North Penn, Upper Dublin, CB South & Neshaminy advanced to the state tournament with wins in Wednesday night’s District One AAAA second round. Photos of the Neshaminy/Mount game were provided courtesy of Jess Garber (http://JSGarber.zenfolio.com/p678036963). Photos of the Upper Dublin/Bishop Shanahan game were provided courtesy of Kathy Leister Photography. Check back for galleries of the Upper Dublin/Shanahan game as well as Lisa Henderson’s gallery of the CB South/CB East game and Dave Conard’s gallery of the Abington/PV game.
Four of eight SOL teams in action in Wednesday’s District One AAAA second round were winners, earning automatic bids to the PIAA Class AAAA state tournament. Top-seeded North Penn rolled over 17th-seeded Penn Wood (64-36), sixth-seeded Upper Dublin worked its defensive magic in a 37-23 win over 11th-seeded Bishop Shanhan. Eighth-seeded Central Bucks South defeated 24th-seeded Central Bucks East (41-37) to earn the program’s first ever trip to the state tournament, and 13th-seeded Neshaminy sent fourth-seeded Mount St. Joseph into the playback round with a 48-40 win.
The remaining four SOL teams in action Wednesday – #10 Central Bucks West, #18 Abington, #24 Central Bucks East and #28 Council Rock North – find themselves among eight teams vying for the two remaining state berths.
#1 NORTH PENN 64, #17 PENN WOOD 36
The Lady Knights outscored the Patriots 37-14 over the middle two quarters of Wednesday’s second round game, rolling to a win that vaulted the team into the district quarterfinals and ensured North Penn a spot in the state tournament.
“I was really pleased,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “The kids executed our game plan very well.
“They just really were so unselfish. When we play like that, it makes life real easy.”
The Patriots trailed by just a 12-10 score after one quarter, but any illusions that they could hang with the Lady Knights were put to rest in a second quarter that saw North Penn go on a 22-6 tear to go into halftime with a 34-16 lead.
“We started to attack the basket,” deMarteleire said. “In the first quarter, we were getting wide open looks at the three-point line, but we needed a balance.
“The kids started to attack the basket and mixed it up, and that just gave us even better open looks and got their defense moving and we were able to get the ball inside to Mikaela (Giuliani).”
Sam Carangi was the undeniable catalyst, scoring 16 points – which included four three-pointers – in the opening 16 minutes. Giuliani had eight points in the Lady Knights’ second quarter tear.
Giuliani had another huge game for the Lady Knights, finishing with 24 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Carangi added 18 points, six assists and four steals, and Jess Huber had 12 points, five assists and three blocked shots.
North Penn (24-2, 14-0 SOL) will face a familiar opponent in Saturday’s district quarterfinals when the Lady Knights will host conference foe Central Bucks South. Both teams have already ensured themselves a spot in the state tournament.
“The second round of district playoffs is really tense because you win and you’re in (states), and if you lose, you have to scratch and claw your way in,” deMarteleire said. “I’m happy about that.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate to get a lot of talented girls playing for me.”
Penn Wood 10-6-8-12 36
North Penn 12-22-15-15 64
Penn Wood: Dahnye Redd 18, Gabrielle Hairston 3, Joy Morton 3, Carle Andrews 7, Saiela Matthews 3, Khaliah Gordon 2.
North Penn: Irisa Ye 4, Mikaela Giuliani 24, Jess Huber 12, Bri Hewlett 3, Sam Carangi 18, Mia Melchior 3.
#6 UPPER DUBLIN 37, #11 BISHOP SHANAHAN 23
Defense.
The Flying Cardinals have spent the better part of the season bringing teams to their knees with defensive schemes that destroy their opponent’s rhythm, but on Wednesday night, the Cardinals may have taken their defensive game to new heights, limiting the Ches-Mont National Division regular season champions to just 23 points. Seven of those came in the final 90 seconds when both teams had their starters on the bench.
