The stage has been set.
Central Bucks South defeated North Penn 55-42 on Friday night, and if Central Bucks East notched a win over neighboring Central Bucks West, the two teams will take perfect 6-0 league records into Tuesday night’s Continental Conference showdown at East.
“I told the girls – when you look at the beginning of our schedule, we had a tough road,” said South coach Beth Mattern, whose team improved to 7-6 overall. “We have come through it to where we want to be.
“We’re 6-0 in the league, we have played some great teams, and we know how to suck it up, play good defense and keep ourselves in games. Now we’re in the second half of the season, and we want to get ‘W’s’ out of that.”
North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire was impressed with what she saw of the Titans.
“They’re playing very well,” the Maidens’ coach said. “They’re so unselfish, and defensively, they get their hands on everything.
“They’re a physical team, and they defend very well.”
The Maidens were without IUP-bound senior Taylour Alston (illness).
“I told the girls before the game – you never know what that’s going to do to a team,” Mattern said. “Are people going to step up or not?
“I thought we handled it well. We didn’t worry about it. We just went out and played.”
The Titans won the game for all intents and purposes with an 18-7 first quarter.
“We carried that lead basically through the entire game,” Mattern said.
Katelyn Schneider scored all 12 of her points in a first half that saw the Titans go on top 31-22.
“She made beautiful cuts down the lane, we hit her with good passes, and she finished the layups,” Mattern said. “She came out of the gate hot.”
Kaycee Schaefer picked up where Schneider left off the in second half when she scored 10 of her 12 points. Gab Vass also had 12 points for the Titans, who buried eight three-pointers.
Dara Nelson and Shannon Knauer both scored 12 points for the Maidens, who fell to 3-3 in league play (6-6 overall).
Golden Hawks fly by Panthers – Jackie Weber came off the bench to score 14 points – 11 in the fourth quarters – as Council Rock South outscored William Tennent 22-9 in the final frame on its way to a 55-37 win.
Chelsea Allen also finished the night with 14 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for an impressive double-double.
“Chelsea played very well,” coach Monica Young said.
Freshman Alexis Hofstaedter added 12 points for the Golden Hawks, who were 8-of-20 from three-point range.
With the win, the Golden Hawks improved to 5-1 in league play, setting up a showdown against Council Rock North (6-0) on Tuesday night in the first half of a boys/girls double header beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Tennent was led by Melissa Horn with nine points. Sarah Godfrey added eight points and Ashley Alden, seven points. The Panthers fell to 2-4 in league play (5-5 overall).
Falcons roll to big win – All five starters came up huge in Pennsbury’s 74-14 rout of Harry S. Truman on Friday night.
Freshman Jae Jackson – who measures in at 6-0 – led the Falcons with 12 points, 12 rebounds, three steals and two blocks in a standout effort.
“She’s been playing well for us,” coach Donna Nicholson said. “She plays real hard, aggressive defense, and she’s a good presence for us inside.
“Today she was an offensive factor. We told her, ‘You get the ball inside – take it to the basket.’ She was going strong to the basket, and she was finishing today.”
Lauren Pisauro, who had three steals, scored eight of her 10 points in a first quarter that saw the Falcons sprint to a 30-5 lead.
“Our press was real active,” Nicholson said. “Lauren did a great job on the press, and that led to a lot of easy baskets.”
Junior co-captain Molly Phillips had 10 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
“She played a consistent game for us at both ends of the court,” Nicolson said.
Kersten Formento added nine points, five steals and three assists while senior co-captain Kelly Rebert had five points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.
With the win, the Falcons improved to 2-4 in league play (4-6 overall).
“We needed a big win,” Nicholson said. “Hopefully it will help with our confidence, and we can take what we learned from this game and use it going up against the other schools in our league.
“There is no easy night out there. You have to come ready to play every night.”
Spartans edge Golden Bears – Springfield needed some late-game heroics to eke out a 44-42 win over a pesky Upper Moreland squad.
“We played very out of control, and they did a lot of things very well,” coach Sarah Constable said. “At the end of the game, we forced some pretty big turnovers, and we were 9-of-10 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.”
