To view game action photos, visit the Photo Gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/ A game wrap of the Upper Merion/Villa opening round Distirct One AAA contest is below the box score.
NEWTOWN – Sometimes it’s all about perspective.
In the respective locker rooms after Tuesday night’s all-SOL showdown between Council Rock North and Upper Dublin, one team’s players were talking about cake and ice cream, the other about their immense disappointment in their effort and performance.
At first glance, it might seem safe to assume that Upper Dublin – which managed just one first half field goal and trailed 20-4 at the intermission – was the disappointed team while Rock North – which had just earned a 14-point second round win and a berth in the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament - would be celebrating.Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.
The Flying Cardinals were ecstatic about a second half performance that saw them outscore the third-seeded Indians 20-18. Not even a 38-24 loss in Tuesday’s second round District One AAAA Tournament contest could dampen their enthusiasm.
The mood was decidedly different in Rock North’s locker room, but Upper Dublin’s players and coaches weren’t concerned about that.
“This game will help us come (Saturday),” Upper Dublin coach Vince Catanzaro said of his team’s playback game to earn the 9th berth in the state tournament. “At halftime, I told them, ‘Girls, we have nothing to be ashamed of and (nothing) to lose here. This is all ice cream and cake for us. We forced the issue in the second half.
“I think that’s important for these kids to understand that they came out and challenged North instead of just letting the clock run out. I think that’s a big plus, and it’s only going to help us going for the ninth seed.”
In the deserted hallway outside her team’s locker room, Rock North’s Kelly Scull was sparing no punches when she addressed her team’s second-half performance.
“It was almost like we lost heart,” the senior captain said. “I’m just completely embarrassed. As a captain, I feel like it’s my responsibility to get everyone pumped up and ready to go. “There’s no doubt that we’re talented, there’s no doubt we can score, there’s no doubt Devin and Lauren (Gold) can steal the ball whenever they want to, but if you don’t have that drive and heart, talent will only get you so far.
“Yes, it will get us by the first two rounds and get us into states, but we have bigger goals in mind. We’re not looking to just get by. We’re looking to go out there and make a statement. We’re looking to win a district championship, and in order for us to do that, we have to have heart, and we have to want it.”
Scull certainly looked like she was on a mission in the game’s early moments. The senior captain, who scored 11 points, hit nothing but net on a three-point bucket on her team’s opening possession, and when she scored off the dribble moments later, the Indians led 5-0.
Back-to-back baskets by Lauren Gold – who had a team-high 12 points - put the Indians on top 9-0, and it was an 11-0 game after Jodi Marrazzo turned a steal into a layup.
“Obviously, North has some players over there,” Catanzaro said. “They hit some major shots on us with people on them.”The Flying Cardinals broke the Indians’ run when sophomore Taylor Bryant sank one-of-two from the foul line.
Lost in the shuffle of the Indians’ quick start was the fact that they did not score a point in the final 4:30 of the opening quarter.
“When we were up by a lot in the first half, all we thought of was ‘We’re up,’ and we just wanted to win,” Lauren Gold said. “We didn’t think about anything else.
“We just wanted to win, and we didn’t play aggressive at all. We were completely passive.”
On the other side of the court, the Flying Cardinals – with just one senior, Kristen Fuery, in their lineup – were trying to figure out a way to get the lid off the basket.
“We were rushing a lot on offense,” said sophomore Tori Waters, who had a team-high seven rebounds. “We were playing good ‘D.’ We held them to a decent amount, but offensively, we just couldn’t produce any points.”
That trend continued in the second quarter.
Scull scored on a putback, and then it was Devin Gold turning a Flying Cardinal miscue into a bucket and a 16-1 lead. The Indians led 18-1 after a Megan Cunningham basket before Sarah Hallowell buried a trey at the 2:19 mark for Upper Dublin’s first basket of the game.
“It was very frustrating,” Waters said. “We were trying to set people up – I know I had some wide open shots, and I just missed them. It was so frustrating.”
A Lauren Gold foul line jumper closed out the half, sending Rock North into halftime with a 20-4 lead.
“It was hard because they only had one point, and it seemed like they would never get past one point,” Lauren Gold said. “But they obviously did. They came back.“I don’t know what we were doing out there. We didn’t play aggressively at all, and they came out strong in the second half.”
At halftime, Rock North coach Lou Palkovics reminded his players of his team’s state championship game against Parkland that saw the Indians score five points in the first half but 35 in the second half.
“I said to them – ‘I better not see that happen here,’” the Indians’ coach said.
