Central Bucks West picked up one of the night’s biggest wins. Check out all of Friday’s results.
National Conference
ABINGTON 56, PENNSBURY 46
Aiyannah Peal and Deja Rawls combined for 36 points with Peal leading all scorers with 23.
“They were pretty much on point,” coach Dan Marsh said. “I don’t think anyone could have stopped them tonight. Deja probably had seven assists because she was driving or dishing.
“We were up by 22 with four minutes to go, but something lit a fire under Pennsbury, and they started bombing three’s. I think they cut it to three at one point.”
The Ghosts were without the services of sophomore Michael Harris (injury).
“I was worried about tonight,” Marsh said. “I knew they were playing well, and I know they’re talented. I wasn’t sure how we’d respond without Michael, but Deja and Aiyannah really came to play. Everybody did. Sarah (Listenbee) was good too.
“We were able to penetrate, we were able to get good shots, and we made them. I think the kids know with Michael out everybody has to step up and play a little bit better. Gabby Nolan came in and did real well for us also.”
Listenbee added 10 points for the Ghosts, who led 12-7 at the end of one quarter and took a 30-19 lead into halftime. They led 44-31 heading into the final quarter when the Falcons came roaring back.
Sajanna Bethea led the Falcons with 18 points while Kaitlin Kelly had 14 and Lindsay Bolger, eight points.
The Falcons fell to 5-5 in league play (10-8 overall) while the Ghosts are 9-1 in the league (13-5 overall). The conference title will be on the line when the Ghosts face undefeated Council Rock South on Tuesday.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 61, HARRY S TUMAN 16
The Indians sprinted to a 32-6 halftime lead on their way to the big win. Senior Emily Grundman led a balanced attack with 11 points while Megan Hannagen added a career-high 10 points, seven rebounds, one steal and one assist. Alyssa Dumont and Dominique Pinto both scored nine points. Dumont also had a team-high eight rebounds as well as one steal, one block and three assists. Jessica Gerber and Krista Campbell each added six points. Sophomore Khristaijah Jackson led the Tigers with seven points.
While the Tigers fell to 0-10 in the league (2-13 overall), the Indians improved to 7-3 in league play (10-7 overall).
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 65, NESHAMINY 28
Alex Wheatley contributed another double-double, scoring 22 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Junior point guard Alexis Hofstaedter added 10 points and eight assists. Taylor Dillon also reached double digits with 13 points for the Golden Hawks, who led 17-10 at the end of one quarter and extended that lead to 32-16 by halftime. Lori Paulits, Sarah Oliveria and McKenna Mullin each scored six points to lead the Redskins.
While the Redskins fell to 3-7 in the league (6-11 overall), the Golden Hawks upped their perfect mark to 10-0 in the league (18-0 overall).
WILLIAM TENNENT 53, BENSALEM 44
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 55, NORTH PENN 54 (2 OT)
Amanda Parker had a front row seat to Maggie Gratz’s late-game heroics. The West senior described Gratz’s three-pointer with five seconds remaining that turned a heartbreaking defeat into a thrilling victory.
“I was on the opposite side,” the West senior said. “We swung the ball to Maggie, and just to see her eyes look at the rim and the release. The feeling was incredible – it was the coolest thing.”
Gratz’s clutch basket was just her second of the night.
“We all have the ability to make our shots,” she said. “ “We try to stay level-headed, We know we’re here for a purpose, and we’re here to play the way we can play and execute.
“Faith in our teammates leads us to believe in each other. We know the shots we take we can make, and the defense we play is great.”
While the Bucks celebrated, the Maidens were left to deal with the disappointing defeat – a defeat that seemed unlikely when they opened up a 19-10 lead after an Emily Hagan basket at the 5:14 mark of the second quarter.
Their offense went strangely silent the remainder of the half, and when Calypso Carty, who scored eight of her team-high 11 points in the quarter, scored in the closing seconds of the half, the Bucks led 21-19 heading into the intermission.
