Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action on Thursday.
SOL National Conference
NESHAMINY 53, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 34
The Redskins celebrated Senior Night by clinching a share of their fourth title in six years with their win over the Golden Hawks. A highlight of the night was the contribution of the team’s lone senior, Taylor Kelly, who buried a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to finish with six points.
Junior Allison Harvey led all scorers with 16 points, and it was her hot hand in the third quarter that sparked an 18-2 tear by the Redskins to blow the game wide open. In the quarter, Harvey buried three 3-pointers and scored 11 points. Brooke Mullin added 15 points – 10 in a first half that saw the Redskins open up a 21-17 lead. Also finishing in double figures was point guard Kristin Curley with 11 points – seven in the third quarter.
Leading the Golden Hawks was freshman Nicole Blaustein with 16 points.
Neshaminy (10-2 SOL) – the 10th seed in the District One 6A power rankings – closed out the regular season with a 16-5 record. Council Rock South (7-14, 3-8) will close out its season with a home game against Harry S Truman on Friday.
Council Rock South 4-13-2-15 34
Neshaminy 10-11-18-14 53
Council Rock South (34) – Nicole Blaustein 16, Claudia Steinmetz 4, Hannah Binder 2, Allison McGowan 5, Bailey Vetter 2, Carley Irvin 5.
Neshaminy (53) – Brooke Mullin 15, Allison Harvey 16, Kristin Curley 11, Kelli Kowalick 2, Emily Tantala 2, Taylor Kelly 6, Sydney Tryon 2.
PENNSBURY 59, HARRY S TRUMAN 34
Sydney Buell made the final home game of her high school career a memorable one, scoring a game-high 20 points in a win that gave the Falcons a .500 record for the regular season. It also put them in a position to potentially earn a district berth – they are the 24th seed in what will be a 24-team field in District One 6A. The final field of 24 will be announced on Sunday.
“I’ve been really lucky over 22 years to be able to coach some really good kids,” coach Frank Sciolla said. “I always think about the first year at Bristol, the experience of being in the state championship and all those years Pennsbury with all those great kids and teams, but the feeling that we have at the end with this group – I’d put up with any of those.”
Making this year’s experience so gratifying to Sciolla is the obstacles the Falcons had to overcome.
“It started back a week before the season started – our point guard came and said she was not going to play this year as a senior, and her backup from last year (Nicole Baionno) had torn her ACL, so she wasn’t available until last week,” Sciolla said. “You get that piece of information, and in that same week, two ninth grade girls that we thought would be coming out decided to focus on volleyball, so before you knew it, we had to cancel our ninth grade team.
“We were worried, and what we did is we brought them all up to jayvee and varsity. That created a tough dynamic in terms of maturity for our older girls. Our captains were Syd Buell, who’s a senior, and Kate Mix, who’s a junior.”
The Falcons suffered a major setback when Mix was lost for the season after tearing her ACL on Dec. 21 in a game against Abington.
“The thought of playoffs was replaced by – is she okay, and will we win another game,” Sciolla said. “You keep going next girl up, next girl up. The next girl up at that time was another ninth grader.
“We went down to Wildwood (over the holiday break) and had a couple of losses. I felt like as we drove home in the van the girls really questioned what the rest of the year meant to them. I’ve had years where we’ve made big runs and turned it around, but often those teams were senior-oriented.
“I’ve just learned and the staff has learned from the excitement and exuberance of the kids. It’s such an excellent group of young girls. They’re so good in the classroom, no one misses (practice), no one shows up late. There’s never a concern about what someone is doing in class. There’s never concern – will this person be there at 8:46 on a Saturday when she’s got to be there at 8:45. Never.
“They’ve given us everything we’ve asked, and as the season has gone on, they’ve gotten better and better. Our goal was to punch into the middle of the league. Could we get up to the point where we were just nestled this year under Abington, CR North and Neshaminy. There’s a gap there, but can we get above the other three teams? We were able to do that.”
In addition to Buell’s contribution in Thursday’s win, sophomore Mary Miller added 14 points and sophomore Cami Wiegand had 10.
“People always say to me – tell me the difference between boys and girls,” Sciolla said. “There’s not much of a difference there.
“The big difference this year was remembering sometimes when you’re in that room the relative ages of your kids and in Syd’s case, you’re relying on a senior to connect and be a leader.
“Really, Syd took aside Bella Arcuri and Abbi Nassivera, our guards that start as ninth graders, and she really took them and kind of was a big sister to them off the court, and boy, that was enormous. It’s big at any level, but it’s definitely big in this dynamic because those girls might be afraid to be assertive, they may be afraid to speak up, but I think everyone stood up and was great.”
The Falcons, who led 30-16 at halftime, controlled play from the outset. Buell had 12 of her game-high 20 points in the first half. Baionne gave the Falcon faithful reason to cheer with five points in the third quarter.
