Check out all the winners in Tuesday’s SOL girls’ basketball action. To view photos of the CB South/CB West game, please visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/011712_cb_west_vs_cb_south_dl#l_dl_10400_69_4_27
National Conference
PENNSBURY 52, WILLIAM TENNENT 41
Jae Jackson scored nine points in the fourth quarter, which included a pair of baskets and a 5-for-7 effort at the foul line, to ensure there would be no Panther comeback.
“She was really big,” coach Donna Nicholson said of her junior captain. “Until midway through the fourth quarter, it could have gone either way. Even then, we made some foul shots down the stretch, and we stepped it up on defense. It was a battle. This was a big game for us.
“The girls played the whole game. They finally put four consistent quarters together.”
Jackson and teammate Sajanna Bethea shared game scoring honors with 13 points each. Jackson also had eight rebounds while Bethea had 12 boards, six steals and three assists. Kaitlin Kelly and Courtney Kruscavage both added nine points. Kelly came up with a basket and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line in the fourth quarter while Kruscavage connected on a bucket and also buried a pair from the foul line in the final quarter.
“They had to start fouling us, and we beat their press a couple of times,” Nicholson said. “We played with patience and worked the ball around. We played together as a team.”
The win came on the heels of a big win over Villa Joseph Marie on Saturday.
“They’re all big right now,” Nicholson said. “The win on Saturday, tonight beating Tennent, and we start back up again in the Suburban One League round two on Friday.”
While the Panthers (2-5 SOL, 6-5 overall) will travel to Council Rock North on Friday, Pennsbury (3-4, 7-7) will travel to Bensalem on Friday night.
“We have a score to settle with Bensalem,” Nicholson said in reference to her team’s early season loss to the Owls. “We’re starting to come together and do some good things. This is two good wins that the girls played hard and played good ‘D.’ We just have to carry that momentum over into the second half of the season.”
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 55, BENSALEM 33
Alex Wheatley turned in another monster performance for the Golden Hawks, filling a stat sheet with an effort that included 16 points, 20 rebounds, eight steals and seven assists. Alexis Hofstaedter added 10 points while Courtney Brown had nine. Taylor Dillon and Rachel Jacob both chipped in with six points, and Taylor Hunt had five points.
“We had some people coming in and doing nice things,” coach Monica Stolic said.
The Golden Hawks held a 9-8 lead at the end of one quarter, but they went on a 19-7 second quarter tear to go into halftime with a 28-17 lead. They added to that lead with a 13-4 third quarter burst.
“Our defense has been pretty good lately,” Stolic said. “We stopped them from getting the ball inside. I thought the girls played real good defense.”
Ashleigh Spence and Tyra Roberts led the Owls with nine points each while Ashley Schneider added eight points.
The Golden Hawks (7-0 SOL, 14-0 overall) will host Truman on Friday while the Owls (2-5, 4-6) will host Pennsbury.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 49, NESHAMINY 35
Emily Grundman had a big night for the Indians, connecting on 9-of-14 shots from the floor and 10-of-11 from the foul line en route to a career best 28 points. She also had four rebounds, two steals and one block in just over three quarters of action. Helena Gemmell also finished the game in double figures, scoring 12 points to go along with six rebounds, three steals and five assists.
The Indians, who led 8-7 at the end of one quarter, seized control of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Redskins 19-9 to go into halftime with a 27-16 lead. They never looked back.
Lori Paulits led the Redskins with 12 points. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Neshaminy.
The Indians (5-2 SOL, 8-5 overall) will host William Tennent on Friday while the Redskins (3-4, 5-8) will host Abington on Thursday.
ABINGTON 65, HARRY S TRUMAN 37
Freshman Deja Rawls led a balanced Ghost attack with 13 points while Michael Harris added 12 and Sarah Listenbee, 11 points. Khristaijah Jackson scored a game-high 17 points while teammate Anjelica Meda added eight points for the Tigers, who trailed 38-18 at the intermission.
The Ghosts (6-1 SOL, 10-4 overall) travel to Neshaminy on Thursday while the Tigers (0-7, 1-10) will travel to Council Rock South on Friday.