The Spartans trailed by three late, but Morgan Smith came up with a big steal. The Spartans won it when Taylor Koroncia buried a pair with 30 seconds remaining. Koroncai was 5-of-6 from the foul line while teammate Briana Scafidi was 4-for-4 and Elise DiFilippo, 4-for-5.
“We were just happy to leave with a win and end the week with two league wins and just build from here and learn from it,” Constable said. “Upper Moreland played a great game. They played really hard.
“(Christie) Graf had a huge game for them. I really can see a big improvement in them. They played really well tonight.”
Graf led all scorers with 18 points while teammate Erin Dixon had eight and Katie Costello, seven points. Annie Crudele led the Spartans with 10, Smith had nine and DiFilippo and Koroncia, eight each.
The Spartans improved to 2-4 in league play 8-4 overall while the Golden Bears fell to 0-6.
Defense keys win for short-handed Indians – Souderton was once again minus a pair of starters - Averie Brittin (pulled muscle) and Carley Kendall (concussion) – when it took the court to face neighboring Pennridge on Friday.
Early in the first quarter, the Indians lost Libby Wetzler to an injury for the remainder of the game.
“Now we have five legitimate varsity players,” coach Lynn Carroll said.
The Indians, who rallied for a 34-29 win, fell behind 11-2 early and still trailed 16-9 at the end of one quarter.
“We were in a triangle-and-two, and it was awful,” Carroll said of the Indians’ attempt to contain Jordan Dominic and Sam Simononis. “We went to a zone, and we really, really played well.
“We tried to limit Jordan and Sam’s touches – not let Jordan take outside shots, not let Sam drive to the basket, and it really, really worked.”
The Indians, who trailed 23-18 at the half, allowed just six second-half points.
“We weren’t making anything, but we kept getting stop after stop after stop on the defensive end, and it just gave us the confidence and momentum to feel like – we’re doing okay, we’re still in the game,” Carroll said. “It was a six-person rotation – five varsity players and one jayvee player.
“The six girls were determined. They played with such consistency on the defensive end. They really played with intelligence. They understood what we were trying to do defensively, and it won us the game. It was a battle.”
Senior Emily Price led the Indians with nine points while Liz Mower and Brittany Sandone added seven each.
“This was huge,” Carroll said. “I would have been happy with a win full strength. Every league game is a battle.
“To be down two starters and the first person off the bench – it was definitely a gutsy win.”
Back-up Nicole Perna played almost the whole game and, according to Carroll, set the tone on the defensive end.
“She just played great for us,” Carroll said. “Carly Anderson, who a week ago only played jayvee, had eight rebounds and was 3-for-4 from the foul line.”
Simononis finished with six points and Dominic, six. Kate Franchois led the Rams with nine points.
“I was so proud of the girls,” Carroll said. “Sam Simononis is a great player, Jordan Dominic is a great player, and to limit them to the points they had was huge.”
The Indians improved to 4-2 in league play (7-4 overall) while the Rams fell to 2-4 in league play (6-7 overall).
Around the league – Colleen Hinde scored 18 points to lead Wissahickon to a convincing 43-21 win over Upper Merion. The Trojans opened up an 18-10 halftime lead and blew the game wide open with a 17-4 third-quarter explosion. Hinde accounted for 11 of those points. In addition to the Trojans’ senior center, Jessica Keller added nine points, connecting on three treys. Cassidy Koenig led the Vikings with 11 points.
Kelsey Ryan scored 21 points to lead Neshaminy to a 52-24 win over Bensalem. The Redskins led 13-4 at the end of one quarter and extended that lead to 27-11 by halftime. Amanda Lally, Ally Warhola and Lori Paulits each added six points. Ashleigh Spence led the Owls with seven points while Ashida Cooper had six.
Lauren Starzecky scored 16 points and Daniella Ciccarone added 14 in Quakertown’s 56-37 win over Hatboro-Horsham. Carly Bixler led the Hatters with 15 points.
Kristen Fuery scored 15 points while teammate Tori Waters added a season high 12 points in Upper Dublin’s 52-36 win over Norristown.
Cheltenham rolled to a 54-16 win over Plymouth Whitemarsh
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