Upper Moreland notched a win to a clinch a state berth while Neshaminy fell in a district quarterfinal game to top-seeded Perk Valley.
CLASS 5A playback
#5 UPPER MORELAND 53, #9 WEST CHESTER EAST 41
The Golden Bears made history Friday night, earning a state tournament berth for the first time in more than two decades.
“In the seven years I have been here, we have never had a states-or-done game,” UM coach Matt Carroll said. “We’ve had chances to qualify for states, but there was always a next game in the loser’s bracket.
“Our program hasn’t made states in over 20 years, and it’s one of the goals we’ve had the last seven years.”
Seven years is how long EmmyFaith Wood has played for Carroll, and the senior guard – who has not been 100 percent since being sidelined with an injury - has been an integral part of the team’s growth in the last four years.
“Physically, I’m feeling not my best,” Wood said. “But it was a very fun game, and I’m feeling well otherwise. At the outset of the season, we had a few goals, and this was one of the biggest ones, for sure.
“This is really, really cool. I’ve been with coach seven years, eight years just kind of building, and to accomplish this for my last go-round is really special. Especially, to do it with this team because it’s just a really fun group and a lot of girls who really want this. It’s cool to have gotten to do this with them. We’re also extending our time together, which is a big plus.”
The Golden Bears, who led 11-6 after one quarter – took a 24-12 lead into halftime. Alyssa Wiley had the hot hand in the first quarter, burying a pair of 3s and scoring eight points. In the second quarter, Holly Gohl had six points to lead the Bears.
“We knew we had our hands full with West Chester East,” Carroll said. “They’re aggressive, attack the basket, and play in your face defensively. This wasn’t going to be an easy game. It’s hard to know how a team responds after a tough loss like we had to Gwynedd.
“Our girls were great. They were upbeat, ready to prepare, and focused on qualifying for states. We started off amazing in the first half. We defended unbelievably well the first half. They only had three first-half field goals, but we did foul a little too much and their defense took a toll on us a bit. We tried to run with them too much and that was in their advantage because that’s not the type of team we are. We got off to a good start and Alyssa (Wiley) was amazing. Made some huge baskets for us early and was really good defensively covering number one (Annalise Kubasko).”
It was a 35-21 game heading into the final quarter, and the Golden Bears would not be denied. Holly Gohl scored 12 second-half points – 10 in the fourth quarter.
“In the second half, you could tell we started to get tired and weren’t as good defensively,” Carroll said. “What we lacked defensively we made up for on the offensive end. EmmyFaith (Wood) had the most impressive four points in her career. She handled their pressure, rebounded, and defended well. She’s been known as a scorer for us. but she does so much more that goes unnoticed. I know she hates it, but the two weeks she was injured forced other people to step up.”
And step up in Friday’s win-or-go-home contest the Golden Bears did.
“It was really cool to see the amount of people that stepped,” Wood said. “Lilly Hansen hit a big shot, Alyssa Wiley hit many big shots, Marie (Meyers) stepped in and hit a few. Holly Gohl – it was a lot of players contributing. I personally didn’t have the best night, so it was great to just trust them and know my teammates got me, and I don’t have to have the biggest night, so I can look to facilitate and get my teammates open.
“The game was really a story of the amount of people that stepped up and made big plays, whether it was the big shot or whether it was the screen that got the players open for the shot. It was just really cool to see how many people contributed.”
Gohl led all scorers with 18 while Mikel Lancit and Alyssa Wiley both added 11 points, and Marie Meyers had six.
“Mikel (Lancit) was one of those players who stepped up, and she was great tonight and has been for two weeks,” Carroll said. “Marie (Meyers) and Lilly (Hansen) made some big-time shots for us in the second half. Holly (Gohl) was amazing defensively and offensively. It was a complete team effort from start to finish. I’m so happy for the players and coaches who have put in so much energy and time for this accomplishment. But there are so many people who have gotten us to this point.
“I think of Phoebe and Kaiya and Bean and so many others who have set the foundation for what this team has done. The Woods, Meakims, and Longstreths have been here since the beginning and have been part of the grind.”
Upper Moreland (20-6, 13-3 SOL) will host #7 Mount St. Joseph in Tuesday’s fifth place game.
“We will get ready for Mount and get ready for states on Monday,” Carroll said. “This weekend we will celebrate what we have accomplished because it has been over 20 years since our program has made states, and every player and coach deserves to appreciate the moment and realize how much it took to get here.”
