Check out the winners in SOL girls’ basketball action on Saturday.
Non-league
PENNSBURY 36, VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 27
Kate Mix celebrated her return to the lineup after being sidelined with an injury by scoring a game-high 15 points to lead the Falcons to the non-league win.
“Kate and I have really established a lot of trust with each other,” coach Frank Sciolla said of his sophomore floor general. “We have already turned over the keys to her this year, and she’s playing at a different position that she’s never played before. I think she’s helped me grow as a coach, and I was able to help her grow as a player in terms of handling the ball and being a playmaker for us because we really needed that. She helped us today.”
The Falcons led 10-7 after one quarter and took a 17-12 lead into halftime. The Jems trimmed that lead to 22-20 heading into the final quarter that saw the Falcons – behind seven points from Mix – close it out with a 14-4 tear.
“We were on the road today,” Sciolla said. “They’re really well coached, and they have a real good senior point guard. We limited her and played really good defense. Our rotation was really tight. We were down to six girls after a massive spate of injuries over the last week, but the girls played very well.”
In addition to Mix, Mary Miller and Sydney Buell both added seven points.
“Skyler Sulby has come out of nowhere to play well for us,” Sciolli said. “She has become much more physical, and she’s really improved her skill level this year, and that’s helped us.
“In today’s game, we got a strong performance from Sydney Buell, and our guards – Meredith Webber and Dani Cady – did a good of keeping Marissa Morano, who’s a great player for them, under control. For whatever reason, Villa has been a tough team to play, and it was good to get a win.”
It’s not a coincidence that the Falcons’ schedule this season has included several area private schools.
“One of the things that was our big priority was to keep our middle school girls playing basketball at Pennsbury, whether that’s CYO or regular, and we have not done that,” Sciolla said. “So there’s a reason those girls don’t come.
“We definitely wanted to play Nazareth Academy, we wanted to play Villa Marie, we wanted to play Lawrenceville, and we wanted to play Conwell Egan because these are schools that we sometimes lose athletes to. Those became four games that were really important to us, and fortunately, we were able to win all four of them.”
Pennsbury (8-12, 2-9 SOL) will travel to Bensalem for its conference finale on Tuesday.
Pennsbury 10-7-5-14 36
Villa Joseph Marie 14-7-13-15 27
Pennsbury (34) – Sydney Buell 2 2-5 7; Kate Mix 5 4-5 15; Mary Miller 3 1-2 7; Meredith Webber 1 2-4 5.
Villa Joseph Marie (27) – Marisa Morano 4 0-0 10; Meghan Mulhern 2 0-0 5; Olivia Eife 0 2-2 2; Annie Whalem 2 0-0 4; Krista Hobbib 1 0-0 3; Emily Keefhus 1 0-0 3.
SOUDERTON 55, METHACTON 47
The Indians have been on some kind of tear.
Since losing to Central Bucks West on Jan. 6, the Indians have lost just once, and that came at the hands of conference-leading North Penn with point guard Tori Dowd watching from the sidelines because of an injury.
On Saturday, the Indians put a damper on Methacton’s Senior Night celebration, recuperating from a slow start to defeat the Warriors in a spirited contest.
“I thought Methacton really played inspired basketball,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “They had a lot to play for tonight, and it showed. Their kids made some tough shots, some big shots.”
But when push came to shove, it was the Indians delivering the big play, the big shot. The Indians, who trailed 10-2 after one quarter, found themselves on the short end of a 21-18 halftime score but came out of the locker room looking like a team on a mission.
Back-to-back buckets by Megan Walbrandt– the first a 3-pointer and the second after taking it coast to coast – put the Indians on top 25-23. A fast break bucket by Dowd upped that lead to four. The Indians led 38-32 after four straight points by Alana Cardona – which included a basket after a spinning drive.
