Pennsbury defeated William Tennent in a District 1 6A opening round game Thursday Photos provided courtesy of Darryl Rule of J&D Photography & Greg Lindsay. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ GIRLS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
District 1 6A opening round
#14 PENNSBURY 53, #19 WILLIAM TENNENT 28
Sammie Haws had an idea it might be a good day.
“In warmups, I was hitting a lot of my shots, which led into the game,” Haws said. “I’m really confident in my shooting, and I knew they were going to go in.”
Haws’ confidence turned out to be well-founded. By halftime, the sophomore sharpshooter had 15 points on four 3s and a traditional 3-point play, and the Falcons had a comfortable 35-10 lead.
While Haws was putting on quite a display from beyond the arc, senior Ava Jordan was having a big half of her own, burying a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter and scoring 11 first-half points.
“We were finding the hot shooters on the floor, which tonight was Sammie Haws,” Jordan said. “We found her a bunch, and she did a great job – she hit like four in a row. She was great.
“It’s not just me and Sammie. It’s a lot of practicing. We all work hard. Maggie Burns put in a lot of effort. Emily Panaro always rebounding. Alyssa Thomas is always out there, a freshman with so much poise bringing up the ball for us.”
As impressive as they were on the offensive side, the Falcons were equally impressive on the defensive side.
“Our defense has been a main part of Pennsbury basketball – that’s the main thing,” Haws said. “We prepare the same way for every single team.
“When we looked at the scout, we knew where their shooters were and all those different things. It all came together, and we all knew where we to be and how to help each other out.”
The first half was Pennsbury defense at its best. Avery Kocur, the Panthers’ dangerous guard, did not score, and Halie Staub had just two points. Megan Volz accounted for eight of the Panthers’ points.
“(The key was) shutting down their main offensive threats and just doing what we do well, playing good defense, communicating,” Jordan said. “Just making other people bring up the ball and really focusing on what they like to do, their tendences and taking that away. That’s how we play our defense effectively.”
As home finales go – and Thursday’s district opener will more than likely be their final home game, they don’t get much better than this one for the Falcons.
“William Tennent is not a bad team at all, but we just did what we had to do,” said Jordan, who is committed to continue her basketball career at Case Western Reserve University. “It’s a lot of fun when your shots are falling, and you’re having fun playing with your teammates. Not just playing-wise but having fun with my teammates and a very enjoyable senior year.
“Basketball is a long season. We didn’t know each other too much at the beginning, but as we spend every day together and play together – we just get closer and closer. We’re a tight group of teammates and friends.”
That’s Pennsbury basketball – It’s safe to say that the Falcons – with 14 regular season wins and a home district game – exceeded the expectations of many after graduating seven seniors from last year’s squad.
“Even though we’re a very underclassmen team because we only have a few upperclassmen – I feel like a lot of people doubted us, but I never doubted us,” Haws said. “The key is just for everyone to do what they’re good at and keep themselves in their role and help each other out as a whole.
“All the younger girls, we’ve all basically played together for a while, so I knew our team chemistry was going to be really good because we all know what each other does and how to help each other out.”
Added Jordan, “For Pennsbury basketball, I always have the same expectations – ready for playoffs, not looking too far ahead but playing as hard as we can so we’ll get there.
“I was really excited to have another home game, especially as a senior. Another home game is so special, and especially being a playoff game is so cool.”
The Falcons’ impressive showing gave the home crowd plenty to cheer about
.
“It was so special because it’s such a big thing to have a home playoff game,” Haws said. “That’s something we always worked towards. It was such a great moment.”
Pennsbury coach Frank Sciolla: “The girls did a great job today being prepared. They truly did, and the freshman have really improved on that as the season is going on. Last week was okay. We gave them off practice on Wednesday and Thursday and then Friday night we went and played Cheltenham, but we just went out there and played in a different type of fashion and had some fun and then we gave them off Saturday and Sunday, so we felt like when we came back to practice on Monday, we had fresh legs and minds.”
–Getting defensive: “Obviously, when you play William Tennent, you’re concerned about Staub and Kocur. Tennent came in having won five out of six games, and they had a nice win over New Hope, so we knew that they were confident. Much like us, they are short in the experience department, but we were fortunate to be able to have the home game.
“We really made a concerted effort to limit Kocur’s touches, and we were able to hold her scoreless in the first half, and Ava Jordan did a great job throughout the game. Until the last five minutes, we really had her bottled up, and that’s difficult because she’s an outstanding offensive player with the number of different tools in her bag.
“Staub it’s so athletic and so good at getting downhill to her right hand, so we had to try to focus and we were solid. Megan Volz really impressed me. She gives up a great deal in size, but she gets her hands on everything, and she really knows how to use her body. There’s no secret that Tennent is going to be very tough next year.”
–Falcons on the attack: “We really wanted to move the ball quickly, and we had outstanding ball movement in the first half, and that provided a number of wide open looks or good basket attacks. Sammie Haws
shot the ball really well. Sammie has the ability to do that and many things.
“Ava was tremendous getting downhill on drives and knocking down open shots, and Maggie Burns was excellent going to the basket as well. On defense, Ava creates such havoc up top that she gives the opportunity for teammates to get steals, and Sammie did that behind her with three tonight.
“In the middle of it again was Alyssa Thomas making sure we got a shot each time.”
–Home sweet home: “It might be the last game for our three seniors on our home court, and if so, we are really happy for them. Senior Caroline Stover came in and knocked down a three, and the love that she received from the crowd is deserved because she has been a fantastic leader for us”
–Looking ahead: “Obviously, we are aware what is up ahead. Upper Dublin is a fantastic team that really checks all of the boxes, but for now, we are really proud of this group that earned a home game and got the job done and has provided such a fantastic example for the young girls in our community.”
William Tennent coach Laura Whitney: “Tough loss to end the season, but super proud of our girls. I don’t think we necessarily played bad the first half, but we struggled to make shots, and it seemed like Pennsbury couldn’t miss. In the second quarter, 18 of their 19 points came off of 3s. Credit to Pennsbury – they had some nice ball movement and got some open looks, but there were also a few that were pretty contested and they still knocked them down. Unfortunately, that was the difference in the game. They used that momentum and played with more confidence, and we were never able to recover and get into a good rhythm.
“It didn’t go the way we were hoping, and we would have liked to have been more competitive, but this loss doesn’t define our season. Our girls had an incredible run this year and have accomplished so much. This was a great learning experience for our girls, and I know it’s going to motivate them to come back even hungrier next year. We are returning everyone and are excited about our incoming freshman. We expect to be back in this position again next year and will use this experience to be even better.”
Up next: Pennsbury (15-9, 7-3 SOL) will travel to #3 Upper Dublin for a second round game Wednesday. William Tennent closed out its season with a 14-9 record.
William Tennent 8-2-9-9 28
Pennsbury 16-19-8-10 53
William Tennent (28) – Avery Kocur 4 2-2 13; Halie Staub 2 0-0 5; Megan Volz 4 2-4 10; TOTALS 10 4-6 28
Pennsbury (53) – Maggie Burns 4 2-2 10; Sammie Haws 5 1-1 15; Alyssa Thomas 2 2-2 7; Adrianna Oberto 1 0-0 2; Caroline Stover 1 0-0 3; Ava Jordan 4 3-4 13; Keira Socha 1 1-1 3; Jordyn Patrick 0 0-2 0; TOTALS 18 9-10 53.
3-point goals: WT – Avery Kocur 3, Halie Staub; P –Sammie Haws 4, Ava Jordan 2, Alyssa Thomas, Caroline Stover.
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