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FRANCONIA TWP – Late in the third quarter of Friday night’s SOL game against Hatboro-Horsham, Bianca Picard, after an all-out defensive effort, came up with a steal and then – despite being fouled – converted the layup. The Souderton freshman hit nothing but net on the free throw to complete the three-point play.
The play itself had nothing to do with the outcome, which had long since been decided by that time, but it did capture the all-out effort of Picard and her teammates in Souderton’s 59-41 win. The Indians – who had dropped three straight games in SOL play – came out strong and never let up, jumping out to a 16-6 lead at the end of one quarter and a 34-15 advantage by halftime.
Picard, who exploded for a career-best 23 points, ignited the Indians with 15 first-half points, nine in the pivotal first quarter when Souderton sprinted to a double-digit lead.“She was 6-for-12 from the floor, and when you shoot 50 percent from the field, they’re pretty good looks,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said of Picard. “She had a couple of assists. We spread the ball around, and I think a lot of people were taking intelligent, high percentage shots.”
As impressive as Picard was on the offensive side of the ball, the freshman point guard was equally impressive on the defensive end of the court where she was assigned the task of containing Hatter guard Alicia Hayes, who had just three first-half points and did not have a field goal. She finished the game with seven points.
“The way Bianca played on Alicia Hayes I thought was the key to the game,” Carroll said. “Every time she had the ball, Bianca was all over her, and that kid is a good player.
“Part of our defensive game plan was to limit her touches and when she did get it to make things difficult for her, and Bianca certainly did that.”
The Hatters, who fell to 2-8 in league play, struggled to find any type of offensive continuity, and coach Steve Flynn pointed to his team’s inability to prevent Souderton from getting second shots as key.
“Obviously, we gave up a lot of second shots,” the Hatters’ first-year coach said. “I don’t know that we played that bad from the guard position, but look at the difference when you can get the ball inside and get to the foul line or put the ball in the basket.
“The bottom line is we’re not quite good enough. We’re not throwing the rest of the season in. We just have to get better with what we have.”
Underscoring Flynn’s point was the fact that the Indians’ inside players accounted for 28 of their team’s points.
Senior guard Becca Purtell, who scored 14 points, was the lone Hatter to reach double figures while Picard had plenty of help. Junior Carley Kendall had 10 points and six rebounds while sophomore Libby Wetzler had 11 points – all in the second half – to go along with 10 rebounds.
“The past four or five games I have really been struggling,” Wetzler said. “Coming into halftime with zero – I could not wait to get back in the second half because I felt like this has to be a turning point.“We have an important stretch of games, and I had to get something going.”
All but lost in the shuffle of the Indians’ big win was the outstanding performance of Lindsey Kwiatkowski off the bench. The junior center contributed seven points and nine rebounds.
“I was really pleased with how Lindsay played,” Carroll said. “She’s every coach’s dream. She will do whatever you ask with a smile on her face. She’s happy with two minutes and ready to play 25 minutes.”
The fun started early for the Indians in this one as Picard put the Indians on top less than 10 seconds into the game when she scored off the opening tap. After a Hatter miss, Picard buried her first of three three-pointers, and the Indians led 5-0.
“Coming from the last game and scoring zero points – I have never done that in my whole entire life,” said Picard, who was scoreless in the Indians’ loss to Central Bucks South. “I felt like I had to make changes, not only for myself, but I had to make changes and figure out how to get my other teammates open.”
Hatboro’s Chrissy James turned a Lindsay Day steal into an easy basket, and when Purtell scored on a drive, it was a 5-4 game. Kendall buried a pair from the foul line, but Day turned a steal into a bucket at the other end to make it a 7-6 game.
The Indians answered with a 15-0 run to go on top 22-6. The run was capped by back-to-back baskets by freshman Allison Gallagher, the second from just inside the arc.
Purtell broke the Indians’ run with a bucket after an offensive rebound, but according to the Hatters’ senior guard, the game may have been decided in the paint.
“We started scoring a little bit more, but what we struggled with obviously was rebounding on defense,” said Purtell. “If we had picked that up, it would have been a lot closer.”
Another trey by Picard put the Indians on top 31-23, and when Kwiatkowski scored on a putback as time was about to expire in the second quarter, the Indians led 34-15 heading into halftime.
Carroll, for one, was not surprised to see her team come out of the gate on fire.
“Last week we lost two games by 20 points and then we beat a really good Pennsbury team on Saturday,” the Indians’ coach said. “I would have expected this from this group.
“My only concern going in was that we would take Hatboro-Horsham too lightly. I don’t think we did that. We came out ready to go, ready to play, and we played great defensively.”The Indians stretched their lead to 37-17 after Kendall found Wetzler inside for a bucket and resulting three-point play. Another Wetzler bucket – this one from the outside – put the Indians on top 39-19 before Purtell scored for the Hatters.
“It’s really great when we have the guards and the posts contributing in different ways because it makes it harder on the defense because they have to focus on both,” Wetzler said.
It was a 50-31 game heading into the final quarter as both teams scored 16 points in the third quarter. Purtell, Hayes and Tori Waddington each scored four points for the Hatters while the Indians were led by the seven-point effort of Wetzler.
The fourth quarter featured a steady parade to the foul line in a contest that saw the two teams combine for 49 foul shots.
The loss was the seventh in a row for the Hatters.
“It’s hard, especially when you’re halfway through the season,” Purtell said. “You have to try to keep your spirits up. I love playing. That’s why I’m able to keep up my spirits. We just have to get everyone to have that same feeling.”
For the Indians, who improved to 5-4 in league play (8-7 overall), the big win couldn’t have come at a better time.
“It was definitely, definitely frustrating,” Wetzler said of the team’s three-game losing streak in league play after a 4-1 start. “We feel like the past games we have definitely worked harder. You can see it when we watch films.
“To come out here and get a big win proves we’re getting to where we need to be. We’re working harder at practice, and we’re achieving our goals.”
SOUDERTON 59, HATBORO-HORSHAM 41
Hatboro-Horsham (41) – Lutz 1 2-2 4; Day 1 0-0 2; B.Purtell 5 4-4 14; Hayes 1 5-6 7; James 1 2-4 4; Waddington 2 2-4 7; Marvin 1 1-2 3. TOTALS 12 16-22 41.
Souderton (59) – Gallagher 2 0-0 4; O’Connor 0 0-2 0; Reagan 1 1-2 3; McAndrews 1 0-0 2; Perna 0 0-0 0; Kendall 2 6-8 10; Wetzler 5 1-1 11; Steinly 0 0-0 0; Kwiatkowski 3 1-2 7; Picard 6 8-12 23. TOTALS 20 17-27 59
Hatboro-Horsham 6 9 16 10-41
Souderton 16 18 16 9-59
Three-point goals: Hatboro-Waddington. Souderton-Picard 3.
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