Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Thursday.
SOL Liberty Division
ABINGTON 47, UPPER DUBLIN 33
Abington and Upper Dublin represent two decidedly different playing styles.
The Ghosts thrive on creating chaos, and the more up-tempo the game, the better. The Flying Cardinals are the opposite.
“They made some shots early on, and I think they did a good job of dictating the pace in the second quarter,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “I felt like the first quarter was our pace -it was 15-14, and then it was 22-20 at halftime.
“Both teams scored in single digits in the second quarter, and I said to them at halftime, ‘We played the first quarter the way we wanted to play, the second quarter we played like they wanted to play. We need to get back to the way that we want to play and really ratchet up the pressure and really ratchet up the tempo.’ We were able to do that and held them to two points in the third quarter.”
While the Ghosts’ defense was key, so was the offensive performance of Piper McGinley, who was the undeniable X factor.
With her team clinging to a two-point halftime lead and in need of an offensive lift, the Abington junior delivered, scoring all of her 13 points after the intermission and sealing the win with a torrid fourth quarter.
“I was super concerned about today’s game and Tuesday’s just because of the opposite styles,” Marsh said. “I also knew that Morgan (Funsten) was going to come up with something that was different than what we’ve seen.
“He does a really good job of what he believes is our weakness, and he tries to exploit that. I told them the example of the 2017 state playoffs where we were a really good team with Kassondra Brown. We had won a district championship, and then we met Upper Dublin in the state playoffs, and he took Cam Lexow’s defender and just threw her in the paint to help on Kassondra.
“He did the same thing to Piper McGinley today. Piper was wide open, and in the first half, she was missing them and was getting frustrated. I said, ‘Listen, here’s the deal. He’s telling you that you can’t shoot. We all know you can shoot, so you’re going to have to knock one down, and even if you don’t knock one down, you need to keep shooting because we can’t pass up those open looks.’ She comes out and scores 13 second-half points and completely answered the bell. I respect Morgan because he’s a great coach, but I said, ‘Don’t let him win this head game. You’ve got to win this head game,’ and she did.”
Senior Cire Worley’s 16 points – which included 2 3s and a 6-for-8 effort at the foul line – led the Ghosts. Maya Johnson added eight points, and Abril Bowser had seven.
“They do what they do very well,” Marsh said of the Cardinals. “It was a good win for us, and it was a good way for us to open it up and finally not have to sweat one out. We’ve had enough of those.
“To be perfectly honest, all this late game experience we’ve had early in the season – it absolutely helped us today. We didn’t panic, we knew we were all right.”
For the Flying Cardinals, freshmen Megan Ngo and Collen Besachio each scored nine points. Nora Brady added six points on a pair of 3-pointers. Besachio had a big game under the boards, pulling down 13 rebounds while Ngo added six and Alaina Sanders and Nora Brady had five each.
“We played a solid first half, especially on the defensive end,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “We gave up zero first-half rebounds and actually took several more shots than Abington. We did an okay job against handling their pressure, but it got to us in the third quarter, and we turned the ball in over half of our possessions. We had nine turnovers in the third quarter alone and some of them led to easy baskets for Abington. A positive to take out of today was our half-court defense, but if we want to compete with them for four quarters, we need to do a better job of handling their pressure.”
Abington (9-1, 5-0 SOL) will travel to Upper Moreland on Tuesday, and Upper Dublin (4-3, 3-2) will host Springfield Township Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 15-5-2-11 33
Abington 14-8-10-15 47
Upper Dublin (33) – Brighid Brady 2 0-0 5; Kaylee Fitzkee 0 2-2 2; Megan Ngo 3 2-2 9; Lillian Kleiman 1 0-0 2; Colleen Besachio 4 0-0 9; Nora Brady 2 0-0 6; TOTALS 12 4-4 33.
Abington (47) – Maya Johnson 4 0-0 8; Piper McGinley 5 0-0 13; Abril Bowser 3 1-2 7; Cire Worley 4 6-8 16; Mikiaya Durham 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 17 7-9 47.
3-point goals: UD – Nora Brady 2, Brighid Brady, Megan Ngo, Colleen Besachio; Abington Piper McGinley 3, Cire Worley 2, Mikiaya Durham.
Boyertown Holiday Tournament
PENNRIDGE 47, BOYERTOWN 24
Sparked by the double-digit scoring efforts of Anna Croyle and Katie Yoder, the Rams rebounded from Wednesday’s loss to Lansdale Catholic to earn a decisive win over the host Bears.
The Rams trailed 8-6 after one quarter but blew the game wide open with an 18-point second quarter and went into halftime with a 24-10 lead. They never looked back.
