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FRANCONIA TWP – The mood was decidedly somber as Souderton’s players emerged from their post-game meeting.
Granted, the Indians had earned a 36-32 win over Pennridge to improve to 4-1 in league play, but no one was celebrating.
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“This does not feel like a win at all,” Souderton senior captain Nicole Perna said. “We expect better than how we played.
“This does not feel like a win at all,” Souderton senior captain Nicole Perna said. “We expect better than how we played. “When we were in the locker room after the game, it wasn’t like, ‘Yea, we won.’ It was more like, ‘What are we doing?’”
What the Indians were doing was making life extremely difficult for themselves.
They connected on just 9-of-24 shots from the foul line for the game and were 5-of-16 in the second half. It didn’t help that the Rams kept the Indians’ top offensive weapon – Carley Kendall – from scoring a point in the second half after lighting up the net for 12 points in the first half.
“I think we came out and had it in the back of our heads that it was going to be an easy, and it definitely wasn’t,” Kendall said. “They proved us wrong, and luckily, we put up enough points that we could hold them off.”
The mood was decidedly brighter on the other side of the court, and although the Rams – who fell to 0-5 in league play and 0-8 overall – remain winless, they see reason for optimism. Their close loss to the Indians came on the heels of an overtime loss to Hatboro-Horsham that saw the Rams rally from a 14-point deficit after three quarters to send the game into OT.
“I think we pulled together today,” junior Jen Cooley said. “The past few games were more like moral victories. We were more together, and we found a good group that has good chemistry, and we know how to play with each other. We’re improving as the season goes along.”
Coach Dave Martin was understandably pleased with his team’s performance as the Rams rallied from a 12-point deficit before falling by four. A key was unquestionably the Rams’ defensive effort in a second half that saw the Indians score just 16 points.
The first-year coach laughed when asked the secret to his team’s second-half showing.“I yelled at them at halftime,” Martin said. “The one person (Kendall) we had to shut down had 12 of their 20 points. I said, ‘Let’s go out there, box her out and double her like we were supposed to do in the first half.’
“We had 10 or 11 turnovers in the first half, and we finished with 15. When we protect the ball, good things happen.”
The game actually started out on a very promising note for the Rams, who found themselves on top 8-3 after Alyssa Marchunsky (nine points) buried her second three-pointer of the game.
“Of course, it was a 3:30 game, which is no excuse, but we weren’t mentally prepared,” Perna said. “We weren’t into it.
“We didn’t have that adrenaline, and that’s important because we need to be excited to play. We didn’t have that mentality. It’s very disappointing.”
After falling behind, the Indians appeared to find their stride. Kendall scored on a basket in close, and after a Ram miss, Erin Reagan buried a shot just inside the three-point arc. A Ram turnover resulted in an outside jumper for Kendall, and the Indians led 9-8.Kendall sank one-of-two from the charity stripe, and then it was Bianca Picard scoring off the dribble to put the Indians on top 12-8 at the end of one quarter. Perna turned a steal into a layup to open the second quarter before Nici Bonacci buried a trey, making it a 14-11 game and breaking the Indians’ 11-0 run.
When freshman Jordan Rimmer came up with a steal and took it coast-to-coast for an easy bucket, the Rams trailed by just one, 14-13.
“Jordan Rimmer did a great job pressuring the ball the whole game,” Martin said. “She keeps getting more confidence every game. This is only the third game she started.”
The Indians closed out the half with a 6-1 run that culminated with Kendall – who had seven steals – turning one of her thefts into a bucket to send Souderton into halftime with a 20-14 lead.
A Gabby McAndrews trey to open the second half put the Indians on top by nine, and they led by double digits (25-15) after Libby Wetzler scored on a short jumper. They still led 29-19 entering the final quarter and upped that lead to 31-19 after a Wetzler basket to open the final frame.
The Indians scored just five points the rest of the way, and the Rams kept inching closer. It was a 31-24 game after another Bonacci trey, and when Cooley buried a pair of foul shots, the Indians’ lead was trimmed to 31-26 midway through the quarter.
“They were just working harder than us,” Perna said. “They were getting all the loose balls, and any chance they could possibly get a steal, they were going for it.
“We just weren’t working as hard as them, and that’s what killed us.”
The Rams would get no closer than five until Jessie Dominic scored at the buzzer to make it a four-point game.Still, it was too close for comfort for Souderton coach Lynn Carroll.
“We didn’t do the little things – consistently boxing out, playing solid on-the-ball defense, playing good help defense,” the Indians’ coach said. “I’m a little concerned that we showed up as though we had already won the game. That’s a terrible way to prepare for a basketball game.
“I give Pennridge a ton of credit. They worked really hard at both ends of the floor. The lack of success they have seen – for them to come out and continue to battle is very impressive.”
The Rams, according to Cooley, are looking to improve each game.
“We take each game as we can,” she said. “(Playing with) a team that beat CB South after how much we lost to them by (65-37) – even these losses sort of count as victories.
“We’re playing better. Everyone is playing together.”
The Rams’ junior forward acknowledged that opening the season with eight straight losses has not been easy.
“But we’re getting through it as a team,” Cooley said. “We’re taking the beating now, so we can do better next year. Just like the guys’ team last year – let’s hope we have the scores they do next year.”
The Pennridge boys’ team, which was 1-13 in league play last year, is now alone at the top of the Continental Conference standings with a 5-0 record (11-1 overall).
Tuesday’s game, according to Martin, is a step in the right direction. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder what might have been.
“A couple of those layups we missed,” he said. “But we protected the ball, we rebounded and we played defense. This is the first game we played all four quarters.”
SOUDERTON 36, PENNRIDGE 32
Pennridge (32) – Dominic 1 0-0 2; McGuire 0 0-0 0; Rimmer 3 0-0 6; Chynoweth 0 0-1 0; Cooley 0 4-9 4; Bonacci 2 1-2 7; Tennett 0 0-0 0; Patton 0 0-0 0; McGrath 0 4-6 4; Marchunsky 2 3-4 9. TOTALS 18 12-22 32.
Souderton (36) – O’Connor 1 1-3 3; Reagan 2 1-2 5; McAndrews 1 1-2 4; Perna 2 0-0 4; Kendall 4 2-6 10; Wetzler 2 2-4 6; Kwiatkowski 0 1-2 1; Picard 1 1-5 3. TOTALS 13 9-24 36.
Pennridge 8 6 5 13-32
Souderton 12 8 9 7-36
Three-point goals: Pennridge – Bonacci 2, Marchunsky 2. Souderton – McAndrews.
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