Abington defeated defending National Conference champion CR North in one of Tuesday night’s marquee SOL contests. To view action photos of the Quakertown/CB West and Bensalem/Truman games, please visit the Photo Gallery.
National Conference
ABINGTON 38, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 31
The Indians struggled through a tough shooting performance, connecting on just 10-of-46 shots from the floor (21.7 percent). The Ghosts weren’t doing a whole lot better, connecting on only 11-of-43 shots (25.6 percent), but that was good enough to earn the important win 
over the defending National Conference champions.
“It was December basketball – it wasn’t pretty, but it’s always good to beat them,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “They’re a good team, and they’re well coached. It was at their place, so that makes it even better.”
The Ghosts used a balanced scoring attack to earn the win. Senior Aiyannah Peal led the way with 11 points while sophomore Gigi Vitelli added eight and freshman point guard Deja Rawls, seven points.
“They did a really good job of slowing the pace down and taking away our two big girls,” Marsh said. “They packed it in a zone, and they really controlled the pace of the game entirely until we finally woke up and were able to turn it around.”
The Indians opened up a 10-7 lead at the end of one quarter and took a tenuous 19-18 lead into halftime only to watch the Ghosts go on a 12-6 third quarter tear. Abington outscored Rock North 20-12 in the second half.
“In the second half, we started playing our game a little bit more, pressuring them a little bit more,” Marsh said. “We caused a couple of turnovers and got out on the fastbreak. Gigi Vitelli hit two big threes in the third quarter and Deja (Rawls) hit one as well, which really helped open up the zone. They had to go to man, and we were able to hold them off down the stretch.
“They had a good game plan - they really did take away Michael and Sarah. It’s another learning experience for our team.”
Sarah Listenbee and Michael Harris – Abington’s post players – each had four points.
For the Indians, Emily Grundman led the way with 12 points while Alyssa Dumont added eight points and Helena Gemmell, six points.
Abington (2-0 SOL, 5-0 overall) returns to action on Thursday when the Ghosts will host Central Bucks South in a non-league contest. Council Rock North (1-1 SOL, 4-1 overall) is off until Dec. 27 when the Indians will compete in the Diamond State Classic Tournament at Ursuline Academy.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 63, WILLIAM TENNENT 32
Senior Alex Wheatley scored 19 points and pulled down nine boards while Taylor Dillon added 11 points. Junior point guard Alexis Hofstaedter handed out nine assists to go along with seven points. The Panthers were led by the nine-point effort of Allison Chatburn. Emily O’Donnell and Ally Fenner both had seven points.
The Golden Hawks opened up a 21-6 lead after one quarter and took a 33-11 lead into halftime.
Council Rock South (2-0 SOL, 5-0 overall) will compete in the Diamond State Classic, which begins next Tuesday. William Tennent (0-2 SOL, 1-2) will compete in the Quakertown Tournament next Tuesday.
BENSALEM 56, HARRY S. TRUMAN 24
Ashida Cooper scored 15 points to lead the Owls while teammate Tyra Roberts added 14 and Ashleigh Spence had 12. Ashley Schneider had five points and four steals while Jere St. Lewis had seven assists.
“It was a total team effort,” coach Don Bogan said. “We are playing better team defense and are communicating better during the game.”
While Truman (0-2 SOL, 1-4) will return to action next Tuesday when the Tigers compete in the Lower Moreland Holiday Tournament, Bensalem (2-0 SOL, 4-1) is off until Jan. 3 when the Owls will travel to William Tennent.
PENNSBURY 28, NESHAMINY 25
Continental Conference
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 36, SOUDERTON 22
CB South prevented the Indians from finding their offensive stride with an aggressive defensive performance in Tuesday’s key Continental Conference showdown. The Titans led 10-7 after an ‘un-offensive first half’ and then outscored the Indians 12-3 in the third quarter (26-13 in the second half) to earn the big win.
“I told the girls at halftime – ‘I’m not sure if I should be happy or disappointed that the score is 10-7,’” CB South coach Beth Mattern said. “If you had told me that before the game, I’m not sure what I would have thought.
“I was happy with the fact that we were winning and held a team to seven points in a half. That’s a good team. I have a lot of respect for Lynn (Carroll) and the way they play.”
The Titans were led by the 11-point efforts of Alysha Lofton and Rachel Falkowski, but the big story of the game was their defense, which limited Souderton’s most dangerous offensive weapons – sophomore point guard Bianca Picard and senior forward Carley Kendall – to a combined seven points. Picard scored all of her points at the foul line while Kendall did not get into the scoring column until the fourth quarter when the outcome had already been decided.
“I’ll take that, but I wouldn’t have expected it,” Mattern said.
In an improbable first quarter, the Titans and Indians shot a combined 1-for-24, and it was the Titans holding a 2-1 lead at the end of eight minutes. While the Titans began to find their stride in the second quarter, things never improved a whole lot for the Indians, who shot 19 percent from the floor (7-for-37) and struggled against the Titans’ aggressive pressure defense.
“It wasn’t about – we’re good shooters and we just missed some shots,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “I have to do a better job of getting them to slow down on offense. When a play doesn’t work, we’re not comfortable, and we immediately try to take a shot as soon as the play breaks down as opposed to seeing what’s happening and going from there.
“I think there are certain plays I could have called to get us better shots. Do I think we’ll shoot that way every night? No, but we didn’t lose the game because it was a poor shooting night. It was part play calling on my part and just rushing things offensively when things didn’t work out.”