“We got off to a bit of a slow start, and we were able to pick up the pressure and get ourselves some easy buckets,” Pennridge coach Jason Rapp said. “It was one of our best defensive efforts this season.”
Croyle (14 points) and Yoder (13 points) combined for 27 of their team’s points, and both had five points in the pivotal second quarter. Grace Rosica added nine points while Ella Brown had six.
Pennridge (6-4, 2-3 SOL) will travel to Harry S Truman for Tuesday’s crossover game.
Pennridge 6-18-9-14 47
Boyertown 8-2-4-10 24
Pennridge (47) – Ella Brown – 3 0-0 6; Grace Rosica 2 4-4 9; Anna Croyle – 4 5-7 14; Katie Yoder 6 0-1 13; Ava Fantaskey 1 1-2 3; Nikki Rindone 1 0-3 2; TOTALS 17 10-17 47.
Boyertown (24) – Carli Schweizer 3 1-2 9; Harper Glennon 1 0-0 2; Madelyn Weaver 2 0-0 4; Hannah Adamski 3 0-0 7; Courtney Schweizer 1 0-2 2; TOTALS 10 1-4 24.
3-point goals: Pennridge -Grace Rosica, Anna Croyle, Katie Yoder; Boyertown – Carli Schweizer 2, Hannah Adamski.
Boardwalk Classic (Wildwood, NJ)
CHELTENHAM 50, LOWER CAPE MAY 19
The Lady Panthers trailed by one at the end of one quarter but outscored their opponent 42-10 over the next three quarters, coasting to the no-doubt-about-it win.
“This is the best we played so far this season,” Cheltenham coach Ben Bowman said. “Paige (Powell), Maya (Simmons) and Jiah (Price) attacked offensively, but it was team defense that set the tone. Paige had 10 steals and was very active throughout the game.
“I’m proud of our effort and we need to carry this effort into the rest of the season.”
Lower Cape May had a 9-8 lead after one quarter, but that was erased by the Lady Panthers’ 10-2 second quarter that was highlighted by six points from Powell. Cheltenham went into halftime with an 18-11 lead.
The Lady Panthers blew the game wide open with a 15-5 third quarter that featured six points from Simmons and four from Powell.
Powell’s 15 points led the Lady Panthers while teammates Price and Simmons each added 12 points as the Panthers put three players in double figures. Cassie Bugg added six points.
Cheltenham (5-4, 2-3 SOL) will host Plymouth Whitemarsh in a crossover game on Tuesday.
Cheltenham 8-10-15-17 50
Lower Cape May 9-2-5-3 19
Cheltenham (50) – Jiah Price 6 0-0 12; Paige Powell 7 1-4 15; Maya Simmons 5 2-2 12; Janiya Townes-Wakefield 1 1-2 3; Ijeoma Ojukwu 0 2-2 2; Cassie Bugg 2 2-2 6; TOTALS 21 8-12 50.
Lower Cape May (19) – Janaya Elam 1 2-2 4; Hailey Elwell 1 0-0 2; Kaitlyn McGuigan 2 0-0 5; Alexandria Vogt 1 1-2 3; Jadziamary Serrano 1 0-0 2; Olivia Lewis 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 7 3-4 19.
3-point goals: LCM – Kaitlyn McGuigan, Olivia Lewis.
CONESTOGA 46, HATBORO-HORSHAM 23
The Hatters could ill afford a slow start in Thursday’s game against the Pioneers, but they managed just two points in the first quarter and found themselves staring at a 16-point hole. Things didn’t improve in the second quarter, and the Hatters trailed 34-7 at halftime.
“We started slow again,” HH assistant coach Nicole Miletto said. “We’re missing a couple players, and that hurts us, especially when you don’t have your point guard.
“Our defense wasn’t bad. Abby Waeltz was again strong for us on the defensive end. We actually outscored Conestoga in the second half, but our first half – mostly the first quarter – deficit was too much to overcome. Kitty Randa led us with nine, but we weren’t strong with the ball and had too many turnovers.”
In addition Randa’s nine points, Maddy Patel contributed seven, which included a pair of 3s.
Hatboro-Horsham (3-6, 1-4 SOL) will return to action Saturday against Marple-Newtown
Conestoga 18-16-3-9 46
Hatboro-Horsham 2-5-10-6 23
Conestoga (46) – Ryann Jennings 5 0-0 12; Janie Preston 2 0-0 4; Ruth Lanouette 5 0-0 11; Marisa Francione 3 0-0 7; Katrina Valencia 1 1-2 3; Isabella Valencia 1 0-0 2; Arielle LePage 1 0-0 2; Brooke Braslow 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 20 1-2 46.
