Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in Tuesday night’s Suburban One League openers.
SOL National
ABINGTON 68, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 47
Abington won Tuesday night’s basketball game, but trumping the game was the pregame ceremony honoring Scott Mills, a beloved teacher and coach who passed away last summer at the age of 33.
“Bigger than tonight was the pregame,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “Every interaction I had with Scott was positive, and it was easy to see his love for the game.
“Seeing the impact he had on the CR South players tonight made it easy to see what an amazing man he must have been.”
As for the game itself, the Ghosts took a tenuous 26-24 lead into halftime but seized control of the game in the second half, outscoring their hosts 42-20.
“It was an ugly first half,” Marsh said. “We finally got back to what we should be doing in the second half.
“We played a little more aggressively, we played more our style. We missed a lot of shots, but give (Rock South) credit. They played hard. (Camryn) Lexow and (Jordyn) Allen had big second halves to help propel us.”
Sam Brusha (18 points) and Kassondra Brown (17 points) led the Ghosts. They were joined in double figures by Lexow and Allen with 10 points each. Tamia Wessels added seven points.
Nicole Blaustein led the Golden Hawks with 17 points while Allison McGowan added 13.
Abington (2-2, 1-0 SOL) will host Pennsbury on Thursday night, and Council Rock South (2-2, 0-1) will host Council Rock North on Friday at 5 p.m.
Abington 13-13-21-21 68
Council Rock South 18-6-12-8 47
Abington (68) – Brittney James 3, Camryn Lexow 10, Tamia Wessels 7, Kassondra Brown 17, Sam Brusha 18, Miranda Liebtag 2, Jordyn Allen 10, Morgan Benson 2.
Council Rock South (47) – Alex Szydilik 1, Bailey Vetter 2, Emma Jones 2, Nicole Blaustein 17, Allison McGowan 13, Hannah Binder 5, Claudia Steinmetz 5.
PENNSBURY 48, BENSALEM 34
The Falcons established the tone for the game in an 18-point first quarter that saw five players contribute scoring. They took a 24-15 lead into halftime and added to that advantage in the second half.
Sydney Buell led a balanced Falcon attack with 12 points while Kate Mix added 10 points. Mary Miller scored seven points, and Abbi Nassivera and Bella Accuri each had six points.
Hailey Keenan led the Owls with eight points while Emily Wineburg and Alayna McSeed both had seven points. Sydney Bawuah contributed six points.
Pennsbury (4-2, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Abington on Thursday, and Bensalem (2-2, 0-1) will host Neshaminy on Thursday.
Bensalem 7-8-9-10 34
Pennsbury 18-6-14-10 48
Bensalem (34) – Sydney Bawuah 6, Emily Wineburg 7, Michaela Sit 2, Hailey Keenan 8, Alayna McSeed 7, Chloe Munyan 4.
Pennsbury (48) – Abbi Nassivera 6, Bella Arcuri 6, Kate Mix 10, Mary Miller 9, Sydney Buell 12, Cami Wiegand 5.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 66, HARRY S TRUMAN 12
Becca Margolis and Dana Bandurick each scored 16 points to lead a balanced Indian attack while Olivia Boyle added 13.
Margolis ignited a 25-5 first quarter with 11 points while Bandurick and Boyle both chipped in six. Bandurick took over in the second quarter, scoring 10 points as the Indians opened up a 43-9 halftime lead.
Boyle buried three 3-pointers on a night that saw the Indians connect on seven shots from beyond the arc. Margolis and Emma Benson both had a pair of threes.
Benson and Tinner each added six points for the Indians. Tinner led the Indians under the boards with 14 rebounds. Camryn Polinsky did not score but had a strong floor game with five steals and five assists.
Daisha Campbell scored seven points to lead the Tigers.
Council Rock North (3-1, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Council Rock South on Friday night for a 5 p.m. game in the opener of a girls/boys twinbill. Harry S Truman (1-4, 0-1) is off until Wednesday, Dec. 27, when the Tigers will compete in the ESCIT Christmas Tournament at Conwell-Egan.
Council Rock North 25-18-13-10 66
Harry S Truman 5-4-1-2 12
Council Rock North (66) – Becca Margolis 16, Juliana Shields 2, Anna Cairone 4, Dana Bandurick 16, Sydney Blum 3, Olivia Boyle 13, Emma Benson 6, Mackenzie Tinner 6.
Harry S Truman (12) – Daisha Campbell 7, Reneisha James 2, Briana Cliney 3.
