Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action Thursday. Neshaminy/Upper Dublin photos courtesy of Jesse Garber (https://jsgarber.zenfolio.com/p520934698)
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
CHELTENHAM 38, WILLIAM TENNENT 35
The Lady Panthers notched their biggest win of the season, avenging a 16-point loss to the Panthers in the opening week of the season to notch their first division win .
“We won in a tough battle,” Cheltenham coach Ben Bowman said. “The first time we played them this season, they outworked us on both ends of the court. Tonight we matched their intensity and were able to pull out a good win.”
Cheltenham’s winning performance drew a tip of the hat from Tennent coach Laura Whitney.
“I give Cheltenham and Ben (Bowman) a ton of credit,” the Panthers coach said. “He’s got them playing really well right now. They’re a much-improved team than they were when we played them earlier in the year. They always play hard, they always play tough, but you can just see – their girls are having fun, they’re playing with a lot of confidence, and that goes a long way.
“For us, it was a case of too little too late. We made a huge comeback in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately, it took us until the fourth quarter to really kind of wake up and get things going.”
The Lady Panthers, who trailed 4-3 after one quarter, outscored the visiting Panthers 13-2 in the second period to go into halftime with a 16-6 advantage. Cassie Bugg and Mikahila Leighton both scored five points for the home team.
“We just couldn’t get out of our own way,” Whitney said. “Their defense threw us off early in the first half, and we struggled to get in any kind of rhythm. Even when we got open shots from the outside, layups – we just couldn’t find the basket. Nothing was dropping.”
It also didn’t help that Courtney Bragen picked up two early fouls.
“She had to sit pretty much the whole second quarter, so that obviously hurts,” Whitney said. “The way she’s been playing lately, and we rely on her a lot. To not have her leadership on the floor, that definitely hurt us.”
Cheltenham took a 29-14 lead into a final quarter that saw Tennent come alive, outscoring their hosts 21-9 to make it a one-possession game. Tennent’s two seniors – Chase Dubzak and Bragen – accounted for 15 of those points, but the visiting Panthers never could get over the hump.
“We could have easily folded the tent and packed it in, but I told the girls – ‘The game’s not over. Just keeping playing one possession at a time. We’ve got to be a little more assertive on offense,’” Whitney said. “Every possession was huge. We needed to get a good shot every possession.
“I give the girls credit. Things weren’t going our way. There were some questionable calls. We hit a corner three at the end of the third quarter – initially they counted it as good, and then they called it off. It felt like we had to overcome a lot. We came back and got it to within three, got it to a one-possession game. We got a stop with 17 seconds left, we brought it up the floor. I tried to call a timeout, but the ref claimed we didn’t have possession. We would have liked to have gotten one nice look. Unfortunately, we came up short. A ton of credit to Cheltenham because I thought for three quarters of this game they outworked us, they played hard. Sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. We have another game tomorrow. We have to put this behind us and be ready to go tomorrow.”
Amelia Yevoli led the Lady Panthers with 14 and 9 rebounds. Mikahila Leighton and Cassie Bugg both chipped in with 10 a piece.
“I think one player that works her tail off for us is Arianna Davis,” Bowman said. “She’s a sophomore guard who is slowly starting to come into her own on the court. She does all the little things on both ends and is our go-to defender. She hardly gets a break and never complains. Her hard work tonight helped get us started offensively. I’m really proud of this win for our girls.”
Cheltenham (4-14, 1-11 SOL) will travel to Lower Moreland on Friday, and William Tennent (3-14, 3-10) will host New Hope-Solebury on Friday.
William Tennent 4-2-8-21 35
Cheltenham 3-13-13-9 38
William Tennent (35) – Ella Mednick 2 0-2 4; Chase Dubzak 2 4-4 9; Courtney Bragen 4 4-4 12; Alyssa Lewicki 1 1-1 4; Morgan Volz 3 0-0 6. TOTALS 12 9-11 35.