Hatboro-Horsham (23) – Leah Harrington 2 1-2 5; Abby Waeltz 1 0-0 2; Kitty Randa 4 1-2 9; Maddy Patel 3 0-0 7; TOTALS 10 2-4 23.
3-point goals: Conestoga – Ryann Jennings 2, Ruth Lanouette, Marisa Francione, Brooke Braslow; HH – Maddy Patel.
Diamond State Classic (Del.)
URSULINE ACADEMY 47, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 44
The Colonials – sparked by 14 points from UPenn commit Abby Sharpe – went into halftime deadlocked 20-20 with undefeated Ursuline Academy. The Raiders outscored the Colonials 13-8 in the third quarter to go on top 33-28, but the Colonials rallied. Sharpe buried a pair of 3-pointers and had eight points in the final quarter while Erin Daley had six points, but the Colonials saw their shot for the tie at the buzzer fall short.
“We played really hard tonight and already were without starting guard Angelina Balcer,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said of his senior guard who is sidelined with an injury. “Then we lost another starter, AJ Avery, (to an injury) in the first half, and she couldn’t return.
“Sharpe and Daley were fantastic again, and freshman McKenna Winland really stepped up and provided big plays and minutes to help keep our team in it. Haley O’Hara and Azzy Crumpton did a very good job of limiting the standouts from Ursuline (to 19 and 10 points), we just could not match Ursuline’s depth for four quarters.”
Sharpe led all scorers with 25 points – which included four 3s – while Daley added 15 as the duo accounted for 40 of their team’s 45 points.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (8-2, 4-1 SOL) will be on the road at Cheltenham for Tuesday’s crossover game.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8-12-8-16 44
Ursuline Academy 7-13-13-14 47
PW (44) – Azzy Crumpton 1 0-0 2; McKenna Winland 1 0-0 2; Erin Daley 7 1-2 15; Abby Sharpe 9 3-4 25; TOTALS 18 4-6 44.
Ursuline Academy (47) – Taylor Brown 8 0-1 19; Hannah Kelley 2 0-0 4; Emma Anthony 1 0-0 3; Skylar Bolden 1 1-2 3; Abby Grillo 2 0-0 5; Jazelle Banks 4 2-4 10; Jordin Tate 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 19 3-7 47.
3-point goals: PW – Abby Sharpe 4; Ursuline Academy – Taylor Brown 3, Emma Anthony, Abby Grillo, Jordin Tate.
Upper Merion Holiday Tournament
Oxford 52, William Tennent 43
William Tennent was forced to settle for second place in the Upper Merion Holiday Tournament, falling to Oxford in Thursday’s Championship Game.
The key to Oxford’s victory was its play in the offensive paint, where the Hornets earned multiple second- and third-chance shots. As a result, Tennent’s 3-point halftime lead evaporated in the second half, where the Hornets put up 33 points.
“As much as we wanted this game, when you lose the battle for rebounds by as much as we did, especially offensive rebounds, you are just giving a good team more opportunities,” said Tennent assistant coach John Stanfield. “Our 3-point lead at half turned into a 2-point deficit to start the fourth. It’s easier for opponents to get into a good rhythm shooting the ball and running an offense when you get second and third opportunities on many possessions.”
Halie Staub and Morgan Volz followed their double-digit scoring performances in Wednesday’s opening round by each adding 11 points in Thursday’s Championship Game. The two combined to score 10 of Tennent’s 12 first-quarter points.
“It’s definitely a tough loss to stomach but we have to do the little things better,” Stanfield said. “I’m still proud our girls. They never quit. They never stop. We play so hard, but we still need to learn how to play smarter. We know where we want to be, now it’s back to work to get there. We are becoming a family. We believe in each other. We will get there.”
With the loss, Tennent drops to 6-4 overall (3-2 Freedom Division). The Panthers return to action at Wissahickon at 7 pm Tuesday.
William Tennent 12-10-12-9 43
Oxford 15-4-17-16 52
William Tennent (43) – Ella Mednick 1 4-4 6; Avery Kocur 0 1-2 1; Halie Staub 4 2-4 11; Alyssa Lewicki 2 1-2 5; Haley Dickson 2 0-0 5; Jess Whisler 1 1-2 4; Morgan Voltz 5 1-2 11. TOTALS 15 10-16 43.
Oxford (52) – Katie Kline 3 0-2 8; Gianna Ferraro 1 0-0 2; Kaia Patterson 2 4-6 9; Olivia Voss 4 2-3 10; McKenna Frank 4 1-2 11; Caroline Tipton 5 1-6 12. TOTALS 19 8-19 52.
3-point goals: WT – Halie Staub, Haley Dickson, Jess Whisler; Oxford – Katie Kline 2, Kaia Patterson, McKenna Frank 2, Caroline Tipton.
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