SOL PIAA Girls’ Basketball Preview (Second Round)

Seven SOL girls’ basketball teams will be in action in Thursday’s PIAA 6A second round. Check back for a recap of all the games.

A remarkable postseason for the Suburban One League will continue on Thursday night when seven teams will be in action in the second round of the PIAA Class 6A Tournament. The state quarterfinals in all six classifications – boys and girls – will be played on Saturday. The winners won’t have much of a break as the girls’ semifinals are scheduled for Monday night.

Of the 16 teams still standing in Class 6A, nine are from District One as only two District One teams – Upper Dublin and Central Bucks West – didn’t advance. Three of the eight games on Thursday night will feature two SOL teams, ensuring that at least three SOL teams will advance to Saturday’s Elite Eight.

In an All-Continental Conference doubleheader at Quakertown, North Penn will face Central Bucks East in the 6 p.m. game, and Central Bucks South will do battle with Souderton at 7:30 p.m. In an All-SOL contest at Cheltenham (8 p.m.), district runner-up Plymouth Whitemarsh will take on Council Rock North in a rematch of a quarterfinal game the Colonials won. Abington, meanwhile, will face District 11’s third place squad, Northampton, at Souderton at 7:30 p.m.

Continental strong – There’s no arguing that the SOL Continental Conference has stood tall this season, and with four teams advancing to the state’s Sweet 16, the strength of the conference was underscored.

“For our conference to have five of the 11 teams from District One going to the state playoffs and now in the Sweet 16, we still have four teams – that’s unbelievable,” North Penn coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “A quarter of the teams in the state (Class 6A) are from our conference. The fact that Souderton beat the District 3 champion and CB East beat the District 11 champion – it’s really remarkable. CB South beat Parkland soundly, and we beat a Cedar Crest team that was 27-1.

“I feel like we are so competitive – all the coaches and all the players, and we just make each other better year in and year out. We just raise the bar for each other. I just think we set our goals and expectations very high, and this is the result. It’s unfortunate that two of us are going to get knocked out on Thursday.”

The camaraderie the coaches share was underscored after North Penn knocked off Boyertown in the fifth place district game to earn a date against Cedar Crest in the first round state tournament game.

“That night Beth (Mattern) right away said, ‘I’ve got film on Cedar Crest,’ and that night I downloaded film on Cedar Crest,” deMarteleire said. “And Liz and Lynn are the same way.

“Everybody is just rooting for each other, except when we’re playing each other obviously, but we want our conference and our girls to do well. We’re very supportive of each other. I think it’s a great thing.”

The four conference teams will be playing in a doubleheader at Quakertown in what has to be a historic event.

“The doubleheader on one hand is really cool – I have a lot of respect for Beth, Liz and Maggie and what they do and the time they put in,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “It’s pretty neat that it’s happening, but on the other hand, I root for those teams when we’re not playing against them.

“I’m looking forward to it, but I typically root for Beth (Mattern), and I would prefer to play someone outside of our conference, but it’s going to be a good game.”

All four coaches agree that the strength of the conference has prepared their teams for the grueling postseason.

“When we had our all-conference meeting at the end of the year and were selecting the all-league teams, we got down to third team, and it was like, ‘Wow, that’s a good five, that’s a really good basketball team,’” Carroll said. “We all joked that it was a pretty good conference, and we talked about it all year amongst ourselves.

“At least once a week, you’re playing a game that’s like a district playoff game, and it absolutely has helped everybody. It helped us Friday night, for sure, against Central Dauphin. This speaks to what a lot of people have been saying all year, and that’s that we’re one of the best conferences in District One.”

“I thought just the fact that we got five teams into states out of 11 seeds was incredibly impressive,” East coach Liz Potash said. “But to have four go through – I would have thought West would get through as well, and we had a legit shot to get all five of us through the first round of states. We’ve talked about it all year. The league is tough. It prepares you, and this really proves that.

“You’re playing all these top teams twice a year, so there’s really never a down day in our conference.”

