Central Bucks West and Upper Dublin captured tournament titles on Thursday. Check out all of the SOL action.
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 52, LOWER MORELAND 18
After playing what basically amounted to their championship game one day earlier when they defeated highly regarded Holy Cross (N.J.), the Bucks made easy business of the host Lions in Thursday’s title game of the Lower Moreland Holiday Tournament.
By halftime, the Bucks led 36-10 as they rolled to the decisive win and the tournament title. Junior Calypso Carty led West with 14 points and five steals while Jen Fabian added six points and seven rebounds. Corinne Godshall and Maggie Gratz both chipped in with six points as 11 players got into the scoring column.
The big story of this tournament was the Bucks’ impressive 54-40 win over Holy Cross one day earlier.
“I was a little shocked we were playing them,” coach Terry Rakowsky said of his team’s game against Holy Cross. “I thought we were playing another team.
“There’s a team out of Scranton called Holy Cross - Dunmore. We find out this (Holy Cross) team has two kids going to Rutgers and another kid going to Montclair State. They had four very, very good players.”
The key to that win, according to Rakowsky, was defense.
“Our defense has been really, really good all year except for the first five minutes of the Abington game,” the Bucks’ coach said. “Defensively, we turned them over a lot early. We just played a solid overall game against a good team. I think we were a little bit stronger at the end, maybe a little more conditioned, and we just beat them at the end.”
Rakowsky acknowledged the significance of his team’s win over Holy Cross.
“I don’t think the kids realized – and still don’t – that there were that many Division 1 kids on that team,” the Bucks’ coach said. “Our kids played very, very well against some talented kids.
“Abington is very, very talented, and Souderton has a bunch of good kids, so it’s not like we haven’t seen it before. We played a good game all the way around. All of the kids played solid.”
West closed out the month of December with a 5-2 record.
UPPER DUBLIN 44, VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 33
One day after thumping Hatboro-Horsham 62-18 in the first meeting of the two SOL schools in seven years, the Flying Cardinals were back at it again, this time opening up a 14-4 lead at the end of one quarter and never looking back on their way to a big win over the Jems.
It was the second time in as many years the Flying Cardinals defeated VJM in the title game of their own tournament.
“Villa Joe was a little more competition, and we played really good in the first half,” said coach Vince Catanzaro, whose team led 26-11 at the intermission. “We were running on them in the first half because they weren’t making their shots. In the second half, Villa Joe did a better job, and we had to adjust our game.
“They were knocking down their shots, and they weren’t doing that in the first half. They scored 22 points in the second half and scored (11) in the first half. It was the story of two halves.”
Point guard Curtrena Goff led the Flying Cardinals with 16 points while Jen Myers had 12 points and Taylor Bryant, eight points. Myers was named the tournament MVP.
“She played solid,” Catanzaro said of Myers. “Even though Jen doesn’t always do a lot of scoring, she does a lot of the dirty work. She’s a rebounder, and we really depend on her to play big people even though she’s not even big herself.
“She had to play Mary (Newell) most of the game. Mary is a big girl, and we needed a lot of help, but Jen had to do a lot of the work. We had Brianna Spector on her too, and they did a good job.”
Newell finished the game with nine points as the Flying Cardinals controlled play, upping their record to 7-1.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 49, NOTRE DAME 47
Alysha Lofton buried a three-pointer with five seconds remaining in regulation to propel the Titans to the thrilling win on Thursday at the Spring-Ford Holiday Classic.
“It was an exciting game,” coach Beth Mattern said. “We played really well.
“We led the whole game and then we gave up the lead in the fourth quarter. To come back and win at the buzzer was definitely a boost.”
The Titans led 25-22 at halftime and extended that lead to 11 midway through the third quarter only to watch their opponents come roaring back to make it a 38-34 game heading into the final quarter.
Mattern credited her team’s defense as a key to the win.
“Alysha Lofton matched up with Kathleen Fitzpatrick, who is their leading scorer, and she played phenomenal defense,” Mattern said. “It really got her out of sorts.
“Fitzpatrick still ended up with 15 points on five three-pointers, but we’re not talking your usual three-pointers – we’re talking JJ Redick three-pointers.
“Shannon Senour matched up against Megan McGurk, their point guard, and she did a good job of disrupting her out of the offensive flow as well.”
The Titans featured a balanced scoring attack with Lofton leading the way with 14 points while Kate McMenamin scored 12 points from the low post.
“She played a great game,” Mattern said of McMenamin.
Rachel Falkowski came off the bench to score nine points.
“We were fairly aggressive going to the hoop, and it paid off for us,” Mattern said. “This was a good team. They have a lot of experience, they have a great head coach, and they have some players.
“For us as a team to come out and play solid team defense and then execute on the offensive end was a big step for us, building our momentum and keeping our confidence going.”
The win upped the Titans’ record to 7-1 with a showdown against host Spring-Ford on the horizon Friday.