Cheltenham (38) – Mikahila Leighton 2 6-12 10; Arianna Davis 2 0-2 4; Cassie Bugg 3 4-6 10; Amelia Yevoli 6 0-3 14. TOTALS 13 10-23 38.
3-point goals: WT – Chase Dubzak, Alyssa Lewicki; Cheltenham – Amelia Yevoli 2.
Non-league
UPPER DUBLIN 23, NESHAMINY 22
Morgan Funsten was looking for a signature win for his squad, and the Upper Dublin coach got just that with Thursday’s non-league road win over a Neshaminy squad that was just coming off a win over Pennsbury.
“We felt like we have been playing well – we’ve won nine of 10 games, and the girls are starting to gain some confidence with each other,” Funsten said. “The story of the game was definitely on the defensive end for us. Obviously, the key was to stop their big three – (Reese) Zemitis, (Lola) Ibarrondo and (Taylor) Gurysh, especially Zemitis and Ibarrondo. Those two really make them go.”
The UD coach credited several players for leading the defensive charge.
“But it’s really all five girls defensively that have responsibilities of helping in necessary times and staying connected,” Funsten said. “Bliss Brenner guarded Zemitis and held her to six, and Amy Ngo guarded Ibarrondo and held her to two. We wanted the other players to beat us, and the girls did a really, really good job of doing that.”
The two teams were deadlocked 13-13 at halftime. Ngo’s seven points led the Cardinals, and Gurysh, who had a pair of 3s, had eight points for the Redskins.
“It probably doesn’t sound like there were too many exciting plays in the game, but there were,” Funsten said.
According to the UD coach, there were two plays that proved to be backbreakers for the Redskins.
“It was tied at 17, and with four seconds to go in the third quarter, we inbounded the ball side out of bounds,” Funsten said. “Amy Ngo just broke her girl down and made a step-back three at the buzzer to give us some momentum going into the fourth quarter.”
The basket gave the Cardinals a 20-17 lead heading into the final quarter, and the stage was set for yet another clutch offensive play.
“We were holding on for dear life, still playing good defense, but we were not scoring in the fourth quarter,” Funsten said. “We were up 20-19 with about a minute to go. They got the ball inside to Reese (Zemitis) down low. We doubled down and ended up giving up a three on the weak side to Jess Purdy, who hit a couple of big 3s against Pennsbury as well. She hit a big three from the left wing to put them back up two (22-20), and we hadn’t scored all quarter.
“Things probably weren’t looking all that great. They called timeout after the made shot. We came down, missed a shot, got an offensive rebound and then ran a play to get Bliss Brenner a three because there was so much attention on Amy Ngo and Geena Sarnoski. It was a contested three too, but Bliss hit nothing but net on it. It just speaks for what she provides for us. She took four shots tonight and had seven points, she held one of the best players we’ll go against all year to six points, and she hit the game-winning shot.”
The final seconds were not without drama. With 5.8 seconds to go, the Redskins had a side-out inbounds. The Cardinals were whistled for a foul with 1.9 seconds to go.
“It was on the floor, it was our seventh team foul, so they had a one-and-one with 1.9 seconds to go, down one,” Funsten said. “It was a mistake on our part, so we were a little fortunate to escape. They missed the front end of the one-and-one, we got the rebound and the game was over. On a night where I could count on one hand the number of defensive mistakes we made, you would have liked to not have made one there. Sometimes you get fortunate. We did enough things right throughout the game. I thought we deserved to win the game, especially the girls the way they defended all night. It’s not a glamorous score, but the girls were so excited after the game.”
Ngo contributed a game-high 10 points to go along with four rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. Bliss Brenner added seven points and three assists. Aditi Foster had a team-high six rebounds. Colleen Klammer had four boards.
For the Redskins, Gurysh’s eight points led the way. Purdy and Zemitis both had six.
Upper Dublin (13-7, 10-4) – 13th in the latest District One 6A power rankings – will travel to Wissahickon on Friday, and Neshaminy (13-5, 10-3) will be on the road at Harry S Truman on Friday. The Redskins are ninth in the latest rankings.