Added Mattern, “Playing in the Continental Conference made you value every game you played because there wasn’t a game this season that you could afford to make a mistake because you knew your counterparts were probably going to go win that night. I also think the intensity of the league itself has prepared us to keep us still playing in mid-March.”

Abington coach Dan Marsh has played three of the four SOL Continental Conference teams still alive, but he wasn’t about to make any predictions.

“They’re all really good teams – it’s obvious,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “In high school basketball, when you have four really good teams, honestly, any one of those four could win on any night.

“For me to say, Souderton is going to beat CB South or North Penn is going to beat CB East – I couldn’t say that with any surety because they’re all good enough to win. Everybody is saying O’Hara, O’Hara, O’Hara, but I believe just like districts this state tournament is wide open. Any of the teams from District One can win.”

Stay tuned.

#1-1 ABINGTON vs #11-3 NORTHAMPTON (at Souderton, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.

Abington

23-5 overall
10-2 SOL National Conference second place behind Council Rock North
District One 6A
Led by University of Delaware-bound Lizzie Oleary (13.7 ppg. 9.2 rpg, 2.4 bpg), junior Sam Brusha (11.4 ppg) and sophomore Kassondra Brown (11.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg)
Ghosts have won 17 of their last 18 games with only loss to #2 Boyertown (49-54).
Ninth seed entering the District One Tournament.

How they got here:

In an opening round game, Abington defeated District Three’s seventh place team, Central Dauphin East, 60-58 in overtime. The Ghosts, who led by as many as nine, found themselves deadlocked 51-51 at the end of regulation and then outscored CD East 9-7 in OT. Senior Lizzie Oleary, who led all scorers with 21 points, had 17 points after the intermission. Kassondra Brown added 13 points while Sam Brusha had 10 and Britney James, seven points.

Coach Dan Marsh says: “Northampton’s best player is a post player (Aja Blount), and they have a really good point guard (Victoria Keenan). Their center (Blount) averages 22 points a game. However, she’s 5-11. She’s strong, but I don’t think she’s ever played against kids as talented or as big as Lizzie (Oleary) and Kassondra (Brown). If Lizzie and Kassondra can defend her, which I think they can, I think we’ll be okay. I hate to be boring, but we’ve got to go in and dictate the pace. Apparently, they like to run too, but watching film of them, I don’t know if they can run with us. I don’t know that they can score enough to beat us. We’ve got to play hard, continue to play with energy and do what we do. We learned in the first round that anything can happen. Everybody left is a good team, and they’re desperate teams. Whenever you play desperate teams when you’re playing in March, it’s never easy. It won’t be easy just because it’s a state playoff game, and no one wants to see their season end.”

#11-3 Northampton

18-9 overall
11-5 EPC Skyline Division third place behind Nazareth & Parkland
Led by senior center Aja Blount, who has scored over 1,700 career points (614 this season) and averages 22 points and 12 rebounds a game.
Victoria Keenan (12.4 ppg) and Jenna Rogers (9.0 ppg) also contribute.
Fourth seeded team entering district play defeated second-seeded Parkland 53-47 to finish third. Victoria Keenan scored 24 points to lead the Konkrete Kids.

How they got here:

In an opening round contest, Northampton defeated District 12 runner-up Central 63-26. The Konkrete Kids, who led 20-8 after one quarter, took a 43-13 lead into halftime. Aja Blount (19 points), Jenna Rogers (16 points) and Victoria Keenan (11 points) led Northampton.

#1-2 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH vs. 1-7 COUNCIL ROCK NORTH (at Cheltenham, Thursday, 8 p.m.)
Plymouth Whitemarsh

26-2 overall
14-0 SOL American Conference champion
First solo championship for program since 1983
District One 6A runner-up
Won 22 straight to open season before falling to #5 Central Bucks West in SOL Tournament semifinals (73-63)
Junior Taylor O’Brien, who surpassed the 1,000-point milestone, is the SOL’s top scorer, averaging 21.6 points a game.
Junior Lauren Fortescue (10.5 ppg), junior Ali Diamond (8.0 ppg) and senior Lauren Coscia (7.3) add to a dangerous attack.
Defeated Council Rock North 56-48 in district quarterfinals.
Seeded third entering the district tournament.

