Upper Dublin notched a 56-45 win over Central Bucks East Tuesday to capture the SOL Tournament title. Photos provided courtesy of Greg Lindsay. Check back for a gallery of photos. CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ GIRLS’ BASKETBALL GALLERIES.
SOL Tournament title game
UPPER DUBLIN 56, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 45
Stopping Ella Morris might not have been a priority in Central Bucks East’s game plan heading into Tuesday night’s SOL Tournament title game, a strategy that made perfect sense.
After all, the Upper Dublin sophomore occupies a complimentary role on a team with three 1,000-point scorers, picking her spots and quietly contributing to the success of the district’s top-seeded team.
But on a night when the Flying Cardinals were without Bridget DiMartile (illness), Morris stepped into a starring role, torching the Patriots for a career high 19 points, 16 in a superb first half that saw UD open up a 32-22 lead.
“I thought Ella Morris was the story of the game,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “Her game is really simple, and the way they played us last game, we thought that Ella and Lexi (Ngo) were going to get some open 3s in the corners, and Ella was just ready.
“If she was open, she shot it, and if she wasn’t, she didn’t. That was not a fluke that she shot the ball like that. She does a great job getting her feet set and being balanced, and she plays with a lot of confidence. That was one of our goals to play with confidence, and I thought she epitomized that.”
The fun started early for Morris and her teammates. She scored her first basket after coming up with a steal on the defensive end to put her team on top 5-2, and after Jess Lockwood and Payton Williams connected on back-to-back putbacks at the other end to give East a 6-5 advantage, Morris hit nothing but net on her first 3 for an 8-6 lead.
By the time the quarter had ended, Morris had seven points and the Cards led 14-9.
In the second quarter. Morris had three 3-pointers, the third giving UD a 32-17 lead. The Cards went into halftime with a 32-22 advantage.
“That was awesome for us,” senior point guard Megan Ngo said. “We have so many talented scorers, and she’s just so simple – she takes the right shots, and that was really helpful for us that they were going in, especially early on when they were defending us tight. She gave us a lot of momentum going into halftime. She was big for us. She really stepped up when it mattered. I’m really proud of her. We all know she’s capable to doing that. That’s why it was so awesome to see it show in the game.”
So when did Morris get the idea this was going to be her night?
“I think the first one going in was a big part of it, and my teammates getting involved is definitely a big part of it too,” she said. “When the second one went in, it felt good immediately. It just felt natural, and I knew it was going in.
“I think this might be my career high. I knew I had to step up because Bridget wasn’t here, so I wanted to do as much as I needed to. On the defensive end, box out, and on offense, just try and play with everybody.”
Lockwood reaches milestone: Jess Lockwood appeared out of nowhere for the offensive rebound, dashing into the lane, pulling down the rebound and scoring on a putback that vaulted her to the 1,000-point milestone in the second quarter of Tuesday’s game.
“You think about it – it’s so hard to do, and you’re only talking about a three-year varsity players, so to be able to do it in three years – she’s grown her game a lot in terms of what she does,” East coach Liz Potash said. “I’m really proud of her. It’s a huge accomplishment.”
Lockwood needed four points to reach the milestone.
“I think it’s a lot of people’s goal, especially when you know your potential,” Lockwood said. “I wasn’t going to force it. I was just going to let it happen, and it happened.
“I’ve been very close the last few games, and it was just points away. I always said from the beginning of the season – just imagine getting it against Upper Dublin because I am very close with a lot of these girls. We always play these girls, and yeah, I think I just put it in the universe that I was going to get it tonight.”
Crashing the boards: If there was a defining moment in Tuesday’s game, it came early in the fourth quarter when the Patriots – after back-to-back baskets by Haley Moran and Payton Williams – trimmed a once double-digit UD lead to four, 47-43. On their ensuing possession, the Cardinals took six consecutive shots, rebounding the first five and forcing a jump ball which gave UD possession on the sixth. Out of a timeout, Tamia Clark scored, marking the beginning of a 7-2 Upper Dublin tear to close out the game.
“That’s kind of what happened the last time we played them too,” Ngo said. “There was a stretch where we started getting offensive rebounds.