“They have a lot of dangerous pieces with (Ciara) Forde as their go-to scorer as a guard, and (Devon) Adams is an absolute dominant force down low and (Courtney) Warley is a 6-3 forward,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “Forde averages 13.5, Warley averages 11.5 and Adams averages 10 points but over her last seven or eight games she’s averaged 16 or 17 a game.”
Adams was a non-factor, connecting on only a three-pointer.
“That may have been her first three of the year, and she didn’t score other than that three-pointer,” Funsten said. “It was ultimately a team effort, but Ashley Barber just did an incredible job on Adams.
“Demi Balasa did a great job of always being ready to help. The girls stayed so well connected defensively. We really, really frustrated Shanahan. One of our goals was – we didn’t want any of their players to score over 10 points.”
The Cardinals were successful on all counts – Forde led the Eagles with seven points. No other player had more than three.
“We knew that they run their offense a lot of times through Adams down low,” Funsten. “If you try and play her one-on-one and don’t have help, she will score every time – she’s that good and that physical down low.
“They like to go through her, and if you double down, they pass out and they have some good shooters. Obviously, Adams and Warley – both being 6-3 – they complement each other well, and Adams is a good passer out of the post. They have the different weapons, and our girls did a great job of challenging any shot. Teams always think they get great shots against us, and they just always have bad shooting nights against us. I like to think that sometimes it has to do with what we’re doing.”
The Cardinals went about the business of stymying the Eagles from the outset and held a 6-5 lead after on quarter. A key stretch came with the game tied at 9-9 midway through the second quarter. Allison Chernow buried a three-pointer, igniting a 17-0 UD run.
The Cardinals took a 15-9 advantage into halftime and then outscored their visitors 15-5 in the third quarter, which included an 11-0 tear out of halftime.
“More or less, the game was over at that point just because of the job we were doing defensively, challenging everything they wanted to do,” Funsten said. “The defensive intensity and the defensive concentration – it wasn’t just stopping one girl. They have three really, really good players and two other players who complement them well.
“Everyone is surprised by this but us. We’re in our comfort zone.”
Chernow had another big game for the Cardinals, finishing with 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
“She had a great game – she had total control of the game,” Funsten said. “She made two of our baskets and assisted on six of them, and we only had 12.
“She was part of 8-of-12 baskets, and she also led us in rebounding. She’d be the first to tell you she didn’t play a great game against Rustin in the first round, and we didn’t absolutely need her to, but she was determined to come out tonight and just be better in all aspects of her game. She was great defensively, she controlled the pace offensively.”
This is the Cardinals third trip to states in four years under Funsten, and for Chernow, Wednesday’s win represented a promise kept.
“She promised me we would get to states this year, and she came through on her promise,” Funsten said.
Barber also had eight rebounds to go along with three points. Nicole Kaiser had nine points, and Balasa had four steals, four points and four rebounds.
Upper Dublin (20-5, 14-0 SOL) will travel to third-seeded Garnet Valley on Saturday for a quarterfinal battle.
Bishop Shanahan 5-4-5-9 23
Upper Dublin 6-9-15-7 37
Bishop Shanahan: Ciara Forde 7, Mikayla Maxwell 2, Megan Cox 2, Sam McCarter 3, Kelly Basile 3, Devon Adams 3, Courtney Warley 3.
Upper Dublin: Nicole Kaiser 9, Josie Barrett 5, Alison Gouveia 4, Allison Chernow 10, Demi Balasa 4, Maggie Weglos 2, Ashley Barber 3.
#8 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 41, #24 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 37
The Titans assured themselves a spot in history Wednesday night when they clinched the first state tournament berth in program history.
“Everyone contributed,” South coach Beth Mattern said. “I thought the bench was really into it, especially in the fourth quarter.
“This is the first time our program has made states. It’s something we wanted so bad, but you have to keep yourself in check and just go out and play the game. They were huge – hitting some foul shots, some open jumpers and controlling the ball, but I also think they practice that way. It’s what we expect from them.”
Things actually seemed to be going CB East’s way in the third meeting of the season between the two teams.
The Patriots led 7-2 after Bailey McManus buried a three-pointer midway through the opening quarter, and a putback by senior captain Kyra Scaliti put the Patriots on top 9-2.