How they got here:

In an opening round game, Plymouth Whitemarsh rolled to a 62-41 win over District Three fifth place J.P. McKaskey. The Colonials, who led 38-21 at halftime, buried 10 three-pointers in the win. Taylor O’Brien connected on 13-of-17 at the foul line en route to a game-high 26 points, which included three three-pointers. Lauren Fortescue had four threes and finished with 21 points. Ali Diamond added eight points and Laurel Suchsland, seven.

Coach Daniel Dougherty says: “Honestly, it feels like out last game (against Council Rock North) was a month ago, but we’ll sit down and break the film down. We know they play really great, physical man defense. They were able to run a couple different defenders full court at Taylor (O’Brien) and tried to disrupt us that way. We have to be prepared for their point guard, (Becca) Margolis. We were able to keep her in check in the second half, but in the first half, she hurt us. Their shooter – (Megan) Haggerty – we know we have to be ready for her. They’re a very talented team. Their bigs – they’re just talented. They play tremendous man-to-man defense, and they have really good shooters. We’re going to have to make sure we’re prepared. A lot of respect to their coach (Lou Palkovics). I know he’s had a lot of success in state tournaments in the past, so I’m sure getting a rematch – we’re going to have to throw different things at them.”

Council Rock North

19-9 overall
11-1 SOL National Conference champions
First conference title since 2011
Led by junior point guard Becca Margolis (12.0 ppg) and sophomore Dana Bandurick (11.7 ppg)
Fell to Plymouth Whitemarsh 56-48 in district quarterfinals
Entered the District One Tournament as the 11 seed.

How they got here:

In an opening round game, Council Rock North defeated District 11 runner-up Nazareth 45-38. Junior point guard Becca Margolis was the catalyst at both ends of the floor, finishing with a game-high 23 points (9-of-10 from the foul line), six steals, five rebounds and four assists. Emily Mackin added eight points and three steals, and Megan Haggerty had six points.

Coach Lou Palkovics says: “PW is a great team, but I think the girls are eager for a rematch. I don’t think we ever trailed in that (district quarterfinal) game until the fourth quarter, so I think they definitely have something to prove. We have a lot of respect for PW, but we’re looking forward to the game.”

#1-4 CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH vs. #1-11 SOUDERTON (at Quakertown, Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
Central Bucks South

20-7 overall
7-5 SOL Continental Conference fourth place behind North Penn, Central Bucks West and Souderton
Led by junior Haley Meinel (11.8 ppg) and sophomore point guard Alexa Brodie (10.1 ppg)
Split regular season series with Souderton (29-35 & 48-39)
Entered the District One Tournament as the seventh seed.

How they got here:

In an opening round game, Central Bucks South rolled to a 45-27 over District 11 fourth place Parkland. The Titans jumped out to a 24-8 lead after one quarter and never looked back. Haley Meinel scored a game-high 18- 16 in the first half, and Alexa Brodie added 15 – 13 in the first half.

Coach Beth Mattern says: “We came back to practice on Saturday after playing Friday night, and we talked about what we thought had worked and hadn’t worked each time against Souderton. We’re really working on just going for it. It’s the state playoffs, the second round of states. You can’t get caught up in who you’re playing. We need to go play and execute. It is who is it. At this point, when there are 16 teams left in the state, you’re playing good teams. We know Souderton all season has been a good team, so it’s no surprise that we’re playing them. We just have to make sure we’re smart and play the right way. They’re very disciplined, so we know we have to play disciplined basketball.”

Souderton

20-7 overall
8-4 SOL Continental Conference third place behind North Penn and Central Bucks West.
Balanced attack led by junior Kate Connolly (10.4 ppg), junior Alana Cardona (9.4 ppg) and sophomore Megan Walbrandt (8.6 ppg).
Split regular season series with Central Bucks South (35-29 & 39-48)
Entered the District One Tournament as the eight seed.

