Souderton won its bracket at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational. (Photos provided by Souderton basketball)
Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational
SOUDERTON 47, THE GALLOWAY SCHOOL 42
Coach Lynn Carroll didn’t have to look far to see the end of her bench in Saturday’s title contest at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational. As a matter of fact, by game’s end, the Indians’ coach – who began the game with seven players – had just five healthy players.
Two freshmen swing players had flights home Saturday morning, and with the start of the game delayed by close to 90 minutes, another player had to leave in the opening minutes to catch her flight. Early in the fourth quarter, Teya McConnaha was forced to leave after a hard collision in the paint.
Throw in the fact that all three of Souderton’s bigs picked up two fouls in the first half, and it was, to say the least, an unusual situation.
“We played great for most of the first half,” said Carroll, who typically has 12 players dressed for varsity games.
The Indians – behind 12 points from Casey Harter and eight from McConnaha – took a 24-19 lead into halftime but found themselves deadlocked 37-37 heading into the final quarter.
“To start the fourth, Teya’s nose collided with one of the kids on their team, and now we’re down to five players,” Carroll said. “When that happened, it was just like – ‘It is what it is, let’s just play. Let’s just finish the game.’
“Our girls just worked so incredibly hard and played with such focus. Their point guard (Tianna Thompson) is really good, ranked in the top 25 of her class. She had 18 points but no points in the fourth quarter. We held them to six points in the fourth quarter, and that was mostly keeping them off the offensive glass.”
The Indians dominated the glass despite the fact that their best rebounder, McConnaha, was sidelined for a good portion of the fourth quarter.
“Grace (McDonough) and Mikayla (McGillian) really, really stepped up,” Carroll said. “Grace had three huge buckets in the fourth quarter, and Mikayla had what ended up being the go-ahead basket in the fourth quarter, and she hit two big free throws in the third.
“Their defense – they were trying to create some chaos, get the ball out of Casey (Harter’s) hands, and it was really finding the open players, and that open player in the second half was Grace and Mikayla a lot of the time.”
Both players had six points in the second half. McConnaha had seven in the third quarter.
For the game, McConnaha once again led the way with 15 points and 12 rebounds. The senior forward – who earned bracket MVP honors – turned in one monster performance after another under the basket, averaging 18.3 points and 16.3 rebounds in the three tournament games.
“Rebounding to me is just a game – it’s something I love to do,” McConnaha said. “It’s personally my goal in every game to get the most rebounds I can because I think it’s so much fun just to be up there battling with other people, trying to get the ball down into your hands.
“There were more shots going up because you only had 35 seconds, so it was more opportunities for me to grab rebounds.”
Harter added 14 points and six rebounds, and McGillian had 10 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line, and eight rebounds. McDonough added six points and three blocked shots, and Bohmueller had six rebounds.
“Everybody just battled,” Carroll said. “Casey (Harter) had another great game. I can’t say enough about how Mikayla stepped up offensively and battled in the fourth quarter under the boards.
“If Erin (Bohmueller) got two minutes on the bench the whole game, that’s probably too much. Her defense was very good. We just had to grind and find a way to win under very odd circumstances in a very packed gym where no one could hear one another.
“Win or lose today, I just think this tournament is going to benefit us two months from now when we want to be playing our best basketball. The amount of Division 1 talent we got to see over the last five days – it’s just been so beneficial. What they were able to do off the court, that’s always just as important. I think they had a lot of fun.”
A whole lot of that fun came at their opponent’s expense.
“It’s really all you can ask for – to be able to play that competition and to also come out with a win,” Harter said. “We played some really good teams that had really good players, D1 recruits, and it’s really different to play those kinds of teams in this environment. It’s just so different and good for our team.”
Tampa trip the brainchild of players
It all started last year around this time as an idea, an idea they were pretty sure coach Lynn Carroll wouldn’t buy.
“We came up with the idea a while ago,” senior Casey Harter said. “We’ve been going to the Reading Tournament or something in Pennsylvania
close to us, and they’re always good tournaments, but we wanted to go somewhere far because it’s more fun making the trip and playing good competition.
“We thought up the idea, saw the tournament, and we put off asking (Carroll) because we assumed she was going to say no or we didn’t have the funding for it or it would be a lot of fundraising, but Erin (Bohmueller) luckily stepped up and talked to her.”
It turned out to be a whole lot easier than any of them anticipated. Carroll – after doing some research – was also on board, and the trip became a reality.
“It was so much fun – it’s something so different and something we’ve never done,” Harter said. “Most of us flew down together, and we spent basically every minute together here, and it’s just been so awesome.
“Being able to win three games and play good competition and also be able to stay in the same hotel with each other and create those memories is really the reason we came. To be able to go to the beach and all the things we did also helps build us up as a team, and creating these memories and experiences – it’s just so much fun.”
“It was really good,” McConnaha said. “It really opened up different things for me, seeing how we get along after multiple days together. It shows that we can get through anything together if we try hard.”
The games were not without adversity. Foul problems plagued the Indians in their opening round win over Luella. No one can attest to that more than Harter.
“We didn’t even have our full team, so we were already short, and in the first game, we were all in foul trouble,” Harter said. “That was the first time I fouled out and I basically was in foul trouble the whole game.
“Other people had to step up, and we had people step up and contribute, and it was a total all-around contribution from the team.”
Harter and three of her teammates had their return flight cancelled on Saturday. Two stayed over with new flights leaving Sunday morning, and the other two flew into Atlantic City on Saturday night.
“Hopefully, we’ll all be home in time for Bensalem on Tuesday,” Carroll said. “Our first game – I was the only one coaching.
“We got so lucky. At least 10 teams cancelled a day or two before the tournament because they couldn’t get here. Actually, because of cancellations, we got moved up to the next level bracket.
“The competition was great, the time the girls got to spend together – you can’t replace that kind of stuff. It’s just a success in every way. I’m glad the girls talked me into doing it because I never would have done it if they hadn’t convinced me.”
Souderton (9-1, 5-0 SOL) will host Bensalem on Tuesday for a crossover game.
Extra shots: McConnaha was diagnosed with a broken nose. “I was trying to make a move into the middle, and (the girl) was right there – I hit her mouth, and she pretty much bit me,” the senior forward said of the collision that led to her injury. “That’s why I have a cut on my nose. We just hit each other really hard.” The senior is expected to be sidelined this week and will be checked out when she returns home. “They said I’m probably going to be a raccoon the next couple of days with my black eye and swollen face,” McConnaha said…In Saturday’s title game, the Indians faced a Galloway team led by junior Tianna Thompson, who surpassed the 1,000-point mark in the third game this season and is on the Elite 60 list for the class of 2024 with several Division 1 offers already on the table.
Souderton 17-7-13-10 47
Galloway 8-11-18-6 43
Souderton (47) – Erin Bohmueller 1 0-0 2; Mikayla McGillian 3 4-4 10; Casey Harter 5 2-2 14; Grace McDonough 3 0-0 6; Teya McConnaha 4 6-10 15; TOTALS 16 12-16 47.
Galloway (43) – Eliana Diaz-Williamson 1 0-0 2; Kyla Cain 5 0-0 10; Kailyn Fields 1 0-2 2; Danaya Stokes 3 2-3 8; Tianna Thompson 7 2-2 18; Jasmine Baxter 1 1-2 3; TOTALS 18 5-9 43.
3-point goals: Souderton – Harter 2, McConnaha; Galloway – Tianna Thompson 2.
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