Upper Dublin 7-6-7-3 23
Neshaminy 5-8-4-5 22
Upper Dublin (23) – Bliss Brenner 3 0-0 7; Aditi Foster 2 0-0 2; Colleen Klammer 1 0-0 2; Amy Ngo 4 0-0 10. TOTALS 10 0-0 23.
Neshaminy (22) – Taylor Gurysh 2 2-2 8; Jess Purdy 2 0-0 6; Lola Ibarrondo 1 0-1 2; Reese Zemitis 2 2-2 6. TOTALS 7 4-5 22.
3-point goals: UD – Amy Ngo 2, Bliss Brenner; Neshaminy – Taylor Gurysh 2, Jess Purdy 2.
UPPER MORELAND 53, JENKINTOWN 33
EmmyFaith Wood scored 23 points while Holly Gohl had 19 to lead the Golden Bears to the decisive non-league win.
“This was a big game for us with playoff implications,” UM coach Matt Carroll said. “Sometimes you can look at box scores and assume you would win or lose a game depending on another game’s outcome.
“We really had to focus in on this game with no assumptions and just play well. We shot well in the first quarter, but defensively we weren’t great.
“I thought we settled in a little more defensively and outscored them 30-11 in the middle quarters. We got lucky in the first half when (Katie) McGrath picked up her second foul. They were a little out of sorts offensively when she went out. Tonight she scored her 1,000th point in the third quarter, and it seemed like 80 percent of the crowd was there for her. It’s such a cool experience to see a kid get that milestone that they’ve worked so hard for. She had to play second fiddle to a lot of great Jenkintown players. It’s great to see her get the spotlight. She’s a great player and a great kid”
Behind Wood’s eight points – which included two 3s, the Golden Bears led 16-11 after one quarter, and in the second quarter they put some distance between themselves and their visitors, outscoring the Drakes 17-5 to go into halftime with a 33-16 lead. Gohl was the catalyst in the second quarter, burying a pair of 3s and scoring 11 points. The Drakes never threatened.
McGrath’s 14 points led the Drakes.
Upper Moreland (13-4, 10-3 SOL) – fourth in the latest District One 5A power rankings – will travel to Springfield Township on Friday.
Jenkintown 11-5-6-11 33
Upper Moreland 16-17-13-7 53
Jenkintown (33) – Chase Shakoor 1 0-0 2; Sarah Cummings 1 0-0 2; Lily O’Brien 2 0-0 4; Molly Stephenson 3 0-0 9; Katie McGrath 4 4-6 14; Julia Walsh 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 12 4-6 33.
Upper Moreland (53) – Brooke Lobban 1 0-0 2; EmmyFaith Wood 10 0-0 23; Holly Gohl 6 3-4 19; Emma Hurley 1 0-0 2; Allie LaRocco 1 0-0 3; Mikel Lancit 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 21 3-4 53.
3-point goals: Jenkintown – Molly Stephenson 3, Katie McGrath 2; UM – EmmyFaith Wood 3, Holly Gohl 4, Allie LaRocco.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 66, WISSAHICKON 53
The Golden Hawks celebrated the team’s two seniors – Ryann Szydlik and Riana Szydlik – with a convincing non-league Senior Night win.
“Any time you have a Senior Night win you feel good,” Rock South coach Blair Klumpp said. “You always feel good for the seniors, and a lot of times as coaches you say every year this is a special group or class.
“Our two seniors are two kids I appreciate so much and have brought so much value to our program especially this year. They are tremendous teammates and people, and I’m glad they got some extended run tonight. Ryann is someone who has had a role for us throughout all four years. It’s varied but she’s always worked hard and did what has been asked. And Ri is someone who has worked really hard to get back on the court, and I told her tonight – ‘Celebrate your successes, it’s been a tough year-and-a-half for you, just soak in tonight.’