Lofton connected on the only field goal of the opening quarter at the 2:40 mark to put the Titans on top 2-1. The Indians took their first and only lead (3-2) when freshman Sarah Derstein connected on her team’s first field goal at the 7:10 mark of the second quarter.
Falkowski breathed some life into a struggling South offense, scoring seven points off the bench – which included a trey to put the Titans on top 5-3.
“She works extremely hard at practice and is really dedicated to the team and being a better player,” Mattern said of Falkowski.
The junior reserve’s performance was not lost on her teammates.
“That was huge,” senior captain Madi Vitelli said. “It’s hard to come off the bench and score points, but Rachel came in, and she did awesome. She had a three-pointer, she got rebounds, and she really got us going.
“When we’re not scoring, our offense comes from defense. We knew we needed to get some stops on defense and our offense would come.”
The Indians knotted the scored 5-5 on a basket by Liz Mower, and although they trailed by just a 10-7 score at the intermission, they never found any kind of offensive rhythm. Lofton scored eight second half points to lead the Titans, but the story of this one was the Titans’ defense.
Shannon Senour and Lofton took turns guarding Picard while Kate McMenamin, Lofton and Falkowski effectively took away the Indians’ post game.
“We knew what they were going to do, and props to our posts – they did an awesome job of denying (inside),” said Vitelli, the Titans’ floor general. “We heard a lot of good things about Souderton. They’re a strong team, a solid team this year, and we knew they would come out strong. We came out expecting big things.”
Libby Wetzler led the Indians with five points.
The Indians (1-1 SOL, 1-2) are off until Jan. 3 when they will host Hatboro-Horsham while the Titans (2-0, 4-1) will compete in the Spring-Ford Tournament next Tuesday.
NORTH PENN 64, PENNRIDGE 34
The Maidens rebounded from Friday’s disappointing loss to Central Bucks East to defeat the Rams in convincing fashion, opening up a 14-8 lead at the end of one quarter and extending that lead to 29-13 by halftime. They went on to outscore the Rams 35-21 in the second half.
Steph Knauer led the Maidens – who saw 10 players get into the scoring column - with 22 points and 13 rebounds while junior Lauren Crisler added 15 points and sophomore Erin Maher, 10 points. Alyssa Marchunsky led the Rams with eight points while Jessie Dominic and Nici Bonacci both added five.
North Penn (1-1 SOL, 4-1) will travel to Wildwood, N.J., to compete in the Boardwalk Classic next Wednesday while the Rams (0-2 SOL, 1-4) will compete in the Boyertown Holiday Tournament next Tuesday.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 72, QUAKERTOWN 14
The Bucks seized control of Tuesday’s game early, sprinting to a 37-3 lead at the end of one quarter and stretching that lead to 54-9 at halftime. Jen Fabian led the way with 17 points and six rebounds while Sam Colloi added 13 points. Amanda Parker added nine points for the Bucks while Brittny Buonanno Taylor led the Panthers with seven points.
The Panthers (0-2 SOL, 1-4) will return to action next Tuesday when they will host their own tournament. The Bucks (1-1 SOL, 3-2) will compete in the Lower Moreland Holiday Tournament, which begins next Wednesday.
American Conference
NORRISTOWN 44, WISSAHICKON 26
Tyshay Britten scored 12 points and also pulled down 11 rebounds while Stephanie DiNolfi added 10 points and five assists, but defense, according to coach Ashlee Harrison, was the story of this one.
The Trojans scored just six first half points as the Eagles took a 19-6 lead into halftime, and the Eagles’ coach pointed to DiNolfi as her team’s defensive catalyst.“She comes out and she puts tremendous ball pressure on the point guard, and we follow her lead,” Harrison said.
Sydney Morse and Briana Hedgepeth each added eight points while Nicole Graham had six for the Eagles. Wissahickon was led by the five-point effort of Dominique Earland.
“To be honest, we didn’t shoot that well, but we held them to six points in the first half, which is phenomenal,” Harrison said. “We came out a little bit flat in the second half, and they cut (our lead) to 10 at one point because we weren’t scoring, but we buckled down and refocused and went ahead again.”
Harrison is looking forward to the return of regulars Precious Tempson and Bri Kennedy on Thursday.
“Everything should fall into place moving forward, and we should get back to playing the way we were all summer and all fall,” the Eagles’ coach said.
The Eagles return to action next Thursday when they will compete in the George W. Snear Holiday Tournament at the Fellowship House in Conshohocken.
UPPER DUBLIN 44, UPPER MERION 22
Curtrena Goff scored 17 points while teammates Lauren Rothfeld and Taylor Bryant both added seven points to lead the Flying Cardinals. Cassidy Koenig – who connected on four treys – led the Vikings with 12 points.
The Flying Cardinals were sparked by their defense. Upper Dublin led 10-3 at the end of one quarter and took a 22-8 lead into halftime on their way to the win.
The Flying Cardinals will host the Cardinal Classic Basketball Tournament beginning next Wednesday while Upper Merion will travel to Sherwood High School for a holiday tournament that begins next Tuesday.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 58, UPPER MORELAND 28
Gabby Schumacher and Egypt Thompson both scored 14 points to lead the Colonials. Twelve of Schumacher’s points came on treys as she connected on four. Erin Martin added eight points while Laurie Givnish had seven.
For the Golden Bears, junior Amanda Getz and sophomore Lindsay Walder led the way with eight points each. Both connected on a pair of three-pointers.
Upper Moreland returns to action next Tuesday when the Golden Bears will compete in the Jenkintown Tournament. The Colonials will compete in the George W. Snear Holiday Tournament at the Fellowship House in Conshohocken next Thursday.
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