SOL Continental
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 40, SOUDERTON 25
Last winter was an especially long one for Mackenzie Ehresman, who missed her entire junior basketball season with a torn ACL.
“It was really hard,” Ehresman said. “It was hard to watch. I knew my team could do great, but it’s awesome to be back.”
The Titans are happy to have the senior forward back, and while Haley Meinel (15 points) and Alexa Brodie (12 points) stole the spotlight, Ehresman quietly made her presence felt, scoring seven points in a first half that saw the Titans open up a 23-19 halftime lead.
Her offensive rebound on the Titans’ opening possession of the fourth quarter resulted in an easy bucket for Maddie McShane to put the Titans on top 31-23. The Indians never threatened the rest of the way.
“It’s been understated how much Mackenzie means to our team,” coach Beth Mattern said. “Having her back in the lineup this year – I think we’re happier and more confident on the floor.
“Her defense tonight was a difference maker. She had a tough matchup with (Alana) Cardona, and I just thought she did a great job.”
Cardona led the Indians with 14 points, but they were hard earned on a night that saw Souderton connect on just 9-of-34 shots from the floor (26 percent). The Indians were 1-of-10 from beyond the arc.
“We just tried to play good defense, rebound and do anything we can to shut them down, one defensive possession at a time,” Ehresman said.
A Cardona three-pointer knotted the scored 3-3 midway through the opening quarter, but Ehresman answered with a short baseline jumper at the other end, and the Titans had a lead they would not lose. They opened up an 11-5 lead when Meinel buried a foul line jumper, but a three-point play by Cardona made it a three-point game at the end of one quarter.
Not a whole lot changed in the second quarter, and the Titans – led by Meinel’s 12 points – led by four at the intermission.
While the Indians have had some big second halves this season, Tuesday’s second half wasn’t one of them. They held the Titans to six points in the third quarter but scored just four points of their own and managed only seven in the entire half. Brodie outscored the Indians singlehandedly with eight points in the half.
“CB South played really, really well,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “Haley Meinel killed us in the first half. Everything we know she does well she did well.
“Alexa Brodie played really well in the second half once they got that lead. She makes it very difficult to do much defensively with her speed in that situation.
“I told them in the locker room – I didn’t come into this season thinking we would go 22-0. I knew a loss was going to happen at some point, and now it’s all about – what do we do.
“When people are shooting poorly, we have to figure out what to do about it. We shot extremely, extremely poorly from the perimeter, and we were getting looks that we were pretty happy about. When you play against a team like this, they’re in your face, they’re all over the ball, there were other shots we rushed because they dictated the tempo most of the game. You’re not going to win many games shooting the way we did tonight.”
Tuesday’s win came on the heels of South’s win over defending district runner-up Plymouth Whitemarsh.
“This just gives us confidence to keep working hard,” Ehresman said.
“I thought the whole unit – no matter who we put out there – played well,” Mattern said. “I said after PW that was the best game we played all season, but it was tonight as far as a complete game and really trying to control those little things that we need in order to be successful on the court. That’s a great team, and we’re going to have our hands full the next time we see them.”
Central Bucks South (5-0, 1-0 SOL) will host Pennridge on Thursday, and Souderton (5-1, 0-1) will host Central Bucks East on Friday.
Central Bucks South 11-12-6-11 40
Souderton 8-11-4-3 25
Central Bucks South Haley Meinel 15, Alexa Brodie 12, Maddie McShane 6, Mackenzie Ehresman 7.
Souderton (40) – Tori Dowd 2, Alana Cardona 14, Megan Walbrandt 4, Kate Connolly 5.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 63, NORTH PENN 35
The Patriots brought a welcome end to a 10-game losing streak at the hands of the Knights dating back to Jan. 25, 2013. Twice in the past four years, the Patriots lost to the Knights three times in one season, including a 44-38 season-ending loss in the state tournament last season.
“We’ve never beaten North Penn in the five years I’ve been here, so it was nice – the girls were excited because they felt like they were winning for the four previous year’s teams as well,” coach Liz Potash said.“Obviously, North Penn is not the team that they have been, but we did some really good things tonight, so I was really happy for the girls.”
Leading the charge for the Patriots was senior Sophia Mancuso, who scored a game-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds, five steals and four assists.
“Soph was all over the place,” Potash said. “She is someone we need to do big things this year, and she’s been playing great.
