Four SOL teams advanced to Saturday’s District One Class AAAA tournament and earned berths in states. To view photos of the CB West/CR North and North Penn/Bishop Shanahan games, please visit the Photo Gallery. Check back for a feature article about Central Bucks West senior Mackenzie Carroll, who reached the 1,000-point milestone.
#2 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 55, #15 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 38
Mackenzie Carroll connected on the first of two foul shots with 1:15 remaining in regulation, setting off a jubilant celebration. The bucket vaulted the senior captain to the 1,000-point plateau.
“It’s awesome,” coach Terry Rakowsky said. “She’s just a great player. She’s worked as hard as anybody.”
Carroll is the ninth female in program history to accomplish that feat and the second player this season, joining senior Nicole Munger in that elite group.
“It’s a big deal, but we want states,” said Carroll, who needed six points entering the game.
The senior captain’s foul shot – the final point of the game for West – put the finishing touches on a win that vaulted the Bucks into Saturday’s quarterfinals and, more importantly, the state tournament.
“It just hit me,” Rakowsky said. “I was in there and didn’t realize that two wins gets you into states. We’re trying to make sure we get a really good seed going in.”
The Indians did everything in their power to make the road to states a tough one for the Bucks, limiting them to just nine points in the opening quarter. They still trailed by seven (9-2) since they connected on just 1-of-14 shots in the quarter.
“We were hoping for one of our best shooting games,” Rock North coach Lou Palkovics said. “You have to shoot 60 percent from the floor to beat these guys.
“You shoot that way too because 6-foot, 5-11 athletic jumpers are coming at you. It puts you a little bit on your heels when you’re shooting.”
The Indians – behind back-to-baskets by Emily Mackin and Becca Margolis – made it a 9-6 game. That’s when Corrinne Godshall began asserting herself under the basket. The senior buried a pair of foul shots, and after Margolis connected on another basket to make it a three-point game, Godshall went to work. By the time the quarter was over, she had scored 10 points – which included a perfect 6-for-6 at the foul line, and the Bucks had opened up a 25-15 lead.
The Bucks actually led 25-12 after a Nicole Munger putback, but a three-pointer by Rock North’s Megan Haggerty pulled the Indians to within 10 at the intermission.
A bucket by Munger after coming up with a steal on the defensive end gave the Bucks a 12-point lead, but Godshall picked up her fourth four on the Bucks’ ensuing possession when she was whistled for a moving screen and was forced to take a seat on the bench.
“It kind of stinks because my fourth foul was on a moving screen,” Godshall said. “A backscreen? Come on – I wasn’t even moving.”
A driving bucket by Jessica Gerber pulled the Indians within 10, but Maggie Rakowsky buried a three-pointer, and when Munger – who had six points in the quarter – scored on a finger roll, the Bucks led 30-17. A basket by Michaela Finneyfrock pulled the Indians within 11, but Carroll buried a baseline three-pointer to give the Bucks a 14-point lead, and after Makenzie Mason turned a steal into a pair of foul shots, the Bucks led 35-19. West led by 16 heading into the final quarter (40-24).
Back-to-back baskets by Mackin and Margolis to open the fourth quarter pulled the Indians to within 12. They would get no closer the rest of the way.
Munger led the Bucks with 16 points and 12 rebounds while Godshall had 15 points and nine rebounds. Mason added 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Indians made the Bucks work for every point, and according to Rakowsky, based on Wednesday night’s game, the Bucks may need to rethink their approach.
“I thought this was the first time all year that they called no hand checks,” he said. “I thought they were hand checking the whole time, which is fine, but if we know that’s the way it’s going to be played, it turns it into a very physical game.
“If it’s going to continue that way, we’re going to have to adjust. I think that was a big part of it. There was a lot of clutching and grabbing. On another night with other refs, I thought there might have been 40 fouls called – both ways possibly. Our kids just have to learn to adjust to the game.”
Rakowsky went on to tip his hat to the Indians.
“They did a great job,” he said. “They’re tough, they’re well coached. They made shots, they have kids who can handle (the ball).