“I didn’t think my girls communicated well on the court,” Maiden coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “I thought we lost our composure at times. Instead of working together and telling each other – ‘They’re in a man. They’re in a zone,’ Brenda (McDermott) was out there trying to figure it out on her own.
“I had to call two timeouts – one to save a five-second call and another to switch two girls on defense. Three times down the court, I had a shorter girl on one of their tall girls. I wasted two timeouts on things like that tonight.”
The two teams were deadlocked 35-35 heading into the final quarter, but it appeared as though the Maidens had seized control when Lauren Crisler, who scored a game-high 17, connected at the 3:48 mark to give North Penn a 44-40 advantage.
Those turned out to be the final points of regulation for the Maidens, who misfired on the front end of three consecutive one-and-one’s and then watched senior Jen Fabian scored the equalizer with 22 seconds remaining. The Maidens never so much as managed a shot against the Bucks’ aggressive defense in the game’s closing seconds, setting the stage for OT.
Vicky Tumasz, who had a pair of big three’s in the second half and finished with 12 points, buried a pair of foul shots to give the Maidens an early edge. West freshman Corrinne Godshall, who was fouled on a putback attempt, knotted the score when she connected on a pair of foul shots. After a Maiden miss, Godshall was back at it again, drawing a foul after an offensive rebound and sinking both foul shots to put the Bucks on top 48-46 with 1:39 remaining.
“She did a great job,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “Mackenzie Carroll – a freshman – also came in and gave us great minutes.”
McDermott was whistled for her fifth foul after a Nicole Munger steal, but the Bucks couldn’t capitalize, and Hagan knotted the score on a drive with 1:05 remaining.
“I thought Emily Hagan did a nice job at the point at the end,” deMarteleire said. “She showed nice composure and didn’t try to do too much. We need to be sure we’re using our strengths and not let the other team force us to go to our weaknesses.”
Parker scored the first four points of the second OT, but the Maidens capitalized on back-to-back misses on the front end of two one-and-one’s by the Bucks. First it was Tumasz burying a jumper and then it was Crisler connecting to knot the score. After a steal on the defensive end, Crisler buried a pair from the foul line with 37 seconds remaining to put the Maidens on top 54-52. It wasn’t enough as Gratz delivered a shot that sealed their fate.
“It’s funny – I’m not any more pleased than after any other game,” said a remarkably composed Terry Rakowsky. “We have been sticking in there the whole time this year. The Council Rock South game was the only game we weren’t in.
“Our young kids are starting to come along. We were taking good shots at the end, we weren’t taking bad shots like we did the first time around.”
How big was Friday’s win to the players?
“Huge,” Parker said.
“It’s massive,” Gratz added. “We’re coming off the CB South win and then Quakertown the other day. We play East on Tuesday, and this momentum we have – we know we can do it, and now I think we’ve convinced everyone else we can do it too.”
A point of concern for deMarteliere was the fact that Steph Knauer, after scoring six points in the first half, had just three foul shots the rest of the way and rarely touched the ball on offense.
“They’ll be running a lot of sprints on Monday,” the Maidens’ coach said. “They’re supposed to be looking inside, and not only didn’t they throw it in there, they didn’t look.”
Friday’s game was a complete reversal of fortunes for the Bucks, who led by six with 1:22 remaining in regulation in an early season meeting with the Maidens only to fall in overtime.
The win was another signature win for a West program that is on the rise.
“I’m so sad to be leaving,” Parker said. “I’ve been here since my freshman year. We’ve turned the program around. It’s going to be so much fun to coming back and watching them.”
If Parker is going to miss the underclassmen, Gratz insists the feeling is mutual.
“Starting off as a freshman, (these) seniors have motivated me and inspired me since day one and taught me the definition of a team,” she said. “Now that we’ve learned to work together, we’ve seen the results, and the results are great.”
West (13-5) and North Penn (12-5) are tied for third place in the conference standings with identical 7-3 records.