“Kids always talk about leaving your imprint on a program, and the way these two carry themselves as teammates and upperclassmen will leave an imprint on our program. Because they have shown the other 18 girls HOW to be a part of something bigger than yourself or individual accolades. They both had as one of their favorite memories our win over Neshaminy (they played a total of six minutes in that game), but they had us dialed in at practice the day before and kept the bench engaged. It just speaks volumes that they bought fully into the program and didn’t feel sorry for themselves one day this year. It’s admirable in high school sports today, and they deserve a ton of credit – they have valued every day they are around our team. They’re inclusive, supportive, tremendous teammates.”
The Goldens, who led by just a 14-12 score after one quarter, took a 32-23 lead into halftime. They added to that in the third quarter on their way to the convincing win.
“This win was good because our energy and effort was good throughout,” Klumpp said. “We really implemented some things we talked about in film, and the girls deserve a ton of credit for that.
“(Kaitlyn) McGeary is such a focal point to Wissahickon, and we did great on her early on, but (Kylie) Friedman really made some shots in the first three quarters to keep them in the mix. I’m happy as a group. We improved in the areas we pointed out in film, and we built off the positives we recognized as well.”
Cam Gregory’s 22 points led the Golden Hawks. She also had four steals. Katie Purpura and Karissa Smedley both added 10 points. Purpura also had four assists while Smedley had two blocks and three steals. Mia Stock and Lily Bross both contributed nine points. Bross also led the Hawks with eight assists.
“KP had another game where her energy really stood out and that’s becoming consistent with our games we win,” Klump said of Purpura. “Now it’s not just one girl doing it consistently, it’s a collective unit. KP and LB (Lily Bross) both had really strong floor games again with better than 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratios. Our pace was really good, and we got a lot of open looks on drives and on the perimeter tonight.
“LB and Cam (Gregory) hit some threes in second half. Cam had a real strong second half to give us some separation. I thought this was our best gang rebounding game all year as evidenced by the numbers of Stock, Smed and KP. Mia (Stock) was really active on offensive glass. Smed (Karissa Smedley) took another charge and keeps stuffing stat sheet. Lil Metrick gave us a good boost off the bench in the first half and looked comfortable catching the ball in space and playing to her strengths.
“Jenna Waterman is another kid who hasn’t played for multiple games, but she has been practicing better and working on some things, and she had a steal and a three to beat the third quarter buzzer. The ability of our girls to be ready when their number is called has been impressive. Obviously, you strive for consistency, but when you have a group that is younger for the most part and learning how to play together, buy in, win together, learn together- there’s going to be inconsistencies. But they are working hard and are a very coachable group. We can enjoy tonight, but this begins a three-games-in-three-days stretch for us with one of the best teams in area coming in tomorrow and we are looking forward to that challenge.”
Council Rock South (10-7, 6-7 SOL) will host Pennsbury on Friday, and Wissahickon (7-11, 4-9) will host Quakertown on Friday at 5 p.m.
Wissahickon 12-11-10-20 53
Council Rock South 14-18-14-20 66
Wissahickon (53) – Evan Schools 2 0-0 4; Kylie Friedman 5 3-4 16; Chloe Acuna 0 1-2 1; Julia Verrier 6 0-2 13; Kenya Williams 1 1-2 3; Kaitlyn McGeary 6 2-6 16. TOTALS 20 7-16 53.
Council Rock South (66) – Liliana Metrick 2 1-4 6; Lily Bross 3 0-3 9; Jenna Waterman 1 0-0 3; Katie Purpura 3 0-0 6; Ry Szydlik 0 1-2 1; Cam Gregory 6 5-6 22; Mia Stock 3 3-4 9; Karissa Smedley 3 4-7 10. TOTALS 21 14-26 66.
3-point goals: Wissahickon – Kylie Friedman 3, Kaitlyn McGeary 2, Julia Verrier; CRS – Cam Gregory 5, Lily Bross 3, Jenna Waterman Liliana Metrick.
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