The Warriors rallied to knot the score 40-40, but sophomore Megan Bealer broke the tie with a three. The Indians turned a Warriors’ miss into a fast break basket with Walbrandt finding Kate Connolly for a layup that put the Indians on top 45-40. After the Warriors pulled to within two, Cardona buried a baseline jumper, and then Bealer found Connolly underneath for two to give the Indians a 49-42 lead. The Warriors would get no closer than four the rest of the way.
The Indians sealed the win by burying 6-of-6 from the foul line with Connolly – who scored all 10 of her points in the frame – finishing a perfect 4-for-4. Bealer also buried both ends of a one-and-one.
“I think the balance offensively was a big deal,” Carroll said. “We had four kids in double digits, and that’s because we’re making the extra pass, but when we needed big shots at the end, Kate (Connolly) went to the basket, Alana Cardona stepped up, Megan Bealer hit a big three.
“Defensively, our help defense was really, really good a lot of the game, but Methacton played really well. It’s a team that’s having a good year and is going to continue to have a good year in playoffs. It’s a good win.”
Walbrandt led the balanced attack with 13 points, which included a perfect 4-for-4 at the foul line. Bealer and Cardona both added 12 points while Connolly had 10. As a team, the Indians were a near-perfect 13-for-14 from the foul line.
Dowd filled a stat sheet with five points, six assists, eight rebounds and three steals. Bealer also had eight rebounds as well as three steals. In a contest that saw the Indians block eight shots, Walbrandt and Cardona had three each.
Saturday’s win was number 17 for a Souderton squad that won just eight last year. According to Dowd, there are several keys.
“Kate (Connolly) coming back – she’s adding some height, and she can do anything,” the junior point guard said. “Bealer coming into the starting lineup – she can shoot, she can drive, and she’s a great defender.
“Our bench players are always cheering us on, everyone is in the game.”
Highlighting the night for the Warriors was senior Ryan DeOrio surpassing the 1,000-point milestone. The senior guard led Methacton with 15 points while Jill Zerbe had nine and Sydney Thompson had eight.
Souderton (17-4, 8-3 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks South on Tuesday for its regular season finale that could have district seeding implications.
“It’s definitely a lot different (this season),” Dowd said. “It’s exciting. Usually we’re done by now, but we know we have a lot to look forward to.”
Souderton 2-16-20-17 55
Methacton 10-11-15-11 47
Souderton (55) – Tori Dowd 5, Megan Bealer 12, Alana Cardona 12, Megan Walbrandt 13, Sami Falencki 3, Kate Connolly 10.
Methacton (47) – Ryan DeOrio 15, Sydney tornetta 6, Jackie Cerchio 7, Olivia Pennypacker 2, Jill Zerbe 9, Sydney Thompson 8.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 60, INTERBORO 27
Lauren Fortescue had herself a day on Saturday. The PW junior scored a career-high 22 points with most of those coming in the first half. Fortescue scored 14 of her team’s points as the Colonials opened up a 15-5 lead after one quarter. By halftime, she had 19, and the Colonials led 33-12. Fortescue buried six three-pointers on a day that saw PW connect for eight.
Taylor O’Brien added 12 points, and Lauren Coscia had eight.
Plymouth Whitemarsh (22-0, 13-0 SOL) will travel to Prep Charter for a non-league game on Monday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 15-18-16-11 60
Interboro 5-7-11-4 27
Plymouth Whitemarsh (60) – Brooke Felgoise 1 0-0 3; Taylor O’Brien 5 1-2 12; Lauren Fortescue 8 0-0 22; Ali Diamond 0 2-2 2; Haley Zygmunt 2 0-0 4; Laurel Suchsland 0 1-2 1; Sydney Kesselman 3 0-0 6; Lauren Coscia 5 0-0 10.
Interboro (27) – Floyd 2 0-0 5; Diehl 1 0-0 3; Seaman 1 1-2 4; Slatny 0 2-2 2; Laccaria 2 0-0 4; McNamee 1 1-2 3; Walewska 3 0-0 6.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 60, IMHOTEP 47
It was raining threes when the Bucks hosted Imhotep in a non-league game on Saturday. All told, the Bucks connected on 16 (that’s not a typo) 3-pointers, putting on a clinic from beyond the arc.
