PW clinched sole possession of the SOL American Conference title. CB East, UD and Wissahickon were also winners. Photos of the Wissahickon/Springfield game provided courtesy of Kim Supko. Check back for a gallery of photos.
American Conference
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 66, QUAKERTOWN 23
1983.
That’s the last time a PW girls’ basketball team captured sole possession of a conference title. The program’s 34-year drought came to an end Friday night at Quakertown when PW – which won a share of the crown in the 1996-97 season – rolled to its 19th win without a loss, clinching sole possession of the SOL American Conference title.
“It means the world,” coach Daniel Dougherty said. “It’s such a tremendous accomplishment.
“It’s been a long time in the making, a lot of work, a lot of time in the offseason together. This team has gown together. They’ve been playing together for a long time. Everyone is back from last year. It’s a real tremendous accomplishment, and to be undefeated – that makes it even more special.”
The team’s celebration, according to Dougherty, was relatively subdued.
“We did celebrate a little bit, but it wasn’t anything over the top,” the PW coach said. “After we celebrated, we talked, and the goal now is – we want to go 22-0. Objective number one is accomplished, but we want to have that undefeated regular season.
“As we were on the long bus ride home tonight, we were talking about it, and it really hasn’t even sank in what we’ve been able to do. Just think about the long runs Cheltenham and Upper Dublin have had in our league. It’s special to knock the two of them off.”
In Friday’s win, the Colonials, who led 11-7 after one quarter, took a 27-11 lead into halftime and then outscored their hosts 39-12 in the second half.
Taylor O’Brien led the Colonials with 26 points, and Lauren Fortescue had 12. Ali Diamond added eight points on a night that saw nine PW players contribute scoring.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (19-0, 13-0 SOL) will travel to Interboro on Saturday for a non-league game at 1 p.m. Quakertown (9-11, 5-7) will host Wissahickon on Tuesday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 11-16-24-15 66
Quakertown 7-4-5-7 23
Plymouth Whitemarsh (66) – Taylor O’Brien 11 2-4 26, Lauren Fortescue 5 0-0 12; Gia Schweitzer 1 0-0 2; Ali Diamond 3 1-1 8; Haley Zygmunt 2 0-0 4; Sydney Kesselman 1 0-0 2; Alyse Caffrey 1 0-0 2; Rivers 2 0-0 4 Lauren Coscia 2 2-2 4.
WISSAHICKON 42, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 35
The Trojans led by just one after the opening quarter but outscored the visiting Spartans 10-2 in the second quarter. It was a 31-26 game heading into the final frame as the Trojans went on to earn the win.
Brianna Tilghman had a big game for the Trojans with 16 points. Carolina Mack added seven, and Lexi Carradorini had six.
Springfield’s Grace Barraclough led all scorers with 19 points.
Wissahickon (10-11, 6-7 SOL) will travel to Quakertown on Tuesday, and Springfield (6-15, 4-10) will host Quakertown on Tuesday.
Springfield 11-2-13-9 35
Wissahickon 12-10-9-11 42
Springfield (35) – Jameson Krewson 2, Mary Kate Smith 2, Siana Wynn 5, Grace Barraclough 19, Rileigh Serroni 3, Brielle Pratt 4.
Wissahickon (42) – Brianna Tilghman 16, Jasmine Bishop 3, Lexi Carradorini 6, Carolina Mack 7, Sydney Ott 1, Hilma Meiby 2, Julianne Griffin 5, Carly Fadel 2.
UPPER DUBLIN 54, UPPER MORELAND 11
The Flying Cardinals led 14-2 after one quarter and took a 38-8 lead into halftime on their way to the decisive win.
Nicole Kaiser led a balanced attack with 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Josie Barrett added 11 points, three rebounds and three steals, and Jackie Vargas had 10 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Meg Barbera contributed nine points on three 3-pointers. She also had three rebounds. Maggie Weglos finished with eight points, six assists and three rebounds.