PINE-RICHLAND 71, ABINGTON 69
Abington took a 5-1 record into this week’s Altoona Holiday Tournament and returned home with a 5-3 mark. It turns out the Ghosts faced some tough competition – the three teams joining Abington in Altoona entered the tournament with a combined record of 15-1.
“It was a lot better competition than I anticipated,” coach Dan Marsh said. “It was a good growing experience for us though.
“It was our third loss in a row, but I think eventually it will help us. We found our character tonight, I hope, because they really battled back, and they really played hard.”
The Ghosts started out slowly, falling behind 38-28 by halftime.
“We weren’t getting back on defense, and they were getting easy buckets,” Marsh said. “There was a big crowd – it was a good atmosphere.
“It got to the point where they were getting a little home cooking. They were up by 12, and I intentionally took a technical foul. I walked to halfcourt and walked on the court.
“During the ‘T,’ I pulled my team over and said, ‘Listen, we have to play for pride now. You can’t let them do this to you.’ We stormed back. We scored 25 points in the fourth quarter.”
The Ghosts trailed by just one – 70-69 – with less than 15 seconds remaining in regulation, but a Pine-Richland player sank one-of-two from the foul line. The Ghosts had a pair of shots – a three-pointer and a follow at the buzzer – but came up just short.
Aiyannah Peal led the Ghosts with 27 points while sophomore Michael Harris had 11 points and 13 rebounds. Deja Rawls added 13 points. Freshman Gabby Nolan gave the Ghosts important minutes off the bench and scored six points.
“Gabby pretty much played the whole game – she stepped up and had a great game,” Marsh said.
The Ghosts once against battled foul problems – both Peal and Sarah Listenbee fouled out.
“We had four freshmen on the floor, and they’re getting better every time,” Marsh said.
The Ghosts have a big week coming up with Pennsbury and undefeated Council Rock South waiting in the wings.
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 51, SANFORD 41
Emily Grundman scored 21 points and pulled down six rebounds while teammate Helena Gemmell added nine to lead the Indians’ attack. Alyssa Dumont had six points, 10 rebounds and four assists in a solid all-around performance.
“We were real happy with our starters,” coach Liz Potash said. “Defensively, they did a great job. Sanford had a couple of shooters, and they did a great job of keeping their kids from driving inside because they have a bunch of quick, athletic guards who like to penetrate and get in the gaps.
“We did a nice job defensively, and we did a nice job getting out and running. We had some fast break opportunities, which we haven’t had much this season.”
The Indians sprinted to a 16-4 lead at the end of one quarter and took a 22-12 lead into halftime. They blew the game wide open with a 21-6 third quarter to go on top 43-18 before turning the game over to the bench to close it out.
“It really never was a close game,” said Potash, whose team improved to 4-2.
CHELTENHAM 41, HEMPFIELD 36
The Lady Panthers found themselves deadlocked 16-16 at halftime but then won the game with a 14-7 scoring surge in the third quarter. Ciara ‘CC’ Andrews connected on 7-of-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter to hold off Hempfield, which outscored the Lady Panthers 13-11 in the final frame.
Andrews and Christina Coleman each scored 13 points to lead the Lady Panthers while Jiana Clark added eight points.
The Panthers return to action on Friday at 4:30 when they will face Notre Dame in the Spring-Ford Holiday Classic.
MOUNT ST. JOSEPH 69, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 42
Egypt Thompson scored 13 points while teammate Simone Jacques added 10 points. Maya Thomas chipped in with nine points, but it wasn’t enough to stay with an undefeated Mount squad in Thursday night’s opening round of the William Snear Tournament at the Fellowship House. The Colonials fell to 4-2.
NEUMANN-GORETTI 31, NORTH PENN 29
The Maidens found themselves on the short end of an 18-17 score at halftime of Thursday’s opening round game of the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood. Neumann-Goretti led 26-23 after three quarters, and although the Maidens held a 6-5 edge in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t enough.
Lauren Crisler led the Maidens with 11 points while Steph Knauer added eight. The Maidens (4-3) have lost three of their last four games after a 3-0 start.
WILLIAM TENNENT 62, PALISADES 26 (Wednesday, Dec. 28)
The Panthers made history on Wednesday night when they captured their program’s first ever tournament title by winning the Quakertown Holiday Tournament.
“It was good for our team,” coach Paul Veltre said. “It gets us ready for next week. We’re playing Bensalem on Tuesday, and that’s a big game for us.”
Four Panthers finished the game in double figures. Allison Chatburn led the way with 17 points while Nikki Alden contributed an impressive double-double – 14 points and 14 rebounds. Emily O’Donnell also had a big night, collecting a double-double of her own with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Angie Pomponio added 11 points.
The Panthers took the suspense out of Wednesday’s title game in a hurry, opening up a 19-5 lead at the end of one quarter and extending that lead to 40-14 by the intermission.
“We tried to put pressure on them in the fullcourt, and in the halfcourt, we packed it in and made them shoot from the outside,” Veltre said. “We executed it very well.”
The Panthers closed out the month of December with a 4-2 record.
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