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 50, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 27
Jen Fabian used the word ‘nice.’ Fellow senior Sam Colloi went a step further, calling Tuesday’s win over South on the Titans’ home court ‘beautiful.’ By any description, it was a landmark win for the Bucks.
“It’s a huge win, especially over here,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “This is a tough environment. They have beaten everyone over here for years.”
The game – part of a girls/boys doubleheader on Coaches vs. Cancer Night – was played in front of a nearly full house. The partisan South crowd only seemed to inspire the Bucks, who dominated the backboards and came up with one loose ball after another.
“We know if you want to win the game you have to get on the floor – it’s who wants it more at the end,” Fabian said. “We just really emphasize that.”
“We play with heart, and that was it,” Colloi added. “We left it all out on the court and got the win.”
The Bucks – led by the eight-rebound effort of Caitlyn Mautz and seven-rebound performance of Fabian – pulled down 48 boards in Tuesday’s game, benefitting from a tough shooting night for the Titans. South connected on just 10-of-62 shots from the floor, which translates into a 16 percent shooting night. They misfired on all nine attempts from three-point land.
“Our shots did not fall,” South coach Beth Mattern said. “We were so out of sync. It was the polar opposite of how we practiced yesterday.
“Today we were so out of sync and rushing things. Even when we weren’t being rushed, we were rushing things. There were no brakes being applied.”
Nicole Munger and Amanda Parker led a balanced West attack with eight points each while Colloi and Fabian both added seven points. Madi Vitelli led the Titans with eight points. No one else had more than four points.
The Titans’ offensive woes surfaced early – they didn’t get on the scoreboard until Vitelli found Kate McMenamin for a basket in close with 15 seconds remaining in the first quarter. By that time, the Bucks led 9-2. Vitelli opened the second quarter with back-to-back buckets, and just like that, it was a 9-6 game.
But not for long.
Fabian hit nothing but net on a trey, and then it was Calypso Carty finding Colloi for an easy bucket at the end of the Titans’ press. A Fabian steal set the stage for another fastbreak bucket by Colloi, and the Bucks were back on top 16-6.
They extended that lead to 23-8 when freshman Mackenzie Carroll found fellow freshman Corrinne Godshall for an easy bucket in close.
“Usually when you have freshmen coming up, they’re only playing either when we’re blowing out a team or losing by a lot,” Colloi said. “Since we’re incorporating them (into our lineup), it just makes us so much stronger as a team, and it makes us deadly because we have so much depth on our bench.”
“Our freshmen are so talented,” Fabian added. “We don’t have to be worried about them going into the game. We trust them. They push us the same way we push them.”
A Munger pass set up an easy deuce for Maggie Gratz, and when Mautz scored on a putback at the buzzer, the Bucks led 28-10 at the end of one half.
Still, Rakowsky was concerned.
“They were down by 20 and came back and beat Abington,” he said. “We tried to emphasize that the first couple minutes of the third quarter decide games like this.”
The Titans opened the second half with baskets from Shannon Senour and Alysha Lofton to make it a 28-14 game, but Mackenzie Carroll’s basket to break a three-minute scoring drought ignited a 15-6 West run to close out the quarter. The Titans never threatened the rest of the way.
“We had a little blurb for about a minute in the third quarter where the kids started to lose focus – which has happened in past games, and then all of a sudden, they regained the focus and took it to them again,” Rakowsky said. “That was a key development for our team.”
While the Titans (5-2 SOL, 10-4 overall) will host Pennridge on Friday, the Bucks (4-3, 9-5) return to action on Thursday when they will host Souderton.
NORTH PENN 66, HATBORO-HORSHAM 37
The Maidens led 15-10 at the end of one quarter and stretched that lead to 34-16 by halftime. Steph Knauer led the way with 17 points while Lauren Crisler added 14 and Vicky Tumasz, eight points. Carly Bixler led the Hatters with 12 points while Heather Lutz added 11.
The Maidens (5-2 SOL, 9-4 overall) will host Central Bucks East on Thursday night, and the Hatters (1-6, 3-9) will host Quakertown on Friday night.