“She had a little bit of a shaky game against Neshaminy (in the season opener), but ever since then, she’s really playing well. She’s handling the ball the majority of the time, and in the last four games, she has two total turnovers being our primary ball handler, so she’s really doing a nice job that way. She’s always been able to shoot, and she was 4-for-5 from the 3-point line.”
The Patriots opened up a 21-11 lead after one quarter and took a 34-20 lead into halftime. If there were any doubts about the outcome, they were put to rest after an 18-8 third quarter tear by the Patriots, who took a 52-28 lead into the final quarter.
“There were two big things that were the story for us,” Potash said. “Obviously, one, we held them to 35 points. Bri Hewlett turned her ankle in the second quarter, and she was out for a bit, so obviously, that hurts them. Holding them to 35 – our goal is to hold teams under 40.
“We’ve really been struggling to shoot well in the lane, and we shot really well in the lane tonight. We were 17-for-23, which is a huge stat that we track, and I was most pleased – we had 19 team assists. The girls are very unselfish. They’re always happy when someone steps up and scores. They’re a team in every sense.”
Elyse Shine and Caroline Pla also finished in double figures for the Patriots with Shine contributing 14 points and Pla adding 10. Bailey McManus had nine points and a team-high six assists. Gina Russo had six rebounds, five assist and four points.
For the Knights, Carley Adams and Jess McKenzie led the way with eight points each.
Central Bucks East (3-2, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Norristown on Wednesday for a non-league game while North Penn (4-2, 0-1) will be on the road at Governor Mifflin for a non-league game on Wednesday.
Central Bucks East 21-13-18-11 63
North Penn 11-9-8-7 35
Central Bucks East (63) – Sophia Mancuso 20, Gina Russo 4, Caroline Pla 10, Audrey LaBouliere 6, Bailey McManus 9, Eyse Shine 14.
North Penn (35) – Jenny Hulmes 5, Alli Lindsay 2, Alaina Mullaly 4, Kate Early 2, Carley Adams 8, Laynie Doran 2, Morgan Farrell 1, Jess McKenzie 8, Bri Hewlett 3.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 54, WILLIAM TENNENT 28
Maddie Burke erupted for 12 of her game-high 20 points in the second quarter, turning a 10-9 West deficit after one frame into a 27-16 halftime lead. Included in her offensive onslaught were four 3-pointers. Burke had three in a second quarter that saw her convert a four-point play.
The Bucks outscored the Panthers 36-10 over the middle two quarters.
Diane Nicholson added nine points and Jess Broskey added eight.
Tennent was led by the eight-point efforts of Emma Stanfield and Haley Crossley. Bryn Evans had six points.
Central Bucks West (2-1, 1-0 SOL) will host North Penn on Friday, and William Tennent (3-2, 0-1) is off until Jan. 2 when the Panthers will host North Penn.
Central Bucks West 9-18-18-8 54
William Tennent 10-6-4-8 28
Central Bucks West (54) – Abbey Spratt 5, Diane Nicholson 9, Olivia Irons 2, Jess Broskey 8, Maddie Burke 20, Kaili Carey 3, Izzy Treon 5, Lilly Evans 2.
William Tennent (28) – Emma Stanfield 8, Kelly Scipione 2, Brianna Broccardi 2, Haley Crossley 8, Bryn Evans 6.
SOL American
HATBORO-HORSHAM 35, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 32
The Hatters trailed the Spartans 18-15 at halftime but used a 14-5 third-quarter surge to defeat the Spartans and earn their first win of the young season.
“It was very important,” coach Kathie Simms said of picking up the win. “Hopefully, we can use this as a springboard for the rest of the season.”
Kylie Halko’s 13 points led the Hatters. Kara Kaminski and Sarah Sciubba each added six.
“Cam Ryan was our catalyst getting the ball to the key players,” Simms said. “Kylie Halko had an important 13 points while Sarah Sciubba pulled down important rebounds.”
The Spartans were led by Rileigh Serroni (11 points) and Grace Barraclough (10 points).
“We came out a little flat,” Springfield coach David Giordano said. “We were competitive in the first half, and in the third quarter, we came out and we couldn’t put the ball in the basket.
“They beat us down the floor with two or three breakaways. They beat us on defense. We kind of gathered ourselves towards the end of the third and regrouped. We had the ball three times in the last minute with a chance to tie. We had some great open looks, but they just didn’t go in.
