Check out the recent SOL girls’ basketball action. To view photos of the CR South/Souderton game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 47, SOUDERTON 36
The Indians – in their first game action of the regular season - took a 22-21 lead into halftime, but the Golden Hawks owned the second half, closing out the game with a 16-4 tear to seal the win.
“At halftime, our coach told us we needed to start rebounding the ball, getting offensive rebounds, playing better defense and start talking more, which we did, and that helped give us momentum,” Rock South senior Courtney Brown said.
Brown certainly did her part to give the Golden Hawks momentum as well. The Indians still led 32-31 with a minute remaining in the third quarter after a bucket by Hannah Bergey, but on the Golden Hawks’ ensuing possession, point guard Alexis Hofstaedter found Brown rolling to the basket for an easy deuce to give Rock South a one-point lead.
With time winding down in the quarter, it seemed a safe bet the Indians would hold for one, but an errant shot with 10 seconds remaining gave the Golden Hawks an opportunity to capitalize, and capitalize they did when Brown (Hofstaedter assist) buried a three-point at the buzzer to give South a 36-32 lead.
“I think it really switched the momentum,” Brown said. “Once I hit that, we knew we had it, and we could take this game.”
The Golden Hawks never looked back opening up a 46-32 lead after Hofstaedter buried one-of-two from the line before the Indians scored a pair of late baskets to break an eight-minute scoring drought.
“I think we had a lot more energy,” Hofstaedter said. “We realized this past Saturday when we lost (to Methacton) at the buzzer that we didn’t want that feeling of losing again, so we really wanted to step it up.”
“That was a good lesson to learn,” Brown said.
Hofstaedter led all scorers with 20 points while Brown added 11 for a Golden Hawk squad that lost the bulk of last year’s offensive production with the graduation of Alex Wheatley.
“I think it gives us a lot more opportunities because we know we have to do it,” Brown said. “We can’t lean on someone in the middle.”
“We’re so used to having Alex,” Hofstaedter added. “But we realize she’s not coming back, so we have to step up.”
In addition to scoring 20 points, Hofstaedter also had a game-high 11 rebounds to complete her double-double. Brown and Allison Taub both had six rebounds while Steph Thomas had five.
Rock South coach Monica Solic was pleased with her team’s second half performance.
“We actually did a lot better defensively,” she said. “We were getting killed on the boards in the first half, and we did a better job of boxing out and rebounding in the second half.
“I told the girls at halftime – they had 10 offensive rebounds to our one, so I thought we did a much better job in the second half. We were lucky they only scored three baskets on their 10 offensive rebounds.”
On the other side of the court, Souderton coach Lynn Carroll lauded her team’s first half effort.
“I was really happy,” she said. “I thought Bianca (Picard) played really great on Courtney and made her earn everything.
“I think our man-to-man on Alexis – she’s so tough to defend, and I think it was decent, but we didn’t have the help we needed. Overall, I thought defensively the first half was great. I don’t know if I need to sub more or if they’re not in midseason form, but in the second half, everything started to get a little worse.”
Picard (10 points, nine rebounds) and Sarah Derstine (10 points, eight rebounds) led the Indians.
“The biggest thing was we needed someone to step up and finish their shots in the fourth quarter,” Carroll said. “They went up seven, and if we’re able to score and call a timeout and get into a fullcourt press, we might get a steal and a basket, but we just couldn’t score in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we were getting decent looks. The difference was their kids stepped up and were finishing.”
While the Indians are 0-1, the Golden Hawks improved to 2-1.
HATBORO-HORSHAM 64, HARRY S TRUMAN 51
The Hatters picked up their first win of the season, using a strong second half effort to down the pesky Tigers.
“They got tired, and we ended up outscoring them in the fourth quarter,” coach Steve Flynn said. “That really was the difference in the game.
“They have some decent players. They just don’t have enough of them.”
The Tigers took a 32-30 lead into halftime only to watch the Hatters go on a 23-12 third quarter tear. The Hatters went on to outscore the Tigers 34-19 in the second half.
“Heather Lutz had a nice second half, and Tori Waddington played pretty solid throughout the whole game,” Flynn said.
Lutz finished with 12 points, and the Hatters also received big performances from junior Emily Fox and sophomore Rachel Helton.