PENNRIDGE 67, QUAKERTOWN 30
The Rams – whose defense forced 24 turnovers on Tuesday - sprinted to a 23-4 lead at the end of one quarter and took a 32-15 lead into halftime on their way to the big win.
Alyssa Marchunsky scored a game-high 17 points to go along with eight rebounds while Shannon Chynoweth added a career-high 13 points as well as eight rebounds and five steals. Jessie Tennett scored eight points and had six steals. Ashlee Rusicka led the Panthers with 13 points while Brittny Buonanno-Taylor added 12 points.
The Rams (2-5 SOL, 3-9 overall) will travel to Central Bucks South on Tuesday night while the Panthers (0-7, 1-12) will travel to Hatboro on Friday night.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST at SOUDERTON (Postponed until Wednesday, Jan. 25)
American Conference
NORRISTOWN 59, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 54 (OT)
The Eagles snapped their three-game losing streak in dramatic fashion, edging the Colonials in overtime. The Eagles saw a Stephanie DiNolfi shot for the win fall just short in regulation but then scored back-to-back buckets to open overtime and never looked back.
“Briana Hedgepeth scored a bucket right away, and then we came back and Tyshay (Britten) got fouled but made the basket,” coach Ashlee Harrison said.
Hedgepeth led all scorers with 18 points while DiNolfi added 15 and Brianna Kennedy, nine points.
“Briana Hedgepeth was just consistent,” Harrison said. “It wasn’t as if she dominated at one point.”
The Eagles led 12-10 at the end of one quarter and took a 25-24 lead into halftime. It was still a one-point game heading into the fourth quarter when the Colonials knotted the score. The Eagles led by six at one point and trailed by as many as four, but this contest was close the entire way as the Eagles defeated the Colonials for the second time in as many outings.
“Our composure was great,” Harrison said. “The girls listened and buckled down. We pulled the ball out when we needed to, we remained strong with the ball, and we didn’t turn the ball over down the stretch.
“Stephanie stepped up and made foul shots. She went to the line and knocked them down. Making foul shots in overtime was crucial, and the fact that the girls remained composed and under control was the most important thing to us. That was a huge confidence builder for us. This win was monumental, to say the least. After losing three straight, it was tough for the girls.
“Now that we’re going into the conference, we need to pick it up. The last time we played PW we played fantastic. Tonight we played PW, and we played fantastic. Hopefully, it will continue over because that’s how good we can play.”
The Eagles (3-3 SOL, 5-7 overall) will host Upper Merion on Friday while the Colonials (2-4, 4-8) will host Wissahickon.
CHELTENHAM 57, WISSAHICKON 25
Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews and Christina Coleman both scored 18 points to lead the Lady Panthers. Ming Seawright added nine points while Jiana Clark had six in a contest that saw the Lady Panthers open up an 18-8 lead at the end of one quarter. Coleman had eight first-quarter points. Cheltenham took a 26-14 lead into halftime and led 41-18 heading into the final quarter. Dominique Earland led the Trojans with 10 points.
The Lady Panthers (6-0 SOL, 14-0 overall) travel to Upper Dublin on Thursday for a key American Conference showdown while the Trojans (1-5, 3-9) will travel to PW on Friday.
UPPER MERION 58, UPPER MORELAND 24
Cassidy Koenig scored a game-high 25 points – including the thousandth point of her career. Twenty-two of those points came in a first half that saw the Vikings open up a 45-11 lead. Freshman Reggie Robinson added 12 points for the Vikings. Katie Costello led the Golden Bears with six points.
Upper Merion (4-2 SOL, 9-4 overall) will travel to Norristown on Friday while the Golden Bears will travel to the Academy of the New Church for a non-league game on Thursday night.
SPRING-FORD 56, UPPER DUBLIN 46
The Rams opened up a 15-5 lead at the end of one quarter and took a 27-15 lead into halftime on their way to the non-league win. The Flying Cardinals, who were without point guard Curtrena Goff (injury), were led by the 18-point effort of senior Taylor Bryant. Kayla McAneney added 10 points while Brianna Spector had eight points.
The Flying Cardinals (5-1 SOL, 11-3 SOL) will host Cheltenham in a showdown between the conference’s top squads on Thursday.
- Log in to post comments