“They’ve been in a lot of games even when they’ve lost.”
Jessica Gerber led the Indians with 12 points, which included a pair of three-pointers. With those two treys, Gerber became the program’s lead in three-point baskets with 176, eclipsing the record of 175 set by Addie Micir. Margolis added eight points while Finneyfrock had six points, 10 rebounds and one steal. Mackin added three rebounds and five assists.
The Indians (16-7, 11-3 SOL) will face 10th-seeded Perkiomen Valley in a playback game on Saturday. They are one of eight teams vying for two state berths.
The Bucks (25-1, 14-0 SOL) will host seventh-seeded Upper Dublin in a quarterfinal game on Saturday.
“As a team, we have our goals set really high, and just having states is nice because now we can just play with no nervousness and no worries, but we’re still playing hard,” Godshall said.
Council Rock North 2-13-9-14 38
Central Bucks West 9-16-15-15 55
Council Rock North (38) – Becca Margolis 4 0-0 8; Tara Garfield 1 0-0 3; Jessica Gerber 4 2-2 12; Michaela Finneyfrock 3 0-0 6; Madison Attanasio 0 0-2 0; Emily Mackin 2 0-0 4; Mackenzie Tinner 1 0-0 2; Hailey Burns 0 0-0 0; Megan Haggerty 1 0-0 3; Totals 16 2-4 38.
Central Bucks West (55) – Laura Roth 0 0-0 0; Mackenzie Carroll 2 1-3 6; Maddie Maio 0 0-0 0; Peyton Traina 2 0-0 4; Makenzie Mason 3 4-4 10; Abby Spratt 0 0-2 0; Corrinne Godshall 4 7-8 15; Nicole Munger 7 2-3 16; Meghan Tillger 0 0-0 0; Maggie Rakowsky 1 1-2 4; Totals 19 15-22 55
#5 ABINGTON 48, #12 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 34
The Titans made some big shots and found themselves right there with the fifth-seeded Ghosts at halftime, trailing 20-18, but the Ghosts turned up the defensive pressure in the second half.
Abington limited the Titans to just four points in the third quarter while opening up a 33-22 lead. That quarter proved to be the difference in the game.
“South came really prepared,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “They played well. They were playing very good defense and hit some big shots.
“We kind of got out of rhythm a little bit offensively. At halftime, we said, ‘Look, stop worrying about offense. It will come to us. Let’s just lock down on defense and not let them score.’ They scored four points in the third quarter and that was kind of the turnaround.
“I’m very proud of our kids. We were able to get things going again in the second half. I’ve seen a lot of tape on (South), and that’s the best I’ve seen them play. They played well.”
Liz O’Leary led all scorers with 14 points, and providing a huge lift for the Ghosts was senior Gabby Nolan with 13 points.
“She hit three three’s,” Marsh said. “She was huge.
“Teams keep backing off of her and thinking she’s not a scorer, but Gabby can shoot, and they’re going to find out the hard way.”
Nolan scored eight of her 13 points in the second half. Bre Bermel added seven points while Sammy Lochner and DeJa Rawls both had six.
“It was definitely defense,” Marsh said of the key to the game. “When things aren’t going well offensively, and give credit to CB South – they came in with a good game plan, and they executed it well.
“We adapted well offensively in the second half, but we told them, ‘Dig in and defend. You guys can defend anyone in the state. If you hold them to a low amount in the quarter, we’ll be winning this game.’ That’s what we did.”
The Titans were led by the 11-point effort of Taylor Dunn. Kaley Smith – who had two three-pointers – added six points while Jordan Vitelli had five.
“Vitelli’s five were in the first half – she had two free throws and a three, and Deja just shut her down in the second half,” Marsh said. “That’s the thing about Deja. She only had six points, and she had some assists.
“She’s deferring to her teammates offensively, but then she dug in defensively. It’s amazing. She’s become such a leader for us.”
The Ghosts (22-4, 14-0 SOL) will travel to fourth-seeded Garnet Valley for a quarterfinal game on Saturday. With Wednesday’s win, the Ghosts are assured a spot in states.