Catanzaro, meanwhile, was trying to come up with any idea that might calm his young team down. The ice cream and cake talk apparently did the trick.
The Flying Cardinals’ resurgence began with Bryant somehow finding the net on an off-balance reverse layup to open the third quarter. Back-to-back baskets by Fuery and Curtrena Goff made it a 22-10 game. The Flying Cardinals trailed 25-12 heading into the final quarter.
“The biggest problem I had was offensively we got so stagnant in the second half,” Palkovics said. “We were just trying to protect our lead, and never do I want to project that image. “I wanted to see people attacking the basket. At halftime, it should have been 35-4, not 20-4 because of the all the layups we missed. In the second half, we just didn’t execute. I told the girls after the game, ‘You just put basketball back 20 years.’”
The fourth quarter was all but a draw as the Indians edged the Flying Cardinals 13-12, and although they came up short, no one in Upper Dublin’s locker room was hanging their heads.
“They’re really good,” said Bryant, who scored a team-high 12 points. “We never really played against teams like this, so it’s helping us for future games”
Scull, meanwhile, was looking for some answers as the Indians look ahead.
“We have four players who are averaging in double digits, and to score 38 points is just completely unacceptable,” she said. “We’re playing down right now, and it’s up to each and every one of us to find it within ourselves to pick ourselves up and pick each other up.”
What is Scull expecting at Wednesday’s practice?
“Running,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m not going to eat a heavy lunch.”
The Indians will next face the winner of Wednesday night’s Great Valley/Boyertown game.
“I take it upon myself, and Sarah (Kiely) takes it upon herself – I can promise you, there will be a change,” Scull said.
Stay tuned!
COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 38, UPPER DUBLIN 24
Upper Dublin (24) – Curtrena Goff 1 0-4 2; Taylor Bryant 4 3-6 12; Kristen Fuery 2 0-0 5; Jen Myers 0 0-0 0; Tori Waters 0 0-0 0; Sarah Hallowell 1 0-0 3; Lauren Rothfeld 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 9 3-10 24.
Council Rock North (38) – Jodi Marrazzo 1 0-0 2; Devin Gold 2 1-2 6; Lauren Gold 6 0-0 12; Kelly 4 1-2 11; Sarah Kiely 1 1-2 3; Megan Cunningham 2 0-0 4; Emily Grundman 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 16 3-6 38.
Upper Dublin 11 9 5 13-38
Council Rock North 1 3 8 12-24
3-point goals: Upper Dublin – Fuery, Myers, Bryant. Council Rock North – D. Gold, Scull 2.
Vikings go out in style – Upper Merion didn’t pull off the big upset of sixth seeded Villa Maria Academy, but the Vikings managed to turn their road game into something that felt a whole lot more like a home game, and they had the Hurricanes hanging on for dear life before falling 50-42 in an opening round District One AAA Tournament contest.
“It was one of those games – if you were a girls’ basketball fan, you had a great time,” coach Tom Schurtz said. “We had over 100 students there tonight. We made Villa a home game.
“Our fans travel better than any girls’ basketball team in this entire district. No one travels the way we travel. We filled Villa.”
The secret?
“We are just fun to watch,” Schurtz said. “We play really hard, and our student body loves that about our girls. Our girls are fairly popular in the building, and my entire staff teaches in the building, which helps.
“It’s become like ‘the thing.’ Between girls’ volleyball and basketball, it’s a happening.”
The two teams were deadlocked 9-9 at the end of one quarter, and take away a stretch early in the second quarter, and the Vikings were right with the Hurricanes.
“They shot 100 percent for the first six minutes and 30 seconds of the second quarter,” Schurtz said. “They made four three’s to bury us, and that was that.
“We got it to five with 2:30 to go in the game, but then we had to foul. We could never make that really big shot to put us over the top. It was a great game to watch, it was a lot of fun to coach, and it was a lot of fun to play in, I’m sure.”
Paoli Tinari returned to the lineup after being sidelined four weeks with a broken ankle.
“She had one practice and came out of the boot on Thursday and played 30 minutes tonight after four weeks in the boot,” Schurtz said. “She hasn’t been able to walk or run, and she played 30 minutes.
“We played six players – they played 12.”
Schurtz lauded the efforts of seniors Tinari, Alex Galdi (11 points, 14 rebounds) and Briana Alvarez (12 points, 10 rebounds).
“What else could you want from your seniors?” Schurtz asked.
Cassidy Koenig added seven points.
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