Four of five SOL teams in action in Friday’s PIAA Class AAAA Tournament were winners.
(1-3) CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 65, (3-4) CEDAR CREST 46
The Titans continued to rewrite history on Friday night, notching a win in their program’s first ever trip to the state tournament.
“It’s been a lot of fun – with my team especially,” sophomore Mackenzie Ehresman said. “We’ve been together so much, and it’s been a great experience.”
Ehresman was one of three Titans in double figures, finishing with 16 points, which included a perfect 10-for-10 effort at the foul line.
Jordan Vitelli added to the magic that has been this postseason – her six points in the first quarter earned her the distinction as the program’s all-time leading female scorer. She surpassed the mark of 1,011 set by Colleen Christian (’07), and she did it in style, scoring a game-high 24 points, which included four three-pointers and an eight-for-eight showing at the charity stripe.
“I think Jordan’s always had this ability to play at this really high level,” coach Beth Mattern said. “Now she’s showing it over a consistent period of time and is confident, realizing it’s her senior year.
“It’s kind of all or nothing – just go out there and play and leave it on the court, and it’s paying off for her right now.”
The Falcons – minus high-scoring guard Ariel Jones – rode the broad shoulders of Alyssa Austin to keep things close in the first quarter. Twenty-one seconds in, the Falcons lobbed the ball over the Titans’ defense and found Austin for an easy layup, and it was clear the 6-1 center was going to be a handful.
Vitelli turned a steal into a layup to knot the score and sandwiched a pair of two-for-two efforts at the foul line around a Taylor Dunn bucket to put the Titans on top 8-2. Seven straight points from Austin gave the Falcons a 9-8 lead, but Haley Meinel pulled down an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Meghan Kuypers for a basket that gave the Titans a lead they would not lose. Moments later, Meinel turned a steal into an easy bucket. Austin answered with a basket, but Melissa Veal got that back with a deuce for the Titans, who led 14-12 after one quarter. Austin had all 12 of her team’s points.
Vitelli opened the second quarter with a trey, and after Rachel Witherite answered with a basket at the other end, Vitelli connected on another three-pointer, benefitting from a kick out by Courtney Dietzel. Vitelli’s third three of the quarter put the Titans on top 23-16, but Witherite answered with a three of her own to make it a four-point game.
On the Falcons’ ensuing possession, Austin was whistled for her third foul with 2:42 remaining in the half and the Titans on top 23-19. By the time she returned to start the third quarter, the Titans had an 18-point lead, and a win was all but in the books.
“She just scored her thousandth point as a junior in their last game,” Mattern said. “I knew that she’s got a nice finish around the basket and is big on the boards.
“We just wanted to try to take her out of the game. Luckily, we were able to get that time in the first half without her on the court, and we were able to take advantage of it.”
Ehresman – who spent the game attacking the basket – drew Austin’s third foul and completed a three-point play that gave the Titans a 26-19 lead. Kuypers, who finished with 13 points off the bench, scored seven points in the quarter, including back-to-back baskets to send the Titans into halftime with a 37-19 lead.
Vitelli had 17 points in the half, including 11 in the second quarter.
“Our team is feeling it,” the senior captain said. “I think this is the best we’ve played in a while.
“We started off strong the first go-round in the season, and I think this game transitioned us back to our high intensity and controlling the game.”
Central Bucks South (22-6, 11-3 SOL) will face defending state champion Cumberland Valley, the District 3 champion, in Tuesday’s second round.
Cedar Crest 12-7-12-11 46
Central Bucks South 14-23-13-15 65
Central Bucks South: Taylor Dunn 2, Melissa Veal 2, Meghan Kuypers 13, Tricia DeCesare 3, Haley Meinel 2, Jordan Vitelli 24, Courtney Dietzel 2, Mackenzie Ehresman 16, Maddie McShane 1.
Cedar Crest: Grace Donmoyer 2, Alaze Merkey 1, Sage Bartel 4, Skyanne Yancey 7, Rachel Witherite 5, Caitlyn Albright 2, Raven Morgan 2, Alyssa Austin 19.
(1-4) UPPER DUBLIN 40, (12-3) ARCHBISHOP CARROLL 38
Nicole Kaiser wasn’t the first option when Upper Dublin set up for the game’s final shot with 15 seconds remaining in a tie game in Friday’s state opener at Cheltenham High School.
“It was meant for a three for Demi (Balasa), but she was covered,” Kaiser said. “I didn’t realize there was a second left and I had the ball.
“I knew the game was coming to an end, and right when the ball left my hand, I heard the buzzer. I don’t even know how to describe how it felt. It was pretty crazy. It feels like a dream. It feels like it didn’t even happen.”
But it did happen, and the Flying Cardinals – who were minus Ashley Barber – keep finding ways to win, rallying from 10 down in the second half to win a thriller.
“We just all of a sudden realized our season’s on the line, and none of us want it to end,” Kaiser said. “We want to give our senior, Ashley (Barber), another chance to play.
