Upper Dublin & Neshaminy were winners Saturday and will meet in Tuesday’s SOL Tournament title game at Holy Family University. Upper Dublin/CB East photos courtesy of John Gleeson. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f913170668
SOL Tournament (Semifinals)
#1 UPPER DUBLIN 40, #5 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 34
The game was slipping away from the Cardinals.
Or at least so it seemed when a once 11-point lead was trimmed to one after East’s Syd Ralph buried a 3-pointer with just over five minutes remaining in Saturday’s semifinal contest. But the Cardinals – minus two of their top players – simply refused to lose.
UD senior Amy Ngo scored on a drive, and then neither team could find the net for a while. Until junior Kaitlyn Zacharia hit nothing but net on a baseline 3 with 2:39
remaining to give the Cardinals a 35-29 lead. It was Zacharia’s only basket of the game, but it was the backbreaker.
“Kaitlyn Zacharia is a softball player who gets the concept of team,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “There have been a couple games this year where she hasn’t played and she’s always ready.
“We can trust that we can put her in in any tough spot – 32-29 and both teams struggling to score, she made the shot of the game. She shot it with confidence. It’s so fun to have kids like that around the program who get the concept of team.”
Saturday’s win was as gutsy as they get for a Cardinal squad that suffered a devastating blow when sophomore Megan Ngo – the team’s gifted floor general – went down with a knee injury in the first quarter of Friday’s win over Bensalem.
“Right away – I saw her go down, and Meg is so tough,” said Amy Ngo, her sister who tore up her knee two years ago in a district game at Pennsbury. “She’s goes down like that a lot, and when she didn’t get up, I know right away – I was like, ‘No, this can’t be real.’ I started walking, and I’m bawling my
eyes out. I got over (to the bench), and I’m so upset because I know exactly what she’s feeling in the moment.
“It was just a really hard game yesterday. I think the whole game I was playing in tears. I couldn’t contain it. I haven’t watched any of the film from last night, which normally, I’m watching the night of the game, but I was like – no, I can’t.”
If losing Megan Ngo wasn’t enough, the Cardinals were also without freshman Tamia Clark, who was also sidelined Saturday with an ankle injury. Giving the Cardinals all kinds of excuses to lose.
“It’s been a rough 24 hours,” said Amy. “I woke up this morning bawling my eyes out. It was 7 a.m. – I barely got any sleep, and I was like, ‘I can’t just sit here and be sad.’”
So she texted her coach asking when the gym would be open.
“He’s like, ‘All morning,’ so I got here around 9-9:15,” Amy said. “I’ve been here all day long. I just needed to take my mind off things.
“I was here when Funsten texted me and was like, ‘Just so you know, T (Tamia Clark) is probably unlikely.’ I was like, ‘Just add more and more to how I’m feeling. All right, great.’
“We watched a lot of film on this team, and I was like, ‘All right, I feel ready.’ I knew we could beat this team even without T and Meg. Obviously, they’re huge parts of our team, and it’s a really big loss without them.”
The loss of two key starters gave Zacharia and Bridget DiMartile their first varsity starts.
“A lot of credit goes to Bridget DiMartile and Kaitlyn Zachiara,” Funsten said. “DiMartile has been in our rotation all year, and she might as well be a starter, the foundation has been laid by the seniors, who I can’t say enough about.”
Twins Brighid and Nora Brady – seniors along with Amy Ngo – are not in the forefront, but their value to the team cannot be overstated.
“They are so incredibly important,” Amy said. “There are times I can’t contain myself. We were here today. It was after the shootaround, it was around 11:30, and I just started crying while I’m stretching. And I’m by myself and I’m just sitting there – they both came over, calmed me down, talked to me, helped me out, and that’s exactly what I needed from them.
“They know, they understand. They’re so supportive of everyone. They do exactly what we need them to do.”
It was Nora Brady setting the tone by burying a pair of 3-pointers while Brighid added three points in a first quarter that saw the Cards open up an 11-5 lead. In the second quarter, Amy Ngo buried back-to-back 3-pointers. Brighid Brady also had a 3 while DiMartile had four points as the Cardinals opened up a 24-15 halftime lead. Anna Barry accounted for 10 of her team’s 15 points.