Upper Dublin (15-5, 10-2 SOL) will be on the road at Cheltenham on Tuesday, and Upper Moreland (0-20, 0-13) will host New Hope-Solebury in a non-league contest on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Upper Moreland 2-6-0-3 11
Upper Dublin 14-24-13-3 54
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 33, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 28
The play was textbook.
Grace Stewart – on the receiving end of a lead pass on the fast break – was in position to take the shot when she spotted teammate Megan Browne wide open on the opposite side of the basket. Stewart passed the ball to Browne, who finished off the fast break.
“Oh, that was nice,” said junior point guard Bailey McManus. “In the end-of-game situations where we could have pulled it out, she found an open layup. She made a perfect pass. It was really nice.”
“Honestly, I thought – she’s more open than I am,” Stewart said of the bang-bang sequence. “I think it gave us momentum.”
The play gave the Patriots a 27-18 lead with 4:49 remaining in the low-scoring game, prompting the Titans to call a hasty timeout.
As expected, the Titans didn’t go down quietly, reeling off seven unanswered points to make it a 27-25 game when Maddie McShane scored on a tough shot in traffic with 2:45 remaining.
Neither team scored until McManus connected on both ends of a one-and-one with 51 seconds remaining. After a Titan miss at the other end, McManus once again converted both ends of a one-and-one to put the Patriots on top 31-25.
South sophomore Alexa Brodie cut that lead in half with a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining. Bridget Birkhead was fouled on the ensuing inbounds and buried a pair at the line to seal the Patriots’ fate in a contest that featured more defense than offense.
“In games like tonight, I look towards defense more because I’ve always been told that defense is going to win the games,” Stewart said. “As long as you score more than the other team, you get the win.
After a first half that saw both teams struggle to find the basket despite some opportunities in close, it was the Patriots with a 14-12 lead. The Patriots began to take control with a 9-4 third quarter, but the Titans didn’t go down quietly.
“We talked about it at halftime – there were too many missed layups,” East coach Liz Potash said. “We were getting really good looks in the first half that we couldn’t finish, and I felt like we were holding them to tougher shots.
“When we got that little lead going in the third quarter, they came right back, to their credit. They’re a really good defensive team, so baskets don’t come easy on them either, but we were able to make some big foul shots at the end – Bailey made four, and Bridget (Birkhead) made two, and that’s what we would hope a seasoned team with seven seniors would do at this point in the season.”
Bri Talbot led the Patriots with 10 points while Stewart added six.
The Titans – who were once again without Lindsay Scott – were led by Alexa Brodie with 13 points while Haley Meinel added seven.
The win was the second of the season for the Patriots over their sister school, and this one couldn’t have come at a better time as teams vie for positioning in the power rankings.
“It’s really big,” Potash said. “We’re down to our last two games. We have North Penn on Tuesday, and Perk Valley is Thursday.
“Every game is big, especially when you start 1-4. You’re playing catch-up the whole time. For the girls to be able to rebound from that start and get to where they are right now – since that 1-4 start, we’re 12-3.”
“It’s definitely our time to show everybody that how we started is not how we plan to finish at all,” Stewart said.
Central Bucks East (13-7, 6-5 SOL) will host North Penn on Tuesday, and Central Bucks South (16-5, 6-5) will host Souderton.
Central Bucks South 6-6-4-12 28
Central Bucks East 7-7-9-10 33
Central Bucks South (28) – Melissa Veal 1 0-0 2; Meghan Kuypers 0 2-2 2; Haley Meinel 2 2-2 7; Alexa Brodie 4 3-4 13; Lexi Edwards 0 0-0 0; Maddie McShane 1 2-2 4 Totals 8 9-10 28.
Central Bucks East (33) – Bridget Birkhead 0 4-4 4; Megan Browne 2 0-0 4; Bailey McManus 0 4-4 4; Bri Talbot 4 2-4 10; Grace Stewart 3 0-0 6; Gina Russon 1 1-2 3; Abby Charlton 1 0-0 2; Totals 11 11-14 33.
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