.
“She played really well,” Carroll said. “Any time Maddie Burke was in the game, she was on her. She played great defensively.”
Bealer’s two 3-pointers sparked a 15-point third quarter as the Indians opened up a 39-30 lead. The Bucks managed just three points in the final quarter, and the Indians won going away.
“We had big shots from Mikaela (Reese), big shots from Erica Stephens,” Carroll said. “Curran (O’Donnell) played great help defense. She made a baseball pass to Megan Bealer at a point in the game where either we pull away now or it could get a little scary. She threw a baseball pass to Megan Bealer, who goes in for a layup.”
Reese finished the game with 10 points and Stephens added eight.
“The kids are so happy, and I’m so happy for them,” Carroll said. “I know we have the talent, and I know we have the heart to continue to play well.
“Obviously, we take it one game at a time. We have another tough conference game coming up on Friday at (Central Bucks) South.”
For the Bucks. Burke – who had three 3-pointers – led the way with 12 points while Nicholson added 11. No other player had more than four points.
Souderton (5-1, 2-0 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks South on Friday, and Central Bucks West (1-2, 1-1) will be on the road at Pennridge Friday.
Central Bucks West 9-8-13-3 33
Souderton 15-9-15-9 48
Central Bucks West (33) – Diane Nicholson 11, Jess Broskey 2, Maddie Burke 12, Emily Spratt 2, Izzy Treon 4, Tori Abelson 2.
Souderton (48) – Megan Bealer 15, Oliva Schneider 3, Erica Stephens 8, Curran O’Donnell 3, Megan O’Donnell 9, Mikaela Reese 10.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 46, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 44
It’s been almost five years since Jordan Vitelli – then just a sophomore – threw up a prayer at the buzzer to give CB South a dramatic win.
Coach Liz Potash hasn’t forgotten.
“I said to the girls after the game, ‘Ladies, that was finally redemption for Jordan Vitelli hitting a buzzer beater against us at South my first year, so thank you,’” Potash said. “We had that game. We were up two with like five seconds, and Jordan drove the length of the floor and hit a three on the left wing as time expired, and we lost by one. The next couple of years we could not beat them.”
Skylar Krause settled that little debt when she delivered the game-winner at the buzzer, connecting on a running layup after the Titans tied the game with six seconds remaining.
The Patriots actually led 44-40 when the game took a decidedly dramatic turn.
“We turned the ball over, Allie Burke goes 1-for-2 from the line, so it’s 44-41,” Potash said. “We come down, they foul us, and we miss the front end of a one-and-one.
“They get the ball back with just under 30 (seconds), they’re holding it a little bit for the last shot, (Alexa) Brodie gets the ball with 10 seconds. She’s five-six feet behind the 3-point line. Caroline (Pla) puts her hands up, fully contested, and she hits nothing but net.
“We have no timeouts left, we inbound the ball, we set a high screen like we normally do in that situation. Caroline (Pla) gets the ball to Sky (Krause). She drives the baseline, puts a shot up, hits the rim two times, bounces in, game over.”
There was nothing to suggest the Patriots would even be in the game at the end. They trailed the Titans – who received nine first-quarter points from freshman Taylor Hinkle – by five at the end of one quarter and 32-21 at halftime. The Titans led 37-23 two minutes into the third quarter but scored just seven points the rest of the way.
After scoring 32 points in the first half, the Titans had just 12 in the second half.
“We made a lot of defensive adjustments, and I guess it worked,” Potash said. “We were very disappointed at halftime with the defensive effort because we really were focusing on Brodie and Hinkle and felt we could have done a better job on them.:
Pla had a huge game for the Patriots, burying five 3-pointers – four in the first half – and finishing with a team-high 17. Krause added 11, including the dramatic game-winner, and Gabby Wilga had 10 for the Patriots, who were still without Elyse Shine.
For the Titans, Hinkle led all scorers with 20 points. Brodie added 16 points, which included three threes, and Mackenzie Erb had seven.
“Their freshman can definitely score the ball,” Potash said of Hinkle. “She’s a nice player, and Brodie just requires so much attention.”
Central Bucks East (2-3, 1-1 SOL) will travel to North Penn on Thursday, and Central Bucks South (3-3, 1-1) will host Souderton on Friday.
Central Bucks South (44) – Taylor Hinkle 20, Mackenzie Erb 7, Allie Burke 1, Alexa Brodie 16.
Central Bucks East (46) – Mia Salvati 2, Gabby Wilga 10, Caroline Pla 17, Emily Chmiel 5, Skylar Krause 11, Emily Barry 1.
PENNRIDGE 51, QUAKERTOWN 24
The Rams seized early control of Tuesday’s game on their way to the decisive win. Eleven players contributed scoring to a balanced attack.
Julie Kreider was the lone player in double figures with 10 points while Ashley Gordon added eight, Sam Muredda had seven, and Evelyn Loughery added six. The Rams – led by Gordon’s 4-for-4 effort – connected on 8-of-10 at the foul line.