How they got here:

In an opening round game, Souderton stunned District 3 champion Central Dauphin, jumping out to a 26-17 halftime lead and blowing the game wide open with a 17-4 third quarter en route to a 50-29 win. Junior Kate Connolly was unstoppable, connecting on 10-of-12 shots from the field and scoring a career-high 30 points. She also had 15 rebounds, four steals, two blocks and two assists. Sophomore Megan Bealer added eight points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Coach Lynn Carroll says: “CB South knows us very well, and we know them very well. It’s not like we’ve had to sit and watch hours of game film to figure out exactly what we think they’re going to do. There’s no doubt in my mind it’s going to be a really good game. I don’t know that there are many point guards out there like Alexa Brodie, and it’s certainly not a one-man show on that team. Haley Meinel has had a great season for them. Both (Meghan) Kuypers and (Lexi) Edwards have had a great year. Melissa Veal hurt us the last time we played them. I think it’s going to be a really good game.”

#1-5 NORTH PENN vs. #1-10 CENTRAL BUCKS EAST (at Quakertown, Thursday, 6 p.m.)
North Penn

24-4 overall
10-2 SOL Continental Conference champion
Fell to CB West 43-35 in SOL Tournament title game, snapping a 14-game winning streak.
Led by senior captains Sam Carangi (Villanova), Jess Huber (University of the Sciences) and Irisa Ye (University of the Sciences). All three were part of the Knights’ district title run when they were freshmen.
Huber (14.7) is second only to PW senior Taylor O’Brien in scoring in the SOL. Ye (11.4), Bri Hewlett (11.1) and Carangi (8.1) also are dangerous offensive weapons.
Swept regular season series with Central Bucks East (43-29 & 55-49)
Top-seeded team entering the District One Tournament.

How they got here:

In an opening round game, North Penn defeated District 3’s third place team, Cedar Crest, 53-34. The Knights, who led 22-20 at halftime, blew the game open with a 21-8 third quarter. Irisa Ye scored 12 of her game-high 21 points in the pivotal quarter. Jess Huber added 13 points, and Sam Carangi had eight points and seven steals. Bri Hewlett contributed seven points.

Coach Maggie deMarteleire says: “We’re playing someone we’re familiar with, and we need to make sure that we are not complacent. I did everything the same as I did against Boyertown, Cedar Crest and Garnet Valley, teams that we don’t know. We’re going to just act like this is a new game. The bottom line is we can’t be complacent. We can’t just think because we beat them two times it’s going to happen because they’re playing much better, they could have easily beaten us the last time we played them, so we need to come ready to play, that’s for darn sure.”

Central Bucks East

17-10 overall
6-6 SOL Continental Conference fifth place behind North Penn, Central Bucks West, Souderton and Central Bucks South
Led by seniors Bridget Birkhead (11.8 ppg) and Bri Talbot (10.6 ppg)
Fell to North Penn twice during the regular season (29-43 & 49-55)
Entered the District One Tournament as the 15 seed.

How they got here:

In an opening round game, Central Bucks East shocked District 11 champion Easton, closing out the game with a 20-10 fourth-quarter tear to defeat the Red Rovers 57-51. Senior Bri Talbot led the Patriots with 20 points, which included a 12-for-14 effort at the charity stripe. Senior Grace Stewart had 15 points and five steals, and Bridget Birkhead added nine points and team-high seven rebounds.

Coach Liz Potash says: “We were thrilled to get out of the opening round. We’re further than we probably thought we would get, and anything at this point is icing on the cake. We would love to knock off good old North Penn, which has given us our fair share of losses, but there’s no pressure. It’s odd because it doesn’t feel that strange – we’re preparing for North Penn like we do twice a year anyway. Obviously, there’s more on the line this time.
“I feel like we’ve been pretty loose because there’s no other way to play at this point. My girls had goals at the beginning of the season. They wanted to get a home playoff game, and we got a home playoff game. They wanted to be in the top 10 in the district – obviously, we were (seeded) 15, but we ended up as the 10 seed, and their last goal was to advance one round in states. I said to them, ‘What’s your next goal because you’ve done it all?’ I thought they were all reasonable goals. There were times in the season we questioned whether we could do those things, but they met them all. Anything at this point is icing in the cake.”