SOUDERTON 65, HATBORO-HORSHAM 40
The big news in Friday’s game wasn’t the fact that the Indians won but rather how they won. Souderton rode the dazzling 26-point, 14-rebound effort of senior Carley Kendall to a decisive win that brought to an end a six-game skid.
“Carley just played great tonight,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “She was a different player today. I know she had a size advantage, and that helps, but it was much, much more than that.
“We’ve had games this year where she’s had a size advantage and none of those things happened. She was a different player. I’m guessing if you asked her it’s probably that she’s sick of losing at this point and really has nothing to lose. She just played great. She dominated both ends.”
Kendall was 10-for-11 from the foul line. Nine of her 14 rebounds were on the offensive end. She also had two blocked shots.
“She’s struggled from the foul line this year,” Carroll said. “She hit some jumpers, she had composure, and she went to the basket.
“She was 8-for-16 from the field, and they weren’t all in the lane. She probably had four jumpshots. Regardless of the stats, it was more what we got from her mentally and emotionally that this team needs.
“A huge part of it was - before the game, we talked in the locker room how we had a size advantage, and all of our guards were committed to get the ball down low. Almost every play we ran – regardless of what I called – they were looking to get it to Carley, and that made it a big difference.”
The Indians were without the services of point guard Bianca Picard (injury). Senior Liz Mower stepped in and directed the offense while scoring 11 points.
“Liz hasn’t played point guard since eighth grade,” Carroll said. “Hatboro is in-your-face fullcourt the entire game, and they made it feel pretty hectic. For someone who’s not a point guard to handle it the way Liz did was great.”
The Indians led 19-14 at the end of one quarter and then outscored the Hatters 15-4 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 34-18 lead. They never looked back.
“I think we felt pretty good about our chances tonight going in, but just winning tonight wasn’t going to be enough for us,” Carroll said. “Even though we lost the last six, we’ve taken steps forward, and we needed to continue to take steps forward and not just settle for a win but rather get a good win, and we did.
“It was good to get Carley and Libby (Wetzler) back into playing how they’re capable of playing. We haven’t been getting them involved enough, and tonight we did.”
While the Indians evened their league mark to 5-5 (8-8 overall), the Hatters fell to 2-8 in the league (4-12 overall).
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 49, PENNRIDGE 14
The Patriots took a 13-7 lead at the end of one quarter and stretched that lead to 24-12 by halftime. They outscored the Rams 25-3 in the second half. Lindsey Kelly led the Patriots with 15 points while Shannon Devlin and Margaret Anne Hubbell both added nine. Lexi Scrivano added eight points. The Rams were led by the eight-point effort of Alyssa Marchunsky.
While the Rams fell to 2-8 in the league (3-12 overall), the Patriots upped their conference-leading mark to 9-1 (13-5 overall).
QUAKERTOWN at CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH (Postponed to Monday, Feb. 6, 3:30 p.m.)
American Conference
CHELTENHAM 57, UPPER MERION 36
Sparked by eight points from Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews, who scored a game-high 26 points, the Lady Panthers sprinted to an 18-7 lead at the end of one quarter. Christina Coleman scored seven of her 17 points in the second quarter as the Lady Panthers opened up a 27-15 halftime lead. Andrews scored eight third quarter points, allowing the Lady Panthers to extend their lead to 41-22 heading into the final quarter.
“CC put together a pretty good second half for us or the game might have been closer,” coach Bob Schaefer said. “They have a nice team, and they never quit.
“We had a height advantage but didn’t dominate the boards like I had hoped we would. Everyone played hard but not well.”
Kristina O’Sulllivan had a big game for the Vikings, finishing the night with 17 points. MJ Valeri added seven and Reggie Robinson, six points. High-scoring Cassidy Koenig was limited to just three points and no treys. Ming Seawright added eight points for the Lady Panthers, who played without the services of Shayla Peoples (illness).
The Lady Panthers improved to 8-0 in league play (17-0 overall) while the Vikings fell to 5-4 in the league (11-6 overall).