“Emily, our junior post player, had 12 points and a lot of rebounds, and even though she was in foul trouble, she stayed in the game and played real well against their bigs,” Flynn said. “Rachel Helton had 13 and handled the ball down the stretch.
“Win or lose, it was entertaining, I’m sure. They have some talent this year. They just need another body or two.”
Truman junior Khristaijah Jackson led all scorers with 20 points while teammate Taylor Gasperi had 10.
“The key part of the game was Jackson didn’t score in the fourth quarter,” Flynn said. “We put little Rachel Helton on her, and she probably gave up five or six inches to her.
“She was just physical enough to keep her from the basket. That really was the difference, slowing her down at the end of the game.”
The win was the first of the season for the Hatters (1-2).
UPPER DUBLIN 57, LANSDALE CATHOLIC 42
Regan Gallagher scored 19 points while teammates Curtrena Goff and Lauren Rothfeld both added 10 points. The Flying Cardinals led 14-8 after one quarter and then put the game out of reach with a 24-5 second quarter burst to go into halftime with a commanding 38-13 lead. Upper Dublin, which upped its record to 2-1, connected on six threes in the first half.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 65, ABINGTON 36 (Monday, Dec. 10)
The Titans were not in an especially good mood after losing at the buzzer in the title game of the Springfield Tournament on Saturday. Throw in the fact that their team hasn’t gotten a whole lot of respect heading into the season, and somebody had to pay.
It happened to be the Ghosts, who never could solve the mystery of South’s tenacious pressure defense and turned the ball over 30-plus times.
“We all picked each other up as a team,” junior Alysha Lofton said. “Teamwork from our captains and coach (Beth) Mattern all helped us come together.
“We work really hard in practice, and we showed it on the court. It was determination 100 percent.”
The Titans forced 13 turnovers in the first quarter but led by just a 14-7 score. They all but put the game out of reach with a 20-10 second quarter tear that included a 17-0 run.
Lofton was the catalyst for the Titans, scoring 12 of her game-high 19 points in the opening half. She also had a team high six steals. Lauren Mosher added 10 points to a balanced attack while Amber Eife had seven and Christina Cianciarulo and Emma Gardy both added six.
For the Ghosts, freshman Sammy Lochner and sophomore Deja Rawls both scored 10 points.
“I was cautiously optimistic prior to this weekend, and then after the weekend I was optimistic,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “I was like, ‘All right, we can compete, we can be a good basketball game.’
“Now I’m not so sure. Now I know we have a ton of work to do, and we have to work on everything – everyone’s confidence and their ability to play without Deja. If you take Deja away, someone has to step up.”
While the Ghosts fell to 1-2, the Titans upped their record to 2-1.
PENNSBURY 44, MERION MERCY 40 (Sunday, Dec. 9)
The Falcons opened their season by capturing the championship trophy at the Haverford Tournament, thanks to their gutsy win over Merion Mercy on Sunday.
“It wasn’t a pretty win, but we won the tournament,” coach Donna Nicholson said. “We came out flat in the third quarter, and Merion Mercy came out fired up.
“We had a bad third quarter, had some turnovers and they knocked down some shots. It was a battle. With three minutes to go, they we up by a point, and Carly (Kovin) came down and hit a big shot and then we had a big stop. We hit some big foul shots, and we gutted it out.”
With the win, the Falcons, who improved to 2-0, not only won a tournament title but received a confidence boost heading into the season.
“This was big,” Nicholson said. “With a veteran team, it sure helped. Last year with the same players, I’m not sure we would have won that game.”
Jae Jackson, who had a team-high 17 points, was named tournament MVP while Kovin also earned a spot on the all-tournament team.
“Jae’s been a varsity player for four years and is a two-year captain,” Nicholson said. “Having her presence out there – she does a lot of good things for us on the court.
“Carly played big on Friday night against the big girl from Rustin, and she did some nice things for us on Sunday – hit a couple of bit shots and played big.”
Kovin was forced to step up when sophomore center Sajanna Bethea was lost to fouls early in the fourth quarter.
“We didn’t have Sajanna down the stretch,” Nicholson said. “It was a nice team win. It wasn’t pretty, but any win is a good win.”
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