For the Panthers, Laney Mitchell’s eight points led the way. Abigail Dickson added six.
Pennridge (5-1, 1-0 SOL) will host Central Bucks West on Friday, and Quakertown (1-5, 0-2) will host Liberty on Saturday in a non-league game at 1:30 p.m.
Pennridge 22-12-6-11 51
Quakertown 0-6-6-12 24
Pennridge (51) – Sam Muredda 7, Sophie Cweiber 2, Julia Kreider 10, Courtney McGurl 2, Evelyn Loughery 6, Ashley Gordon 8, Emilee Cramer 4, Ava Unzicker 2, Kiersten Moyer 2, Jillian Coughlin 4, Ryan Hodder 4.
Quakertown (24) – Abigail Dickson 6, Laney Mitchell 8, Morgan Sipprell 3, Alexis Miccuci 3, Fallon Grandinetti 4.
SOL National Conference
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 73, HARRY S TRUMAN 45
The Indians put on an offensive clinic in the first half, erupting for 50 points en route to the convincing win.
Dana Bandurick scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the opening half – 10 in the first quarter. Abby Jones added 12 first-half points. Jones – who also had 10 points in the opening quarter – finished with 16 points. Sydney Blum also had a hot hand, contributing 11 points in the first half. She scored 15 points in the game. Anna Cairone was the fourth Indian in double figures with 12 – six in each half.
Bandurick also had seven rebounds, three steals and seven blocked shots in an overpowering performance. Camryn Polinsky spent the night setting up her teammates, finishing with eight assists to go along with five rebounds.
For the Tigers, Daisha Campbell (16 points) and Haniyyah Jones (15 points) combined for 31 points. Kayla Becker added nine.
Council Rock North (4-1, 2-0 SOL) will host William Tennent on Friday, and Harry S Truman (2-4, 0-2) will be on the road at Neshaminy on Thursday.
Council Rock North 23-27-17-6 73
Harry S Truman 8-11-8-18 45
BENSALEM 43, WILLIAM TENNENT 32
The Owls opened up a 10-4 lead after one quarter and took a 12-9 advantage into halftime. Behind six points from Kim Kailie, the visiting Owls added a point to their lead in the third quarter and then sealed the Panthers’ fate with a 17-point fourth quarter. Haley Keenan led the charge with seven points in the final frame.
“Tonight’s performance was extremely disappointing,” Tennent coach Laura Whitney said. “We got embarrassed in our own gym. This is the worst we have played in my three years coaching at Tennent.
“Not one of our girls came to play tonight. Our effort and energy was nonexistent. We didn’t deserve to win. Give credit to Bensalem because they came in and played tough and out worked us in every facet on the game.”
Keenan led the Owls with 16 points – 12 in the second half. Kaile added 10 – eight in the second half. Michael Sit chipped in eight points.
For the Panthers, Hannah Reimel (11 points) and Haley Crossley (10 points) both finished in double figures.
Bensalem (4-1, 1-1) will host Pennsbury on Thursday, and William Tennent (2-4, 0-1) travel to Council Rock North on Friday.
Bensalem 10-2-14-17 43
William Tennent 4-5-13-10 32
Bensalem (43) – Maddie Macdougall 1, Kim Kaile 10, Emily Wineburg 2, Michaela Sit 8, Mia Parker 1, Haley Keenan 16, Chloe Munyon 5.
William Tennent (32) – Caitlin Somerville 4, Chelsea Meltzer 2, Hannah Reimel 11, Jenna Rodebaugh 5, Haley Crossley 10.
NESHAMINY 51, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 23
Eleven players contributed scoring to a balanced Redskin attack. Kristin Curley’s 10 points led the way with Allison Harvey adding nine points on three 3-pointers. Brooke Mullin had six points.
The Redskins led 11-2 after one quarter and took a 23-11 lead into halftime. They outscored their visitors 28-12 in the second half.
Hannah Binder led the Golden Hawks with eight, and Jenna Culp had seven. Montanna Chambers added six points.
“South is well coached, and their team plays hard,” Neshaminy coach Joe Lally said.
Neshaminy (6-0, 2-0 SOL) will host Harry S Truman on Thursday, and Council Rock South (3-3, 1-1) is off until Dec. 27 when it will compete in the George W. Snear Tournament.
Council Rock South 2-9-7-5 23
Neshaminy 11-12-14-14 51
Council Rock South (23) – Montanna Chambers 6, Nicole Blaustein 2, Jenna Culp 7, Hannah Binder 8.
Neshaminy (51) – Sydney Tryon 2, Emily Tantala 2, Kacie Sienko 4, Olivia Scotti 4, Brooke Mullin 6, Kristin Curley 10, Alexa McCoy 4, Alex Ziegler 2, Kelli Kowalick 4, Allison Harvey 9, Meghan Ansel 4.
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