The Titans – struggling against the Patriots’ defense in their halfcourt offense – managed just four points in the opening quarter, all by Taylor Dunn, and trailed 9-4. It was a two-point game after Jordan Vitelli buried three foul shots after the Patriots’ were whistled for a foul on a three-point attempt.
A Bridget Birkhead three-pointer gave the Patriots a 12-7 lead, and they still led by five after a Grace Stewart bucket. The Titans took a 15-14 lead when Chloe Entenberg scored on a baseline drive, and a reverse layup by sophomore Mackenzie Ehresman gave the Titans a three-point advantage.
A shot off the dribble by Bri Talbot pulled the Patriots to within one, but Haley Meinel answered at the other end with 20 seconds remaining to give the Titans a 19-16 lead.
A turnover when the Patriots were holding for the final shot gave the Titans possession with just seconds on the clock. Vitelli made the most of those seconds, keeping an eye on the scoreboard clock and releasing a shot on the run at the buzzer that took some unusual bounces and then fell through the net.
“It had a lucky spin backward,” Vitelli said. “Going into halftime off a half court shot definitely picks up our intensity for the beginning of the second half.”
Vitelli’s basket sent Titans into the locker room with a 22-16 lead.
“That was huge,” East coach Liz Potash said. “I think mentality-wise going in down three versus going in down six is obviously a big difference.
“Those are the lapses you can’t have, and I guess that’s what you have when you have so many seniors on the floor versus so many juniors on the floor for us. That one more year experience where they’re probably not giving up that shot, and we’re one year away from that. Obviously, no excuses, but those are the little things we can’t have.”
The Titans took a 26-20 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Patriots twice trimmed it to four. It was a 28-24 game after Scaliti found Stewart rolling to the basket for an easy deuce, but the Titans answered with an unconventional three-point play. Alexa Brodie connected on the first of two foul shots and then scored on a nifty drive after her teammate came up with the offensive rebound.
After an East turnover, Meghan Kuypers turned a Brodie pass into a three-pointer that put the Titans on top 34-24. Kuypers buried a pair of foul shots after coming up with a steal on the defensive end, and the Titans’ lead was 36-24.
“I just try to keep the intensity up and keep everyone motivated, and it was just a great team effort,” said Kuypers, who scored all seven of her points in the fourth quarter.
The Patriots staged one last comeback attempt, pulling to within four on a Melanie Wetzel three with 11 seconds remaining. They would get no closer.
Vitelli led a balanced South attack with eight points while Kuypers added seven and Dunn, six points.
“Bri Talbot did an outstanding job on Jordan,” Potash said. “Our whole thing we worked on the last couple of days was – she does not catch the ball.
“She had eight (points), and three of them were that one (shot) before half when she wasn’t guarding her. Really, there wasn’t one other player that hurt us. Everyone else chipped in and did little things like they’ve done all season.”
For the Patriots, Scaliti and Talbot both had nine points while Stewart added eight.
Central Bucks South (19-5, 11-3 SOL) will travel to North Penn for an all-SOL Continental Conference quarterfinal against the top-seeded Lady Knights. Central Bucks East (13-11, 7-7) will be on the road at Penn Wood for a playback game.
Central Bucks East 9-7-4-17 37
Central Bucks South 4-18-4-15 41
Central Bucks East: Bridget Birkhead 5, Kyra Scaliti 9, Bailey McManus 3, Bri Talbot 9, Grace Stewart 8, Melanie Wetzel 3.
Central Bucks South: Taylor Dunn 6, Chloe Entenberg 5, Jordan Vitelli 8, Courtney Dietzel 4, Mackenzie Ehresman 4, Alexa Brodie 3, Meghan Kuypers 7, Haley Meinel 4.
#10 NESHAMINY 48, #4 MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 40
The Redskins pulled off the upset of the second round, going into the Mount’s gym and upending the Catholic Academies runner-up.
The win not only propelled the ‘Skins into Saturday’s quarterfinals but also gave them a spot in states, and if the Redskins were looking for some respect, this win should give it to them.