“I thought that (stretch) was really big for us. We were missing some layups when we got rebounds, but the possession was what was most important at the end of the game.”
Cardinals repeat: This was Upper Dublin’s second title in as many years with both title wins coming over CB East.
“It’s really exciting, especially to do it again against the same team we did last year in the playoffs,” said senior Megan Ngo, a four-year starter for UD. “We’re missing Bridget DiMartile, but I thought everyone else stepped up, especially Ella Morris. She had a heck of a game, shooting the ball like crazy.
“This meant a lot to us, especially since we played CB East already this year, and I don’t think we really liked how we played against them (in a 52-48 win), so I thought we came out today and played a lot better.”
By the numbers: Ella Morris stole the spotlight with 19 points in 31 productive minutes. She connected on 7 of 11 shots, 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. Tamia Clark added 12 points and eight rebounds while Megan Ngo had 11 points, six assists and two of her team’s four steals. Emilia Coleman turned in a dominant effort under the boards with 11 rebounds to go along with nine points. Lexi Ngo added five points, four rebounds and three assists.
For the Patriots, junior point guard Haley Moran led the way with 19 points – 13 in the second half, 10 in the third quarter. Freshman Payton Williams added 14 points, which included a 4-for-4 effort at the foul line.
Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten:
–The game: “It was important to play with good energy. I thought that Meg (Ngo) did a really good job on (Haley) Moran, and then Moran got hot, and we switched Tamia (Clark) onto her. I thought Tamia did a great job just making her feeling a little uncomfortable. They tried to faceguard Tamia, and I thought she did a good job of playing within herself.
“We’re aware of the kind of weapons we have, and I don’t take it for granted because this is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime type of team where obviously every team’s going to try to take something away.
“Our quality one through six is really unmatched, and I thought that was the difference today with Ella stepping up and making those 3s.”.
–DiMartile absent but not forgotten: “Bridget would have done anything to be here tonight. She’s played in about 90 straight games over three years. We were just FaceTiming with her (in the postgame locker room), and she’s laying in bed. She had like a 103 fever or so.”
Central Bucks East coach Liz Potash:
–Battle of the boards: “We praised them at halftime – we gave up one offensive rebound in the first half, and then we gave up 13 in the second half. A team like this, you’ve got to put 32 minutes together. We’ve gotten into some habits where we haven’t had to play 32 minutes with some of the competition we’ve had. And we just challenged them – ‘There’s a good chance you’ll see them again, so what are you going to do different because those are controllables.’ I said, ‘I can’t change anything strategy-wise. Rebounding is on you, finishing layups is on you.’ It’s everything we’ve worked on since the last time we played them.”
–Hanging with the best: “They’re so talented. You’ve got to play 32 minutes to knock them off, but I give us a lot credit. Not many teams can play with them. They do not have many close games, and we know we can play with them, so now it’s – what are you going to do to not be content with playing with them but how are you going to push ahead?”
Up next: Upper Dublin – the number one seed with an opening round bye in the District 1 6A Tournament – will return to action Wednesday, Feb. 18, when the Cards will face the winner of Saturday’s #16 Bensalem/#17 Springfield-Delco contest. Central Bucks East – the #2 seed – will also return to action Wednesday, Feb. 18, taking on the winner of #15 Plymouth Whitemarsh/#18 Chester contest.
Central Bucks East 9-13-16-7 45
Upper Dublin 14-18-15-9 56
Central Bucks East (45) – Haley Moran 8 0-0 19; Emma Penecale 0 2-4 2; Natalie Berndt 2 0-0 6; Payton Williams 5 4-4 14; Jess Lockwood 2 0-0 4; TOTALS 17 6-8 45.
Upper Dublin (56) – Tamia Clark 6 0-0 12; Megan Ngo 3 4-9 11; Lexi Ngo 1 3-4 5; Emilia Coleman 3 2-2 9; Ella Morris 7 0-0 19; TOTALS 20 9-10 56.
3-point goals: CBE – Haley Moran 3, Natalie Berndt 2. UD – Megan Ngo, Emilia Coleman, Ella Morris 5.
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