Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Saturday.
Non-league
BENSALEM 32, NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 31
It looked as if Saturday’s non-league game was about to fall into the category of a nice effort by the Owls, albeit one that saw them come up just short. That, however, was before an unlikely sequence of events in the game’s closing seconds. The Owls-trailed by one after Rachel Saxton buried a pair of foul shots with 41 seconds remaining and then misfired on a chance for the lead.
Things went from bad to worse when Haley Keenan – who led all scorers with 19 points – was whistled for her fifth foul with 22 seconds remaining.
“That’s motivation for us to win,” junior Chloe Munyon said of losing the Owls’ top offensive weapon.
The Owls had a reprieve when the Lions missed the front end of a one-and-one, but two timeouts later, they missed on a chance for the lead. The rebound went over the end line, giving the Lions possession with 11.5 seconds remaining, and things were about to get even crazier as Lions were whistled for a five-second violation on the in-bounds. Chloe Munyon was fouled with 9.1 seconds remaining, and with the outcome hanging in the balance, the junior guard calmly drained both ends of a one-and-one, looking for all the world as though she’d been down that road many times before.
“I kind of toned everybody out – I don’t hear anything,” Munyon said. “Just do it for the team, not just for me and make it into the playoffs. This is something we’ve been waiting for for three years.”
When the Lions’ shot for the tie fell short, the huge win – which solidifies the Owls’ in the District One 6A power rankings – was in the books.
New Hope-Solebury, under coach Andy Krasna, has made defense its calling card, so it shouldn’t have been all that surprising that the visiting Owls struggled through the opening 16 minutes, managing just nine points and trailing the Lions 19-9.
The second half – well, that was another story. When Kate Dougherty sank one-of-two at the foul line to open the third quarter, the Lions led by 11. Moments later, Emily Wineburg found a cutting Haley Keenan for an easy bucket. Six minutes later, senior Michaela Sit ducked under a Lion for a basket to cap a dazzling 16-2 run.
“I guess we just woke up in the second half – it’s time to play, let’s go,” Keenan said.
Keenan accounted for nine third-quarter points. A three-pointer by Rachel Saxton knotted the score, bringing an end to a quarter that saw the Owls outscore their hosts 16-6.
“We played better defense in the second half, and we all realized we’re not down by that much – it was only 10 points with two quarters left in the game,” Keenan said. “We just stepped it up in the second half – played really good defense and started making our shots.”
The Lions went on top 27-25, but five straight points from Keenan – a three and an acrobatic shot on a drive – gave the Owls a 30-27 lead. The Lions answered with four straight points to go on top 31-30, setting the stage for the dramatic finish and a win that may well have vaulted the Owls into the district playoffs.
“I had faith in us,” Keenan said. “When we first started (two years ago as freshmen), we were just young, but now we know what we’re doing.
“We’re 13-6, which is crazy to think about. To go from two (wins) to seven to 13 wins is insane. It’s everyone on the team – everyone did their job, and we love each other, support each other.”
Keenan scored 14 of her game-high 19 in the second half. She had three three-pointers
“And she made tough shots,” Krasna said of Keenan. “Our whole game plan was around her.
“I thought we had a good game plan. Hey, you know what – they earned it.”
In addition to Keenan, Munyon scored seven points and Sit had six as just three players contributed scoring in a win that left coach Sheldon Per smiling.
“They’ve been great all year,” the Owls’ coach said of his players. “First of all, they lost a super sophomore (Kim Kaile) for the year to an ACL. They lost their coach (Don Bogan).
“I was supposed to be a consultant and help out, and now I’ve got the team. They lost their sixth man who decided she didn’t like basketball, so she left the team, which is fine. I only want girls that want to play. These girls work hard every practice for two hours. I start a freshman, three juniors and one senior, and anybody I bring off the bench is a freshman.
“They’re great. I love these kids. They come to play. I’ve enjoyed this year as much as any boys’ team. We won a lot of titles (with the boys), but this has been rewarding as anything. They told us when I was helping that these girls would win five or six games. They haven’t made the playoffs in 10-15 years and won two league games in two years. They come to play and they’re great to coach.”
Bensalem (13-6, 6-5 SOL) will travel to Council Rock North Tuesday for its conference finale.
Bensalem 3-6-16-7 32
New Hope-Solebury 12-7-6-6 31
Bensalem (32) – Michaela Sit 6, Haley Keenan 19, Chloe Munyan 7.
New Hope-Solebury (31) – Kate Dougherty 1, Rachel Saxton 13, Sabrina Vlahovic 4, Zoe Palau 3, Jordyn Sherman 7, Juliana Covino 3.
UPPER DUBLIN 45, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 39
Jackie Vargas scored 17 points – which included a perfect 7-for-7 effort at the foul line, and Dayna Balasa added 12 points on four threes. Their combined offensive performances negated the 20-point effort of West junior Maddie Burke, who buried four three-pointers.
Behind 10 points from Burke, the Bucks led 13-11 after one quarter. Balasa had a pair of threes to lead the Cardinals. At halftime, the Bucks led 27-24.
“We started the game off making our shots, and Maddie Burke made some really tough shots – it’s certainly not a fluke that she makes them because she’s that good,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “The first half I thought we made mistakes defensively, and I thought CB West did a great job taking advantage of them.”
Then came a third quarter that saw the Bucks manage just four points while the Cardinals – or more specifically Vargas – had seven, and the two teams were deadlocked.