“The past couple of weeks have been really tough, and we’ve been working really hard. We just came back as a team really strong. It feels really great on the court when we come back like that.”
The game certainly didn’t get off to a promising start for the Flying Cardinals, who scored all of one point in the first quarter and trailed 7-1. That might be the beginning of the end for some teams but not for the Cardinals, who trailed by just two (15-13) at halftime.
“We scored just one point in the first quarter, but I don’t know if anyone is surprised by anything that happens in our games anymore,” coach Morgan Funsten said. “The second quarter we found some life.
“We took the lead, and they came back and scored back-to-back threes.”
The Cardinals opened the second half with a 9-2 run to go on top 22-17.
“It looked like we started imposing our will on them,” Funsten said. “We had some breakdowns defensively, and they made us pay.
“They got multiple clean looks for threes, and it went from 22-17 us to 32-24 them at the end of the third 
quarter. We made a three to cut it to seven, but they made another basket to get it back up to nine.
“We made a run – our defense sparked the run. We started pressing really out of necessity, and they had a lot of trouble with our pressure. We were getting into transition a little bit. We were getting good shots – some of them were falling, some weren’t.”
A three-pointer by Allison Chernow trimmed the deficit to three, and a basket by Maggie Weglos after an offensive rebound made it a one-point game. The Flying Cardinals forced a turnover, and Chernow delivered another clutch three-pointer to put the Cardinals on top by two with a minute remaining.
Carroll came back to knot the score with 30 seconds showing on the scoreboard clock, setting the stage for the fantastic finish.
“We called a timeout with 15 seconds to go,” Funsten said. “It was our last timeout. We drew up a play that had a few different options, but really, we were looking to get Demi a three.
“They doubled the ball up top, and Demi was open. Nicole’s girl left her to go on Demi, and Demi made a great decision. I would not have passed the ball because I would not have thought there was enough time to pass the ball and finish. I’ll never question Demi’s intelligence. She must have known how much time was left.”
Balasa may or may not have known how much time was left, but she knew she was closely defended.
“It was designed for me – I was supposed to get a three,” Balasa said. “I was guarded so I had to jump for the pass, and when I was landing, I saw her out of the corner of my eye. I just threw it.”
Kaiser did the rest.
“They recovered late on Nicole, and the girl was on Nicole’s back,” Funsten said. “Nicole is our best player with her back to the basket. There was a guard on her back, and she’s 95 percent on that shot. Right when it left her hands – I know I jumped. I think I was already out on the court.
“It was such a great way to win. Ashley Barber got hurt in our last game, so she didn’t play. This team’s got some magic in it. We found ways to win. We got great balanced scoring again. It was just another great team win.”
Funsten acknowledged that things didn’t really look promising heading into the final quarter.
“If someone came to watch us for the first time tonight and you watched the way the third quarter unfolded, you would have thought ‘Upper Dublin is done. They have no energy left, they’re having trouble scoring. How can they come back from this?’” Funsten said. “The first thing I said to the girls in the huddle at the end of the third quarter was, ‘Do you girls want to quit?’ I followed that with ‘I know the answer, and I know we’re going to keep fighting, but right now it looks like you want to quit.’
“We had the ball to start the fourth quarter, and we turned it over, and they turned it into two points, so we went down 10 immediately to start the fourth quarter. We started pressing and getting turnovers, it opened things up a little bit. Chernow made two big threes in the fourth quarter, Maggie had a great putback, Josie Barrett made both ends of a one-and-one and then Nicole’s shot. It was such a great comeback.”
Chernow led the Cardinals with 11 points, which included three three-pointers in the second half. Kaiser added 10 points and eight rebounds while Barrett had six.
Upper Dublin (22-7, 14-0 SOL) will face Neshaminy in an all-SOL second round game on Tuesday night.
Archbishop Carroll 7-8-17-6 38
Upper Dublin 1-12-11-16 40
Archbishop Carroll: Sam Swart 7, Bella Sorrentino 11, Molly Masciantonio 14, Lexi Kucia 2, Amber Germer 4.
Upper Dublin: Maggie Weglos 4, Nicole Kaiser 10, Alison Gouveia 5, Allison Chernow 11, Josie Barrett 6, Demi Balasa 4.
(1-5) NORTH PENN 59, (12-2) CENTRAL 27
The Lady Knights seized early control of Friday’s state opener at South Philadelphia High School, opening up a 13-2 lead after one quarter and taking a 32-7 lead into halftime. Central was never in the game.
Mikaela Giuliani (18 points) and Irisa Ye (17 points) led the way while Jess Huber scored nine points.
North Penn (27-3, 14-0 SOL) will face District One champion Perkiomen Valley in a second round game on Tuesday night. The Vikings defeated Red Lion 60-50.
North Penn 13-19-17-10 59
Central 2-5-11-9 27
North Penn: Irisa Ye 17, Mikaela Giuliani 18, Jess Huber 9, Bri Hewlett 5, Sam Carangi 4, Jess McKenzie 1, Mia Melchior 5.
Central: Jevon Dupree 2, Andrea Stanton 17, Taylor Viz 4, Rneushia Williams 4.