“I’m hoping for us it’s a program changer,” coach Joe Lally said. “We’re just hoping to put Neshaminy on the map.
“We’ve heard people say that maybe our league wasn’t that great this year, which we vehemently disagree with – everyone else can play Council Rock North twice and Abington twice.
“For us, this was the goal. Do we want to win the league? Yes, but quite honestly, we set our goal to go further than we’ve gone recently and get into states. We’re excited about that, but we’re going to gear up for a good Downingtown East team and see if we can go further in districts.”
The Redskins got off to a slow start in their opening round win over West Chester Henderson. They were determined there would be no reruns.
There wasn’t.
Neshaminy led 15-11 after one quarter and took a 26-19 lead into halftime.
“We talked about getting off to a better start,” Lally said. “Plus playing the Mount at the Mount – you don’t want to start slow there.
“A credit to the kids – they executed the game plan. For us, it was all about our defense. We knew Libby (Tacka) and Caitlyn (Cunningham) were going to be really tough to guard. The plan was – don’t stop them but contain them, and try and make the rest of the team beat us. I thought the kids did a great job.”
Tacka, who had a team high 13, and Cunningham combined for 24 points. The rest of the team combined to score just 16.
“We talked about Tacka and Cunningham being the players but making sure we respected everybody else on the floor,” Lally said. “Emily (Alexis), Ali (Harvey) and Devon (Storms) did a great job with the other kids, but it’s hard to overlook Brooke Mullin, a freshman, holding Cunningham to 11 points and six of those were in the fourth. Morgan (Goldenbaum) held Tacka to 13 and she had five in the fourth, so for three quarters, they did a phenomenal job.”
Storms led the Redskins with 16 points to go along with four assists and six rebounds while Mullin added 13 points and eight rebounds. Goldenbaum added seven points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Harvey and Alexis both had six points.
“Brooke Mullin has been playing fantastic, and Morgan (Goldenbaum) was really controlling things,” Lally said. “I think Devon in the fourth quarter was really key. We scored nine points in the third quarter and Devon scored eight.
“She was going to the basket strong, she was rebounding the ball. We were up by 12, but they cut it to six. Devon was fouled and made the front end and the back end of a one-and-one to bump it back to eight, and that was pretty much it.
“Devon was really big in the fourth quarter, but it was an all-around team effort. I give them credit – they bought into the game plan. We had two really good practices, maybe the best two of the year, and the coaching staff felt they were ready. I think they went out and showed that.”
Neshaminy (20-5, 14-0 SOL) will travel to Downingtown East on Saturday for a battle with the 12th-seeded Cougars.
“It’s such a good group of kids, and they’re not done,” Lally said. “There was a celebratory feeling, but in the locker room when we loaded back up and got ready to go home, everybody had shifted immediately – Downingtown East is the next goal.”
Neshaminy 15-11-13-9 48
Mount St. Joseph 11-8-9-12 40
Neshaminy: Emily Alexis 6, Morgan Goldenbaum 7, Allison Harvey 6, Brooke Mullin 13, Devon Storms 16.
Mount St. Joseph: Caitlyn Cunningham 11, Libby Tacka 13, Wills 9, Kristin Lucas 1, Hoover 3, Smith 3.
#7 CONESTOGA 51, #10 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 43
West used a 17-7 second quarter tear to go into halftime with a 28-23 lead over the Pioneers, but the shots stopped falling for the visiting Bucks in the second half. They managed just 15 points and were outscored 28-15.
Freshman Tori Abelson (12 points) and senior Makenzie Mason (10 points) led the Bucks while Maggie Rakowsky added nine. Izzy Treon contributed six points.
Maria Koblish and Ellie Mack did most of the damage for the Pioneers, combining for 33 points with Koblish scoring a game high 17.
Central Bucks West (18-8, 11-3 SOL) will host Abington in a playback game on Saturday.
Central Bucks West 11-17-7-8 43
Conestoga 16-7-13-15 51
Central Bucks West: Makenzie Mason 10, Maggie Rakowsky 9, Maddie Maio 3, Tori Abelson 12, Abby Spratt 3, Izzy Treon 6.