“The way they reacted tonight when Nicole Baionne made a layup and then she made a three – the gym went ballistic,” Sciolla said. “She got hurt last year at the end of the season in the Truman game, and to be able to come back tonight and start and play was awesome.”
For Truman, Daisha Campbell led the way with 18 points, and Nainai Keys added eight. Haniyyah Jones chipped in with six points.
Pennsbury (6-6 SOL) closed out the regular season with an 11-11 record.
“I don’t know if we’re going in (districts) or not,” Sciolla said. “I think we’ve done the math, and it seems to look like it’s favorable to us, but Tennent needs to lose to Souderton (on Friday), and Unionville – even if they win, I think we might be ahead, but you never know because of the way numbers can change, but if we don’t get there, it was still one of the most fulfilling years for a team that absolutely maxed out what they’re capable of. Obviously, there’s a level of excitement throughout our community, which has been tremendous, about where we could be going.”
Harry S Truman (2-18, 0-11) will host Council Rock South on Friday.
Harry S Truman 6-10-7-11 34
Pennsbury 15-15-15-14 59
Harry S Truman (34) – Haniyyah Jones 6, Zuri Clarke 2, Daisha Campbell 18, Nainai Keys 8.
Pennsbury (59) – Abbi Nassivera 3, Nicole Baionne 5, Bella Arcuri 5, Mary Miller 14, Celia Johnson 2, Sydney Buell 20, Cami Wiegand 10.
SOL Continental Conference
NORTH PENN 34, PENNRIDGE 30
The Knights closed out their season on a high note, rallying to earn the come-from-behind win that avenged a Jan. 16 loss to the Rams.
“It was 17-14 at halftime, and it was 19-14 early in the third, and we came back and won,” said coach Maggie deMartelleire, who coached her final game. “We played good defense. I was happy for the kids.”
The Knights’ coach credited assistant coach Renee Womack for Thursday’s game plan.
“She ran yesterday’s practice and did the game planning,” deMarteleire said. “One of her key things was that we needed to rebound better because they had a lot of offensive rebounds the last time, but the other thing was when they drove to the basket, we weren’t helping from the side they were going.
“They shot really well against us the last time, so defensively we did a much better job of taking away that pass ball side. When they drove and kicked it out, we were there.”
Seniors Bri Hewlett (14 points) and Jess McKenzie (nine points) led the Knights.
“They both did a really good job of rebounding and keeping them off the boards,” deMarteleire said. “I thought Alaina Mullaly did a nice job off the bench.”
For the Rams, Gill Anderson scored eight points, Rose McCormick had seven and Brooke Bachtle added six points.
North Penn (2-10 SOL) closed out its season with a 7-15 record. Pennridge (11-10, 4-8) will close out the regular season by travelling to Villa Joseph Marie for a non-league game on Friday.
North Penn 6-8-11-9 34
Pennridge 7-10-6-7 30
North Penn (34) – Alli Linsay 2, Alaina Mullaly 4, Carley Adams 4, Valerie McGriff 1, Jess McKenzie 9, Bri Hewlett 14.
Pennridge (30) – Sam Murreda 5, Brooke Bachtle 6, Gill Anderson 8, Maddie Stolarski 2, Rose McCormick 7, Emilee Cramer 2.
SOL American Conference
WISSAHICKON 71, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 36
The Trojans turned in an impressive performance in what could well be the team’s season finale on Thursday, racing out of the gate to a 24-7 lead after one quarter and never looking back.
“We forced 30 turnovers,” coach Rodney Cline said. “Everyone got in the game, and everyone except one person made the box score.”
Victoria Selverian led three Trojan players in double figures with 17 points. Brianna Tilghman scored 15 and Sydney Ott had 10 in a contest that saw 10 Trojans put their names in the scoring column.
For the Spartans, who were without Grace Barraclough, Rileigh Serroni (18 points) and Mary Kate Smith (12 points) combined for 30 points.
Wissahickon (10-4 SOL) closed out its season with an 11-11 record but could be on the outside looking in when the District One 6A Tournament field is announced on Sunday. The Trojans are the 27th seed in what will be a 24-team field.
“I think the toughest thing for us is we’re winning these ball games, and we might not get in the playoffs,” Cline said.
Springfield (3-11 SOL) closed out its regular season with a 5-17 record. The Spartans are the fourth seed in what will be a four-team field in Class 4A.
Springfield Township7-17-9-3 36
Wissahickon 24-19-18-10 71
Springfield Township (36) – Mary Kate Smith 12, Raya Davis 3, Rileigh Serroni 18, Maddie Yoder 3.
Wissahickon (71) – Anna Schools 3, Brianna Tilghman 15, Lauren Fadel 5, Katelyn Ott 3, Sydney Ot 10, Macey Segal 3, Victoria Selverian 17, Linnea Hummel 5, Victoria Williams 5, Carly Fadel 5.
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