“We were 3-for-11 from the foul line, and that hurt us in the first half – we could have been up more at halftime. We played hard, but we had some bounces that didn’t go our way.”
Hatboro-Horsham (1-4, 1-0 SOL) will host Upper Moreland on Thursday, and Springfield Township (1-3, 0-1) will host Cheltenham on Thursday.
Hatboro-Horsham 13-2-14-6 35
Springfield Township 13-5-5-9 32
Hatboro-Horsham (35) – Cam Ryan 4, Kylie Halko 13, Kara Kaminski 6, Sarah Sciubba 6, Maddie Throne 4, Sydney Kemp 2.
Springfield (32) – Grace Barraclaugh 10, Mary Kate Smith 2, Emily Rodriguez 2, Rileigh Serroni 11, Emily Guicheteau 5, Sydney Hannings 2.
WISSAHICKON 44, QUAKERTOWN 34
The Trojans, according to coach Rodney Kline, struggled with foul woes, but a 16-5 first-quarter lead allowed them to withstand a second and third quarter that saw the Panthers outscore their hosts 20-15.
“We got in the penalty and put them on the free throw line,” said Kline, whose team led 27-16 at halftime. “We shot over 40 percent in the first two quarters, and we were playing fantastic, but our defense was so aggressive that we were undisciplined, and we kept fouling.
“The next thing you know – they were on the free throw line. They only scored two field goals in the first half. Everything else was free throws.”
The Panthers converted 17-of-27 attempts from the foul line in the game, led by Maggie Garlick’s 11-for-14 effort.
Victoria Selverian led the Trojans with 15 points. Sydney Ott added nine points in a contest that saw eight Trojans put their names in the scoring column.
Kline was pleased with his team’s offensive effort in the opening half.
“They were knocking down everything,” the Trojans’ coach said. “They did a lot of good things. They moved the ball well, they penetrated, they saw the floor. They played well together.
“To have 11 girls playing all together shows the trust they have in one another and how far they’ve come.”
Garlick led the Panthers with 18 points while Hannah LaBonge added six points.
Wissahickon (1-0 SOL) will host Lansdale Catholic on Wednesday, and Quakertown (0-5, 0-1) will host Upper Dublin on Friday.
Quakertown (34) – 5-11-9-9 34
Wissahickon 16-11-4-13 44
Quakertown (34) – Samantha Howard 4, Maggie Garlick 18, Veronica Best 3, Brianna Leftkowski 3, Hannah LaBonge 6.
Wissahickon (44) – Victoria Selvarian 15, Sydney Ott 9, Macey Segal 3, Brianna Tilghman 4, Carly Fadel 4, Anna Schools 3, Megan Oberholtzer 2, Victoria Willliams 4.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 64, UPPER MORELAND 18
Taylor O’Brien reached another milestone in a stellar career in the first half of Tuesday’s SOL opener when she became just the third player in program history to reach the 1,500-point mark. O’Brien, who buried a pair of threes, finished with 15 points – all in the first half.
Lauren Fortescue scored a team-high 16 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers while Ali Diamond was also deadly from long range, burying 4-of-5 shots from beyond the arc for 12 points. She had three 3-pointers in the first half. Sydney Kesselman added seven points and Haley Zygmunt had six for the Colonials.
The Colonials took care of business in a hurry, opening up a 23-7 lead after one quarter and extending that to 44-13 by halftime.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (4-1, 1-0 SOL) will host Wissahickon on Friday, and Upper Moreland (1-3, 0-1) will travel to Hatboro-Horsham on Thursday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 23-21-10-10 64
Upper Moreland 7-6-2-3 18
Plymouth Whitemarsh (64) – Taylor O’Brien 15, Lauren Fortescue 16, Gia Schweitzer 2, Ali Diamond 12, Haley Zygmunt 6, Brooke Felgoise 1, Bria Rivers 4, Anna McTamney 1, Sydney Kesselman 7.
UPPER DUBLIN 55, CHELTENHAM 10
The Flying Cardinals raced out of the gate to a 16-0 lead after one quarter and took a 39-2 lead into halftime on their way to the decisive win.
Kara Grebe led a balanced Cardinal attack with 10 points and five rebounds. Jackie Vargas added eight points and eight rebounds, and Nicole Kaiser had eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Upper Dublin (4-1, 1-0 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Friday, and Cheltenham (3-1, 0-1) will be on the road at Springfield Township on Thursday.
Cheltenham 0-2-1-7 10
Upper Dublin 16-23-8-8 55
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