Six different players connected on 3-pointers, but no one had a hotter hand than Maggie Rakowsky, who connected on five en route to a team-high 20 points. Alex Burkauskas scored 12 points on four 3-pointers, and Maddie Burke – who finished with 13 points – had three 3-pointers.
The Bucks, who led 10-6 after one quarter, went into halftime with a 26-24 lead. It was still anyone’s game heading into the final quarter that saw West outscore its visitors 20-11.
Central Bucks West (16-4, 8-3 SOL) will close out its regular season on Tuesday when the Bucks will host William Tennent.
Imhotep 6-18-12-11 47
Central Bucks West 10-16-14-20 60
BOYERTOWN 54, ABINGTON 49
The Ghosts saw their 10-game winning streak snapped, but in the process, they proved they could play with the district’s best, extending a Boyertown squad that was ranked second in the latest district power rankings to the limit.
“They hit some big shots, and they handled our pressure a lot better than I thought they would,” coach Dan Marsh said. “They’re a good team, and they’re tough at home.
“We were down three and had two good looks at three-pointers, and they didn’t go down. We had our chance to tie the game with under a minute. It was back and forth the whole game. I think it really boiled down to – they made more shots than us. If we buried a couple more shots, then it’s a different game, but they hit some big ones.
“We played well. They’re the number two team in the district, and we know we can beat them. We’re playing well right now. January and February were good for us. We couldn’t get in SOLs anyway, so maybe a loss at this point will re-humble us and get us back to work.”
The Ghosts won the battle in the paint with O’Leary scoring a game-high 20 while Kassondra Brown added 13. Abington limited Boyertown senior center Abby Kapp to just eight points – well below her average of 15.3 a game.
“We did a good job on Kapp, but their little point guard hurt us,” Marsh said of senior Alison Marcus. “We dominated inside, but I thought we could have done a little more down the stretch. We want to speed the game up, but they did a good job of getting back. We didn’t have very many fast break points. We didn’t turn them over as much as we wanted to. They were prepared for us.”
The Ghosts, who led by one after the first quarter, took a 27-25 lead into halftime. The Bears used a 17-8 third quarter to take a 42-35 lead into the final quarter.
“It was a really good game,” Marsh said. “They got a breakaway layup at the end with an intentional foul, and that’s the only reason it was a five-point win for them. It was right down to the wire.”
In addition to O’Leary and Brown combining for 33 points, point guard Britney James added seven points.
Boyertown was led by the 19-point effort of Alison Marcus. Kaitlyn Armstrong added 14.
Abington (16-5, 9-2 SOL) will close out its regular season on Tuesday night at Council Rock South.
Abington 11-16-8-14 49
Boyertown 10-15-17-12 54
Abington (49) – Britney James 7, Camryn Lexow 2, Lizzie O’Leary 20, Kassondra Brown 13, Sam Brusha 2, Tamia Wessels 5.
Boyertown (54) – Kaitlyn Armstrong 14, Victoria Boalton 5, Alison Marcus 19, Kylie Webb 7, Abby Kapp 8, Jennifer O’Connor 1.
POTTSGROVE 45, BENSALEM 35
The Owls fell to the visiting Falcons in a non-league contest. Anna Dean scored nine points to lead the Owls, and Chloe Munyon added eight. Sydney Bawuah scored six, and Haley Kenan had four.
Pottsgrove senior guard Diana Randleman led all scorers with 22 points, and junior Jenna Yerger added 12.
Bensalem (2-19, 0-11 SOL) will host Pennsbury on Tuesday.
NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 47, UPPER MORELAND 16
“Treats for Troops” an Annual
The Spartans were once again successful in gathering supplies and packing “Treats for Troops.” This is the third year that the team has partnered with the Philadelphia Treats for Troops, which is dedicated to providing service members with care packages as a way of showing support. Additional information about this ongoing initiative can be found at philatreatsfortroops.com.
About the Author