“It’s very huge because obviously one of the goals we had at the beginning of the year was to get to states,” Marsh said. “We’re very happy and very proud, but we’re not done.
“Last year when we made states, our girls might have been satisfied with that, and we ended up losing to Rustin in the upcoming round. We don’t want that to happen this year. We want to go to Garnet Valley and play them well and keep this thing going. Our goal is to get to Temple and maybe get a rematch with CB West. Obviously, it’s one game at a time, and we’re going to go after Garnet Valley. Yes, we’re happy that we made states, but we’re not satisfied.”
Central Bucks South 6-12-4-12 34
Abington 8-12-13-15 48
Central Bucks South (34) – Kaley Smith 6, Taylor Dunn 11, Chloe Entenberg 3, Melissa Veal 2, Jordan Vitelli 5, Sam Clevenstine 2, Emma Gardy 3, Mackenzie Ehresman 2.
Abington (48) – Gabby Nolan 13, Sammy Lochner 6, Liz O’Leary 14, Bre Bermel 7, Deja Rawls 6, Leah Simmons 2.
#7 UPPER DUBLIN 36, #10 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 33 (OT)
What a difference four days can make.
After connecting on 8-of-11 shots from beyond the arc in Saturday’s win over Pennridge, the Flying Cardinals made just 3-of-24 on Wednesday.
One of those, however, saved the day.
It came with the Cardinals trailing 31-26 and just 23 seconds away from a trip into the brutal playback bracket. The idea of scoring five points in 23 seconds seemed unlikely until Julie Cross calmly drained a trey from the top of the circle.
Just like that, a five-point deficit had been trimmed to two, and the Cardinals had a pulse. Coach Morgan Funsten called a timeout, the Cardinals fouled with about 14 seconds remaining, and when the Vikings misfired on the front end of a one-and-one, Alissa Klammer was there for the rebound.
There was still the not-so-little matter of scoring two points. Allison Chernow – who suffered through a tough shooting night – took care of that. The junior guard was fouled going to the hole, and with 8.1 seconds left, she calmly buried both.
“They had a foul to give, and it looked like they were trying to take one, but Allison was moving so fast,” Funsten said. “She split two girls at half court, and Allison just attacked the basket and got hit pretty hard.
“With 8.1 seconds and down two, she absolutely swished both foul shots. Nothing but net, no doubt about it.”
After the Vikings came up empty on a desperation shot with time winding down, the two teams found themselves heading for overtime.
“We had a great crowd on hand,” Funsten said. “To start overtime, we obviously had a lot of momentum. We came down on our first possession, and Julie got fouled and made one-of-two. We had a good defensive possession and ended up getting called for a hand check towards half court, and that was Josie Barrett’s fifth foul.”
The Vikings buried both foul shots to go on top by one. With time winding down, the Vikings still held that one-point lead.
“With about 1:10 to go, Allison Chernow and Alissa Klammer trapped a girl at half court, got a deflection, and Chernow broke out and laid the ball in,” Funsten said. “That was the first shot she made tonight. She was 0-for-14 until then.
“She got redemption a couple of times, and then we had a great containing possession where we didn’t really give them anything. They ended up missing a shot, we got the rebound, Allison Chernow got fouled and knocked down both shots of a one-and-one.”
And the improbable win was in the books for the Flying Cardinals.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well,” Funsten said. “I didn’t think our decision making was great, and we still beat a really, really good team.
“This team beat Spring-Ford, they beat Downingtown East – they’ve beaten multiple teams who are in this final eight. I thought our crowd helped us a lot. I remember a couple of years ago when we had a couple of back-to-back huge crowds, and that’s what it reminded me of. They really helped our girls. We were pretty exhausted. Perk Valley is real physical, so this game took a toll on us physically and mentally.
“Our two best players made big-time plays at the end. You’re in total survival – you’re done, and all of a sudden, Julie makes a three, and we’re only down two, and now we have a chance. It was a great game.”
Cross had another huge performance for the Flying Cardinals, finishing with 14 points and 17 rebounds for yet another double-double to go along with six blocked shots. Chernow added nine points and Barrett, six.