Conestoga: Lindsay Erickson 1, Sarah Mascioli 7, Maria Koblish 17, Liz Atwood 2, Liz Scott 8, Ellie Mack 16.
#2 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 52, #18 ABINGTON 39
Dan Marsh had a ready explanation for his team’s loss in Wednesday’s second round game at Perk Valley.
“We didn’t have an answer for (K.T.) Armstrong,” Marsh said of the St. Joseph-bound senior, who torched the Ghosts for 23 points. “She destroyed us.
“Going into the game, I thought the other kids might give us more problems. I thought we could defend her, but she’s the best player we’ve played in a long time. She destroyed us. We could not stop her. She had 23 and pretty much did whatever she wanted. She controlled the game from start to finish.
“I’ve coached for 11 years, and as far as complete domination, this might have been one of the best. She dominated on both ends of the floor.”
The Ghosts fell behind early, trailing 9-2, but they rallied to make it a 15-12 game at the end of one quarter.
“We had five open jumpers in the first quarter, five very good looks that we didn’t make,” Marsh said. “If we make a couple of those, their strategy changes because they literally were not coming outside of the paint.
“There are nights where we bury those. There have been plenty of teams that played us like this, and it backfired. I think a little bit of it was because they’re so long. With Armstrong and Richmond, it was really difficult for us to get the ball inside.”
The Ghosts scored just six points in the second quarter and only seven in the third as the Vikings outscored them in that span 26-13 to go on top 41-25 after three quarters.
“The second and third quarters killed us,” Marsh said. “We didn’t do well on offense, but they took it away from us. They kicked our butts from start to finish. Period.”
Senior Sammy Lochner led the Ghosts with 12 points while Lizzie O’Leary and Sam Brusha both added nine.
“No disrespect to North Penn, but I have a hard time seeing anyone beating this team,” Marsh said. “I saw them on film, and I thought we could compete with them, I thought we could beat them.
“We’ve played some pretty good basketball teams, and nobody picked us apart the way Perk Valley did. They looked tremendous tonight.”
Abington (17-7, 12-2 SOL) will face Central Bucks West in an all-SOL playback game on Saturday at West.
Abington 12-6-7-14 39
Perkiomen Valley 15-11-15-11 52
Abington: Sam Brusha 9, Lizzie O’Leary 9, Sammy Lochner 12, Leah Simmons 4, Kassondra Brown 2, Tami Wessels 3.
Perkiomen Valley: K.T. Armstrong 23, Megan Jonassen 8, Hanan Richmond 11, Walter 2, Ashley Bangert 8.
#12 DOWNINGTOWN EAST 43, #28 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 37
The Indians came up short in their bid to pull off another upset, but they gave the Cougars all they could handle, rallying to knot the score at 31 in the fourth quarter and battling to the end.
The Cougars led 9-8 after one quarter and took a 19-16 lead into halftime. They led by four heading into the final quarter and then withstood the Indians’ comeback attempt.
Becca Margolis, who picked up her fifth foul in the fourth quarter, led the Indians with nine points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists. She also drew a charge. Dana Bandurick added eight points, five rebounds and one steal.
For the Cougars, Quinnipiac-bound Paige Warfel led all scorers with 20 points, which included a 14-for-17 effort at the foul line. The Indians connected on just 9-of-21 shots from the charity stripe.
Council Rock North (13-10, 10-4 SOL) will face fourth-seeded Mount St. Joseph in a playback game on Saturday. The Indians fell to the Mount 50-47 in overtime in an early-season meeting.
Council Rock North 8-8-10-11 37
Downingtown East 9-10-11-13 43
Council Rock North: Becca Margolis 9, Camryn Polinsky 4, Megan Haggerty 3, Tara McGuigan 3, Kaelin Mealey 3, Dana Bandurick 8, Samantha Saifer 4, Mackenzie Tinner 2, Hannah Weiler 2.
Downingtown East: Kate Crum 8, Aryah Aungst 8, Dani Tyrell 2, Paige Warfel 20, Lindsay Kent 2, Laura Ochsner 9, Erin Phelan 2.
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