“In the second half, we didn’t make the same mistakes defensively,” Funsten said. “I think both teams cooled down from the field in the second half, and it was a little slower pace. They played us in zone, which we haven’t seen a lot of this year.
“Jackie Vargas came out and scored the first seven points of the second half. It seems as time has been going on and she’s been developing, she dominates for longer parts of games, which is a great thing for us. In the past, she would dominate for a minute at a time, and now she’s dominating for minutes at a time and really taking games over for stretches.
“She scored the first seven points and we were playing as good of defense as we’ve played all year early in the second half, just grinding out possessions defensively and getting stops.”
The Cardinals closed out the game with a 19-8 fourth quarter tear, and after scoring 27 points in the first half, the Bucks managed just 12 after the intermission.
“Kara Grebe hit a jumper to put us up by two, Sarah Eskew made a runner on the right baseline to put us up four, and then Dayna Balasa made a three and Jackie Vargas got fouled, so we went on a 9-0 run in about a minute-and-a-half,” Funsten said. “It seemed like it put the game out of reach, but Maddie Burke – I think she scored eight points in the first two minutes of the game and she scored eight points in the last minute of the game. Sandwiched in between that she scored four points in the other 29 minutes. Part of it was on us and part of it – you just tip your hat to her.
“It was a great team win. Everyone contributed. You go on the road coming off a tough league game the night before, not a ton of preparation for them. I was proud of how the girls responded.”
In addition to scoring 17 points, Vargas added eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Also for the Cardinals – the fourth seed in the latest District One 6A power rankings, Eskew had eight points. Jess Polin had three points, five assists and four rebounds.
Treon added eight points for the Bucks, and Olivia Irons had seven. The Bucks are 14th in the latest district power rankings.
Upper Dublin (17-3, 11-1 SOL) will host Wissahickon on Tuesday, Central Bucks West (12-8, 7-3) will host Quakertown on Tuesday.
Upper Dublin 11-13-7-19 45
Central Bucks West 13-14-4-8 39
Upper Dublin (45) – Anajae Smith 3, Jess Polin 3, Kara Grebe 2, Sarah Eskew 8, Dayna Balasa 12, Jackie Vargas 17.
Central Bucks West (39) – Olivia Irons 7, Jess Broskey 2, Maddie Burke 20, Izzy Treon 8, Tori Abelson 2.
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 65, COLLEGIUM CHARTER 23
It hasn’t been the easiest of seasons for the Spartans, but on Saturday, they had reason to celebrate, racing out of the gate to a 17-2 lead after one quarter and outscoring their visitors in all four quarters.
“This has been a tough week,” coach Dave Giordano said. “The last two weeks they have made a boatload of improvement defensively, and you could see it on the court and you could see it in some of the scores.
“They work hard defensively, they’re learning, and their energy level has been good. Offensively, when we struggle to put the ball in the basket, it’s difficult to get back in transition, and that’s what has hurt us. We decided to be more aggressive. We had nothing to lose, and we needed to put pressure on another team for a change. Their defense turned into a boatload of opportunities, and for a change the lid wasn’t on the basket. We converted, and it was truly a team effort.”
Sophomore Maddie Yoder led the Spartans with 14 points, and junior Emily Guicheteau added 12. Freshman Annie Coll and senior Grace Barraclough both added nine points while junior Rileigh Serroni had seven.
“All 12 girls played, and most of them played close to a quarter,” Giordano said. “They got some good action. The last 10 days have been a little rocky, and it was a good way to end the week. We have three (games) next week, we’ll take them one at a time, and we’ll see what happens.”
Springfield Township (3-16, 2-11 SOL) will travel to Cheltenham on Tuesday.
Collegium Charter 2-6-8-7 23
Springfield Township17-11-14-21 65
Collegium Charter (23) – Levan 4, Sepulveda 3, Blackburn 2, Brown 7, Robinson 4, Culclasure 1, Kiley 2.
Springfield Township (65) – Annie Coll 9, Grace Barraclough 9, Raya Davis 4, Rileigh Serroni 7, Maddie Yoder 14, Emily Smith 4, Emily Guicheteau 12, Allison Briggs 2, Emma Cawley 4.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 52, MASTERY CHARTER NORTH 47
The Titans opened up a 12-3 lead after one quarter and took a 24-18 lead into halftime. Mastery Charter kept it close until the final horn.
“It was a good game,” coach Beth Mattern said. “Clutch foul shooting down the stretch was key.”
The Titans – who were 24-for-28 from the line in the game – buried 6-of-8 in the third quarter with Alexa Brodie’s 4-for-4 leading the way. In the fourth quarter, the Titans were nearly perfect, connecting on 13-of-14. Taylor McShane was 3-for-4 while Brodie, Alyssa D’Orazio, Mackenzie Erb, Allie Burke and Sofia Sonnet were all 2-for-2.
A pair of freshman – Hinkle and Erb – led a balanced scoring effort with 12 points each. Brodie added 11, which included a 9-for-10 effort at the foul line.
Central Bucks South (11-8, 6-3 SOL) will host Pennridge on Monday.
Mastery Charter North 3-15-11-18 47
Central Bucks South 12-12-12-16 52
Mastery Charter North (46) – Jaylah Robinson 24, Jimia Davis 12, Angela Sanders 5, Ayanna Eldridge 6.
Central Bucks South (52) – Alyssa D’Orazio 4, Taylor Hinkle 12, Mackenzie Erb 12, Allie Burke 6, Alexa Brodie 11, Sofia Sonnet 5, Fatima Cervera 2.
About the Author