PV junior KT Armstrong led all scorers with 17 points.
“She’s a 6-2 point guard who can do it all,” said Funsten of the St. Joseph’s recruit. “I thought Alissa Klammer did a great job on her.
“Alissa is 5-6, and we asked her to guard a 6-2 girl. We did a pretty good job of staying connected as a team, but the ball is in her hand 80 percent of the time. I thought Alissa did a great job. Alissa also helped us out with our offense.
“She’s not known for her scoring, but she made a big layup in the first half and knocked down a one-and-one in the first half when we were struggling and chipping away.”
The Vikings opened up a 15-8 lead after one quarter, but the Flying Cardinals limited them to just 16 points the rest of the way.
“We did a great job defensively, and a big reason was because of Alissa,” Funsten said. “That’s what you want to see from your seniors in big-time games like this.”
The Flying Cardinals (20-5, 14-0 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks West for a rematch with the second-seeded Bucks in Saturday’s quarterfinal round. They have ensured themselves a berth in the state tournament.
“We’re really excited about being in states, but we’re going to try to come up with a game plan to win the game Saturday,” said Funsten.
Perkiomen Valley 15-3-11-2-2 33
Upper Dublin 8-8-7-8-5 36
Perkiomen Valley (33) – Katie Leahy 5, AnaMarie Bruni 2, KT Armstrong 17, Megan Jonassen 9.
Upper Dublin (36) – Alissa Klammer 4, Josie Barrett 6, Julie Cross 14, Allison Chernow 9, Demi Balasa 3.
#8 NORTH PENN 55, #9 BISHOP SHANAHAN 40
Coach Maggie deMarteleire had some serious concerns about her team’s defensive performance in a first half that saw the Eagles, who led 17-14 after one quarter, go into the intermission with a 31-27 lead.
“Seriously, our defense in the fist half was not good,” the Lady Knights’ coach said. “We were fortunate enough yesterday to be able to practice. We worked on defense, but defensively, we just didn’t follow the game plan in the first half.”
Keeping the Lady Knights within striking distance was sophomore Jess Huber, who scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the first half.
“Offensively, Jess Huber was just ridiculous, and thank god because we didn’t play great defense,” deMarteleire said. “For her to score all those points and keep us in the game was really a good thing.
“We talked at halftime, and we said, ‘We need to play sound defense in the second half.’ We held them to one field goal in the second half, and we played good defense.”
North Penn outscored Shanahan 13-7 in the third quarter to go on top 40-38 heading into the final frame. The Lady Knights put an exclamation point on the win with a 15-2 fourth quarter burst.
“Everybody contributed in the second half,” deMarteleire said. “We made seven three’s, which is the most three’s we’ve made in a long time.
“Taylor Putnam made two three’s in the third quarter, and Bri Hewlett hit one in the fourth. We buckled down on defense in the second half and played well. We didn’t have that many turnovers.”
While Huber led the Lady Knights offensively, senior guard Taylor Thames turned in a solid all-around outing, finishing with 10 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
“Taylor Thames was really solid,” deMarteleire said. “She only had one turnover and really had a solid game. She’s really starting to play pretty well.”
Sophomore Sam Carangi also added 10 points while Mikaela Giuliani and Putnam both had six.
“Mikaela battled foul trouble in the second half, so Mia Melchior came in and helped us out and so did Bri Hewlett,” deMarteleire said. “Teams are overplaying Sam Carangi, so other kids are stepping up, which is a really good thing.
“When other kids step up, Sam will get more open looks. What I was really pleased with today in the second half – Sam was definitely the anchor on defense. She really anticipated things and stepped in and stopped drives, double teamed and got steals. In the second half defensively, she really stepped up.
“She’s really maturing because she may not be scoring as many points right now, but she’s doing other things really well and doing what it takes for our team to win.”
“Everyone contributed. It was a good win for our team.”
The win sets up a rematch of last year’s district title game on Saturday when the defending district champion Lady Knights (19-6, 11-3 SOL) will host Spring-Ford – an upset winner over top-seeded Boyertown – in a quarterfinal game. Both teams are already assured of berths in the state tournament.