In the third quarter, the Patriots trimmed three points off the Cards’ lead, and it was a 30-24 game heading into the final quarter that saw the Patriots rally, but the Cards persevered.
“I think me and the twins really stepped up big today, taking over the leadership, and obviously, Kaitlyn Z hitting that huge 3, and DiMartile was all over the boards, getting her shot,” Amy Ngo said. “Before the game, we said – we’re missing two of our top scorers, we need everyone to be aggressive. I was like, ‘Our roles are going to change, and we all need to be okay with making mistakes and we need to pick each other up,’ and I thought that’s exactly what we did today.”
Ngo’s 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists led the Cardinals. Nora Brady had nine points, five rebounds and two steals, and Brighid Brady had eight points, six
rebounds, two assists and two steals. DiMartile had six points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
For the Patriots, Barry led the way with 14 points while Ralph added eight and Jess Lockwood, six points.
Upper Dublin (23-1, 16-0 SOL) will face Neshaminy in Tuesday’s title game at Holy Family University at 6 p.m. Central Bucks East (18-6, 11-5) will return to action in next weekend’s opening round of the District 1 6A Tournament.
Extra points: Clark’s injury, according to Funtsten, occurred late in Friday’s win. “She kind of labored through the end of the game,” the UD coach said. “I took her out with two minutes to go when the game was decided. She played the whole fourth quarter until then. She was noticeably struggling. I told her to let me know how she feels today. She emailed me this morning and said she didn’t think she would be able to go. Our trainer confirmed that she’s going to be day-to-day. Losing Meg yesterday, we needed everybody else, (all) hands on deck, and our seniors found a way.” While Clark is day to day, Megan Ngo will have an MRI on Monday. “Pray for a miracle – we’re hoping,” Amy said. “I think that her getting hurt has taken a toll on me more than me getting hurt. Last night I walked into her room at like midnight. She started sobbing and then I started sobbing. It was so loud – my mom walked in and started crying. It’s so much harder than what I got hurt, and the fact that it’s my senior year – we’re never going to play together again, and that’s probably the hardest for both of us. Things happen, there’s nothing we can do about it. We just have to look forward and get through it. Everyone is being positive We’ll see, we’ll see.”
Central Bucks East 5-10-9-10 34
Upper Dublin 11-13-6-10 40
Central Bucks East (34) – Sydney Ralph 2 4-4 9; Natalie Berndt 1 0-0 3; Anna Barry 6 0-0 14; Jess Lockwood 2 0-0 6; Chantal Van Dongeren 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 12 4-4 34.
Upper Dublin (40) – Brighid Brady 2 3-4 8; Bridget DiMartile 2 2-4 6; Amy Ngo 5 2-2 14; Kaitlyn Zachiara 1 0-0 3; Nora Brady 3 0-0 9; TOTALS 13 7-10 40.
3-point goals: CBE – Jess Lockwood 2, Anna Barry 2, Sydney Ralph, Natalie Berndt; UD – Nora Brady 3, Amy Ngo 2, Brighid Brady, Kaitlyn Zachiara.
#3 NESHAMINY 54, #2 NORTH PENN 36
On Jan. 5, Neshaminy fell to North Penn 39-31 in a crossover game. In the six weeks since that contest, the Redskins have won 11 of 12 games and brought a six-game winning streak into Saturday’s rematch in an SOL Tournament semifinal.
For one quarter, it looked as though the Knights might once again have the Redskins’ number as they opened up an 11-5 lead. The rest of the night belonged to the visiting ‘Skins, who outscored their hosts 49-29 over the final three quarters.
“The difference between the last time we played them and this time? A lot of things,” Neshaminy coach John Gallagher said. “I gave the girls bad matchups the last game. The kid that came off the bench for them – number 12 (Lily Brown), the freshman, left-hander – she diced us up. I put Alena (Cofield) on her tonight. For the three quarters, we were good, and when the game got a little bit out of hand, (Brown) got us a little bit.
“Ava Irizarry’s defense and her shot making was as good as can be. I could not be happier for that girl. She came through our program, put her time in – jayvee bench, jayvee starter, varsity bench, varsity starter. I’m thrilled for her.”
