WISSAHICKON 49, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 44
It had been eight days between games for the Trojans, who saw Tuesday’s non-league game with Downingtown West added to the long list of cancellations in area basketball action.
“Two games being cancelled – one the day of the game and the other the day before,” Wissahickon coach Rodney Cline said. “I’m always waiting, always afraid of that phone call or that text from my athletic director – not knowing if we’d play or not, so it was good to be out there today.”
Showing no ill effects from the layoff, the Trojans took an early lead and then withstood a late rally by the Lions to notch the win.
“That was a good signature win for us, it’s good for the girls, it reinforces what we’re teaching – the buy-in most importantly on the defensive end,” Cline said. “I’m very happy for the girls.
“Missing the game we were supposed to have against Downingtown West gave us an extra day or two to prepare for New Hope. It allowed us to work on the details of our scheme, and the girls really took advantage of it, so I’m proud of them.”
The Trojans led 8-6 after one quarter and then put some distance between themselves and the Lions with a 22-point second quarter to go into halftime with a 30-20 halftime lead. Julia Verrier’s nine points, including a three, ignited the Trojans in the second quarter. Kaitlyn McGeary added six points in the quarter and eight in the first half. Kylie Friedman added nine first-half point. Reagan Chrencik’s nine points kept the Lions within striking distance.
“I think girls are buying in, and the coaches and I are just adjusting our offense to our personnel, and they’re buying in to what we expect them to do, and the most important thing is they’re trusting each other,” Cline said. “They’re trusting the offense, and the offense we’re running – it allows them to be them, and I think that’s the most important piece – not be scheme based but personnel based.
“The girls are playing to their strengths, and we try to put them in a position to be successful and once again, it comes down to our defense. They just played such great defense, they executed the game plan to a ‘t.’”
It was still a 38-28 game heading into the final quarter when the Lions – behind eight points from Izzy Elizondo – battled their way back in the game but could not get over the hump.
Cline lauded the defensive effort of his squad in the win, including the play of Verrier against Chrencik, who scored 15 points but had just two field goals and did the rest of her damage at the foul line with six of those points at the charity stripe coming in the fourth quarter.
“(Chrencik) is a really, really good player, and she shut her down,” said Cline. “McGeary helped off of that, and Kenya Williams came in with not a lot of experience but is freakishly athletic and locked her down as well.
“We played together, we were there for each other on the defensive end, which helped create our offense and the confidence on the offensive end. We watch film. You tell the girls, ‘This is what this girl likes to do, these are her tendencies, and this is how we’re going to defend it.’ They went out there – it’s such a blessing when you watch them execute what you asked them to do. When they’re listening to you and buying in, that’s just the beauty of coaching to watch them progress.”
Elizondo’s 17 points, which included eight in the fourth quarter, led the Lions, who lost Madi Fasti to an injury early in the third quarter.
“Coach Kline did a great job preparing for us,” NHS coach Steve Polinsky said. “They really took us out of the things we like to do.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well today. We spotted them too big of a lead and it’s hard to get it back when shots aren’t falling.”
Making the Trojans’ strong showing even more significant was the fact that they are without their starting point guard, Leah Dubin, who is lost for the season to a torn ACL.
“I didn’t have to worry about the ball getting up the court because she’s just so fast, so quick,” Cline said of Dubin. “She just runs the offense, sets the tempo. You didn’t have to worry about those things.
“When you lose a senior point guard like that, it’s the next player up, and these girls are stepping up. They’re accepting their roles to the best of their ability, and it allows us to be successful. To have Ava Schools step in and Kylie Friedman play dual point guard depending on the situation, it was just a blessing. I can’t say it enough. I’m so proud of the girls, they should be proud of themselves.”
Friedman’s 16 points led the Trojans. McGeary added 15 points and Verrier had 12. Also key to the win, according to Cline, was the play of Ava Schools.
“Ava Schools with her assists today – the passes she was making to McGeary on the inside off of seals, the lob passes, and then she knocks down two huge free throws when we were in the one-and-one to make it a three-possession game and kind of seal the win,” the Trojans’ coach said. “It was just a great team effort by everybody.”
Wissahickon will be on the road at Plymouth Whitemarsh on Tuesday, and New Hope-Solebury will travel to Upper Moreland on Tuesday.
Wissahickon 8-22-8-11 49
New Hope-Solebury 6-14-8-16 44
Wissahickon (49) – Ava Schools 0 4-4 4; Kylie Friedman 7 1-5 16; Chloe Acuna 1 0-0 2; Julia Verrier 5 0-1 12; Emlyn Ebert 0 0-2 0; Kenya Williams 0 0-4 0; Kaitlyn McGeary 7 0-0 15; TOTALS 20 5-16 49.
New Hope-Solebury (44) – Emily Wilson 2 0-0 4; Izzy Elizondo 8 1-7 17; Reagan Chrencik 2 9-12 15; Emma Ives 1 1-3 3; Madi Fasti 0 2-2 2; Ella Dudick 0 1-2 1; Grace Fitzgerald 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 14 14-26 44
3-point goals: Wissahickon – Julia Verrier 2, Kylie Friedman, Kaitlyn McGeary; NHS – Reagan Chrencik 2.
OWEN J ROBERTS 56, WILLIAM TENNENT 22
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