Bishop Shanahan 17-14-7-2 40
North Penn 14-13-13-15 55
Bishop Shanahan (40) – Kelly Cox 8, Sierra Forde 13, Grace Phillips 3, Kelly Basile 4, Devon Adams 12.
North Penn (55) – Taylor Thames 10, Mikaela Giuliani 6, Jess Huber 20, Taylor Putnam 6, Sam Carangi 10, Bri Hewlett 3
#4 GARNET VALLEY 52, #13 CHELTENHAM 48
Brendan Nolan couldn’t help wondering what might have been.
What if the Lady Panthers had been seeded higher and hosted a second round game instead of taking the long trek to Garnet Valley? What if the officiating in Wednesday’s second round game had been similar to the officiating in his team’s opener?
As it was, the Lady Panthers lost a heartbreaker down the stretch and now find themselves one of eight teams vying for two state playoff berths.
“I was annoyed going in with where we’re seeded,” Nolan said. “I’ve been outspoken that this formula does not produce a proper arrangement of the teams, and I don’t think we should have been on the road tonight, let alone against the four seed.
“You can look at our non-league wins – who we’ve beaten that have been seeded ahead of us. I think we’ve proven we should be higher than that, and I also think being a road team that went in and gave a team a game like that – we proved a little bit as well, but it doesn’t matter what the coaches think.”
The Lady Panthers led 13-12 after one quarter but trailed by one at halftime (20-19). Ashley Jones, who led all scorers with 24 points, went on a three-point shooting spree in the third quarter, burying five three-pointers, but the Jaguars – thanks to seven third quarter treys – outscored them 21-10 to go into the final quarter with a 41-39 lead.
“We had the lead in the fourth quarter,” Nolan said. “With about four minutes left, (Monet) McGorda hit a three to take us from down two to up one,” Nolan said. “On the next trip, (Amarri) Trueheart went 1-for-2 from the line to put us up two. I don’t know if we even scored much after that. I’ve said all year – when we have the lead in the fourth quarter, we’re trying to go to the line.
“We were in the bonus the entire fourth quarter, and we shot three free throws in the fourth quarter. The two that Trueheart shot was a shooting foul. I was certainly frustrated – we didn’t stop attacking. We weren’t holding the ball. We were trying to keep getting to the line.”
But the calls never came on Wednesday night.
“There were bumps and jostles as Jones was going down the lane, but they just weren’t there tonight,” Nolan said. “She didn’t get the calls tonight.
“Some crews you get the calls and some crews you don’t. We shot 41 free throws against Penn Wood. We shot nine tonight, and I don’t think we played much differently. To be honest, (the Jaguars) defended us a little more aggressively, especially Jones.
“Penn Wood’s defense was much more passive whereas this team was really stepping up on penetration. It was just one of those games – they didn’t call it tonight.
“There’s no doubt in my mind if we play Garnet Valley in our gym tonight we beat them. They had 10 three’s tonight in their own gym. They’re not hitting 10 three’s in our gym. That’s just not going to happen.
“But even with that, we had our chances. We had too many turnovers in the fourth quarter. As much as we were hoping to get to the line, we still turned the ball over needlessly, and their defense was good. They did a nice job of stifling Jones for stretches on the game.
“I tip my hat. Their coaches did a nice job, and their girls shot the ball beautifully. They’re a tough team, a tough team in their own gym.”
The Lady Panthers (18-6, 12-2 SOL) will travel to Central Bucks South for a playback game. Eight teams are vying for two state spots.
Cheltenham 13-6-20-13 48
Garnet Valley 12-8-21-11 52
Cheltenham (48) – Ashley Jones 24, Monet McGorda 8, Amarri Trueheart 10, Gabrielle Wright 4, Nashira Brown 2
Garnet Valley (52) – Maddie Ireland 16, Sara Tomasetti 2, Macy Goldbach 18, Jordan Ireland 8, Sydney Fail 5, Emily Matthewson 3.
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