Irizarry is one of the unsung heroes on this year’s successful squad, and she was pivotal in Neshaminy’s 21-4 second quarter tear that sent the team into halftime with a 26-15 lead. Irizarry buried a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter and had eight points. She also contributed on defensive end where she is assigned one of the opposing team’s top scorers.
“I just try to stop them as much as I can and really just limit the number of shots they get,” said Irizarry. “They’re a pretty high scoring team, we kept them to a really low score even though we weren’t playing our best. So, we knew that we could definitely get the jump on them if we just focused more together as a team.”
As for the journey that led to becoming a contributor, Irizarry says it’s been a lot of fun
“It’s been crazy going through all the different levels, but it definitely helped me develop as a player and got me where I am,” she said. “This year it’s so exciting to finally be a big part and help my team the best I can.”
While Irizarry has been one of the team’s unsung heroes, teammate Reese Zemitis has lived in the spotlight, and in Saturday’s game, she was pretty close to unstoppable. The Bucknell-bound senior accounted for all five of Neshaminy’s first-quarter points and then added 10 more in the second quarter, giving her 15 for the half with three 3-pointers.
“We were down 11-5 early, and then Reese became Reese and hit some really tough shots,” Gallagher said. “Our halfcourt defense before the game got a little out of hand was fabulous. We held them to 15 points in the first half. They scored 12 in the third quarter, and for the first three or four minutes of the fourth quarter, we were really, really good.”
Defense, according to Zemitis, turned the game in the Redskins’ favor.
“I feel like our momentum really just turned up – being able to get the rebounds and stopping them on defense was really big, and being able to push it was a huge change in momentum so I think that really helped us get going,” Zemitis said.
The senior captain finished with 26 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots in a dazzling performance.
“I feel like once I see (a shot) go through the net I just have the confidence to keep shooting,” Zemitis said. “I feel like it’s a hot hand type of thing. If I see one go in, I’m going to keep shooting. Even if I miss, it’s not going to discourage me from shooting.”
Irizarry and Lola Ibarrondo both finished with 10 points. Irizarry had four rebounds and three assists while Ibarrondo had a team-high seven rebounds and seven assists. The Redskins have assists on 16 of 20 baskets.
“Another difference between our first game against them was Lola, who was diagnosed with bronchitis the next day. I had told Meg (Gallagher) we shouldn’t play her after half, and she said, ‘You tell her she isn’t playing, I’m not,’” Gallagher said. “We really wanted to win this for Lola because Lola’s going to be at Holy Family next year and she’s going to be at Holy Family on Tuesday.”
There’s no mistaking the significance of advancing to Tuesday’s title game.
“It’s so exciting for us,” Irizarry said. “It’s the first time we’ve been in it. It’s just a huge accomplishment for us, and I’m so proud of us. We just play so well together. I’m just so happy for all of our players.”
“It’s huge to get there,” Zemitis said. “It’s obviously been a goal for us since our freshman year, so it’s really big that we get that opportunity to do that as seniors and hopefully take it all.”
For the Knights, Caleigh Sperling led the way with 13 points while Cameron Crowley added nine – all in the first half. Lily Brown added seven points – all in the second half.
Neshaminy (20-4, 14-2) will face Upper Dublin in Tuesday’s title game at 6 p.m. at Holy Family University. North Penn (21-3, 15-1) will return to action in the District 1 6A Tournament.
Neshaminy 5-21-8-20 54
North Penn 11-4-12-9 36
Neshaminy (54) – Grace Weyler 1 0-0 3; Alena Cofield 1 3-4 5; Lola Ibarrando 5 0-0 10; Ava Irizarry 4 0-0 10; Reese Zemitis 9 4-4 26; TOTALS 20 7-8 54
North Penn (36) – Cameron Crowley 4 0-0 9; Caleigh Sperling 5 2-3 13; Lily Brown 3 1-1 7; Leah Mikulski 1 0-0 2; Tallie Smink 2 0-0 5; TOTALS 15 3-4 36.
3-point goals: Neshaminy – Reese Zemitis 4, Ava Irizarry 2, Grace Weyler; NP – Cameron Crowley, Caleigh Sperling, Tallie Smink.
About the Author