NORRISTOWN 89, UPPER MORELAND 43
The Eagles, who found themselves on top 41-22 at the intermission, were led by the 21-point effort of Tyshay Britten and the 20-point performance of Brianna Hedgepeth. Stephanie DiNolfi and Nicole Graham each added 12 points. Karli Lynch led the Golden Bears with 21 points while Katie Costello added 10.
The Eagles are 5-4 in the league (8-9 overall) while the Golden Bears fell to 0-8 in the league (3-14 overall).
UPPER DUBLIN 48, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 32
Taylor Bryant led a balanced Flying Cardinal attack with 13 points while Brianna Spector added 12, including a pair of three-pointers. Jen Myers had seven points, and Curtrena Goff and Lauren Rothfeld both had six. For the Colonials, Erin Martin had 10 points, and Egypt Thompson added eight.
The Colonials led 12-8 at the end of one quarter, but the Flying Cardinals rallied to go on top 24-21 by halftime. A 13-2 third quarter all but sealed the Colonials’ fate.
The Flying Cardinals upped their record to 7-2 in league play (14-4 overall) while PW fell to 4-5 in the league (7-9 overall).
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 46, SOUDERTON 41 (OT) (Wednesday Jan 25)
Lexi Scrivano sank the second of two foul shots as time was about to expire, sending Wednesday’s thriller into overtime. Making the foul particularly devastating for the Indians was the fact that it was the fifth of the game for senior Carley Kendall.
The Patriots, behind a pair of Shannon Devlin buckets, outscored the Indians 7-2 in OT to earn the big win.
“This could have been a moral victory even if we don’t win it, but because this was our sixth loss in a row, moral victories aren’t enough right now,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “It was disappointing.”
Lindsey Kelly had a big day for the Patriots, scoring a game-high 21 points. Souderton was led by the 13-point effort of senior Liz Mower.
A look back at the game would show that the Indians – sparked by a pair of Gabby McAndrews three’s – led 8-6 at the end of one quarter. Allison Gallagher scored five second-quarter points as the Indians edged the Patriots 9-7 to go into halftime with a 17-13 lead. Kelly accounted for 11 of East’s 13 points.
The Patriots used a 14-7 third quarter explosion to go on top 27-24 heading into the final frame. Mower scored 11 fourth-quarter points to singlehandedly bring the Indians back into the game, extending the Patriots to overtime before falling by five.
East’s Margaret Anne Hubbell scored all seven of her points in the second half. Gallagher finished with nine points for the Indians.
NORRISTOWN 76, POTTSTOWN 24 (Wednesday, Jan. 25)
Norristown blew this one open early, outscoring Pottstown 29-3 in the first quarter and adding to that lead in the second quarter to go into the intermission with a 48-12 lead. Tyshay Britten led a balanced scoring attack with 14 while Sydney Morse added 11. Brianna Hedgepeth and Precious Tempson both added 10 points for the Eagles.
UPPER MERION 43, GIRLS HIGH 27 (Monday, Jan. 23)
The Upper Merion girls’ basketball team joined forces with the school’s student council to raise more than $1,500 for Upper Merion Aid, a local organization that supports families who have fallen on hard times. The main fundraiser was the sale of 300 t-shirts.
“We had a great crowd – we had both sides of the stands filled,” coach Tom Schurtz said. “We had a lot of younger kids, which is really neat to see. We had great community support for a really good cause.”
Chubb Insurance also stepped up and made a donation.
“It was just a good, solid night all around,” Schurtz said. “It was packed, and it was a great atmosphere.
“Girls High responded to that. There were so many people there, and you don’t want the game to get out of hand and be embarrassed. They did a great job of hanging around and hanging around. We kept them at arm’s length, but I give them a lot of credit. They played really hard today. It was a very physical, fast-paced game.”
Kristina O’Sullivan and Reggie Robinson both scored 12 points. Cassidy Koenig added nine points and MJ Valeri, seven points.
“We had nice, balanced scoring across the board,” Schurtz said. “We just played a good solid game. No one really stood out. It was a good, solid all-around team effort.”
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