West Chester East 6-6-9-20 41
Upper Moreland 11-13-11-18 53
West Chester East (41) – Annalise Kubasko 5 0-0 12; Annie Kerns 5 3-7 13; Mikayla Kushner 6 0-1 12; Lauren Horan 1 2-2 4; TOTALS 17 5-10 41.
Upper Moreland (53) – Mikel Lancit 3 5-6 11; Alyssa Wiley 4 0-2 11; EmmyFaith Wood 0 4-7 4; Lilly Hansen 1 0-0 3; Holly Gohl 7 3-4 18; Marie Meyers 2 1-1 6; 17 13-20 53.
3-point goals: WCE – Annalise Kubasko 2; UM - Alyssa Wiley 3, Lilly Hansen, Marie Meyers, Holly Gohl.
CLASS 6A
#1 PERKIOMEN VALLEY 48, #8 NESHAMINY 27
Points were hard to come by for the Redskins, and they had no answer for the duo of Quinn Boettinger and Grace Galbavy, who combined for 30 points.
“They have a tough combination of outside scoring, which they did to us in the first half, and when we tried to go out a little bit, then Quinn (Boettinger) got us inside,” Neshaminy coach John Gallagher said. “Grace Galbavy is a very phenomenal athlete who shoots the ball above her head and raises up over anybody we have and scores.
“I’m personally disappointed in our offense. I thought we rushed some things. We weren’t trying to stall the ball, but we had a lot of possessions where it was one pass and a shot. We can’t have that.”
Close to three minutes elapsed before the Redskins got on the scoreboard when Lola Ibarrondo found Reese Zemitis on an inbounds for an easy bucket. The Vikings had managed just a Lena Stein 3 to that point, so the Redskins trailed by just a 3-2 score. A Zemitis 3-pointer after Alena Cofield tracked down a long offensive board gave the Redskins their first and only lead of the night at 5-3.
The Vikings took an 8-5 lead when Bella Bacani connected on a 3 late in the quarter. Their lead grew to 26-13 by halftime with Galbavy and Boettinger combining for all 18 second-quarter points – Galbavy had 11 points in the frame while the 6-3 Boettinger had eight.
“A lot of it was a defensive effort – we could have rotated a lot better and definitely communicated more,” Zemitis said. “We made some changes in the second half, but also part of the problem was we weren’t able to put up as many points as we had hoped.
“Our defense wasn’t terrible, but it definitely wasn’t the best it could be.”
“It was for sure hard,” senior Lindsay Little said. “Their defense was really good. They knew a lot of our plays – they definitely did a really good job scouting. They called out all the plays we called out, and we just couldn’t get the right shots off.”
Zemitis found Taylor Gurysh for a basket to open the third quarter, but the Redskins would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way.
Zemitis led the Redskins with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Ibarrondo had three assists and a steal, and Cofield had four rebounds.
For the Vikings, Galbavy led the way with 16 points while Boettinger added 14, which included an 8-for-8 effort at the foul line.
Neshaminy (19-7, 13-3 SOL) will face the loser of Saturday’s #4 Souderton/#5 Spring-Ford contest in a playback game for district seeding on Tuesday.
“We just have to pick each other’s heads up,” Zemitis said. “We know the type of team we are, we know what we can bring to the table. We just have to keep the right mindset and not focus on this loss to go into playbacks and states.”
Neshaminy 5-8-9-5 27
Perkiomen Valley 8-18-12-10 48
Neshaminy (27) – Jasmin Davis 0 0-1 0; Alena Cofield 2 0-0 5; Lola Ibarrondo 1 1-2 3; Taylor Gurysh 2 0-0 5; Reese Zemitis 4 1-2 11; Jess Purdy 1 0-0 3; TOTALS 10 2-5 27.
Perkiomen Valley (48) – Bella Bacani 2 0-0 5; Ella Stein 1 0-0 3; Lena Stein 4 0-0 9; Quinn Boettinger 3 8-8 14; Grace Galbavy 5 4-4 16; Becky Taylor 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 15 13-14 48.
3-point goals: Neshaminy – Reese Zemitis 2, Alena Cofield, Taylor Gurysh, Jess Purdy; PV – Grace Galbavy 2, Bella Bacani, Ella Stein, Lena Stein.
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