(1-7) NESHAMINY 50, (2-1) HAZLETON 41
The Redskins made their first trip to the state tournament in over a decade a memorable one, turning what could have been a daunting two-plus hour bus trip into an all-day event. The team left school at 1:30 in a coach, had a leisurely dinner and then – after watching part of the boys’ game that preceded theirs – went out and took care of business.
Things didn’t exactly go the Redskins’ way in the first half. They trailed 12-6 after one quarter and found themselves on the short end of a 20-13 halftime score.
“We really were rather calm,” coach Joe Lally said. “The kids knew it wasn’t our best half, and they were only down seven.
“We all kind of laughed – it was like ‘Well, we’ve been here a million times this year.’ We just needed to tighten up.”
The ‘Skins owned the third quarter, outscoring the Cougars 19-3 to take a 32-23 lead. They led the rest of the way.
“We kind of felt we had played their game in the first half,” Lally said. “They’re probably one of the only teams all year long that we were actually the same size as them, and I felt we could really get the ball in to the post and get to the basket more.
“We tightened up our defense in the second half. We really didn’t change anything. We defended really well. We had to eliminate their second chance shot opportunities. We hit the boards really good in the second half.”
Freshman Allison Harvey led the Redskins with 18 points, which included seven points from the field and a six-for-six effort at the foul line in the fourth quarter. Senior point guard Morgan Goldenbaum added 13 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Brooke Mullin had seven points and a team high 10 rebounds. Devon Storms and Emily Alexis both added six boards.
“I think this was gigantic for the kids, for the program,” Lally said. “It was really big for us. We’re setting the bar higher, we’re gaining experience.
“We have a good mix of kids. It was one of those game where you tell everyone – if you play well, you think it will be a good experience, but the reality is the win just makes it that much better.”
Neshaminy (22-7, 14-0 SOL) will face Upper Dublin in a second round game on Tuesday night.
Neshaminy 6-7-19-18 50
Hazleton 12-8-3-18 41
Neshaminy: Morgan Goldenbaum 13, Tiara Porterfield 4, Devon Storms 5, Emily Alexis 3, Brooke Mullin 7, Allison Harvey 18.
Hazleton: Kendra Pfeil 5, Mackenzie Yuri 20, Maddie Mrochko 9, Alysssa Shamany 3, Ashley Martincek 4.
(12-1) CARDINAL O’HARA 55, (1-9) ABINGTON 46
Abington looked anything but the part of the district’s ninth place team, giving the Lions all they could handle before falling in a tightly contested state playoff game at Archbishop Carroll.
“When you start out the season, you want your team to get better, and the last game you want them to walk off on their own terms and play their butts off,” coach Dan Marsh said. “When I look at our season, we got better, and our kids played their butts off the last game, so I’m happy, I’m content. I’m very happy with our kids.”
Marsh certainly couldn’t fault their effort in Friday’s state opener.
“What it came down to in the third and fourth quarter – they hit a couple of threes,” Marsh said. “It was a four-point game with a minute-and-a-half to go.
“They had five guards, and they went into a stall with three minutes to go and they were up 51-46. A couple of times we forced them into a couple of bad shots and almost turned them over a couple of times. We don’t have the kids to guard them in that stall, so we went to a trapping zone, and they made free throws.
“Really, what it boiled down to – they hit some big shots.”
The Ghosts, according to Marsh, had possession with the score deadlocked 41-41 but missed a shot in close.
“They came down and hit a three,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “I think if we make that two, it’s a completely different game.
“They were worried – you could see it in their faces, you could see it in their dispositions that they were concerned. They were up five, and we tied it at 41, and I thought we had all the momentum, but then they came down and hit a contested three.”
The Ghosts trailed 12-10 after one quarter but used a 19-13 second quarter to go into halftime with a 29-25 lead.
The Lions took a 43-41 lead into the final quarter that saw the Ghosts scored just four points.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do,” Marsh said. “We went in there, and we forced them into contested shots.
“They made some of them and they missed some of them, and we went inside. Lizzie (O’Leary) had a great game, but ultimately, they made more shots than we did. They’re a great team. I think we proved we’re one of the better teams in the state.”
Lizzie O’Leary led all scorers with 17 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Britney James added 10 points while Sammy Lochner had eight and Leah Simmons, six points.
“Sammy Lochner and Leah Simmons were able to walk off the court with their heads high because they knew they played their butts off,” Marsh said of his two senior starters. “That’s a great team, and it was a well-played game by both sides.”
Abington (12-2 SOL) closed out its season with a 20-8 record.
Abington 10-19-12-5 46
Cardinal O’Hara 12-13-18-12 55
Abington: Lizzie O’Leary 17, Leah Simmons 6, Kassondra Brown 2, Samantha Brusha 3, Britney James 10, Sammy Lochner 8.
Cardinal O’Hara: Mackenzie Gardler 13, Maura Hendrixon 13, Hannah Nihill 11, Molly Paolino 5, Mary Sheehan 13
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