Check out Thursday’s SOL girls basketball results.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 54, COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 45
Lauren Mosher turned in a huge performance for the Titans, scoring a game-high 26 points while also pulling down 16 rebounds.
“She shot close to 90 percent from the field,” coach Beth Mattern said of Mosher. “She had a gigantic game for us.
“She has been stepping up for us. It started against Pennridge when Rachel Falkowski went down. Since then, she has been coming into her own as a starter and getting very comfortable in her role. It’s been a pleasure to see.”
Mosher’s emergence looms particularly large in light of the fact that the Titans have lost Alysha Lofton for the season to a torn ACL.
“We feel bad for her,” Mattern said of Lofton. “We know what she’s missing out on. I thought we were really pretty good with her, and I thought we were finally going to take that next step.”
The Titans were impressive without Lofton on Thursday jumping out to a 14-7 lead at the end of one quarter and extending that to 29-17 by halftime. They took a 42-25 lead into the fourth quarter when the Golden Hawks – behind the hot hands of Courtney Brown and Alexis Hofstaedter – staged a late run. Brown accounted for 12 of those points while Hofsteadter had six.
“We were controlling the boards, and we were finishing,” Mattern said of her team’s strong start. “We shot a very high percentage – we shot 60-some percent from two-point range.
“We gave up 20 points in the fourth quarter, and they cut it down to five, but we made foul shots down the stretch.”
Rachel Falkowski, who scored nine points in her first game back since spraining her ankle, was 3-for-4 from the foul line down the stretch. Amber Eife, who had eight points and eight rebounds, was 2-for-2, and Brianna Wade connected on one-of-two.
Brown led the Golden Hawks (3-3) with 22 points while Hofstaedter added 17.
The Titans (6-2) will face Notre Dame Academy on Friday at 12:30 p.m.
QUAKERTOWN 51, PALISADES 37
What a difference a year makes.
In last year’s opening round game of the Quakertown Christmas Tournament, the Panthers lost to the Pirates 49-26 in a contest that featured 48 fouls. One year later, the Panthers – bearing no resemblance to the team that stumbled to last year’s loss - exacted a degree of revenge, burying 20-of-24 foul shots in an impressive display from the free throw line.
Two players who were not on the court for last year’s game stole the spotlight. Senior Kathryne Vetter, who missed last season with a torn ACL, scored a game high 21 points, which included a 12-of-16 effort from the charity stripe. Freshman Taylor Herd added 14 points, including a perfect 8-for-8 effort from the foul line. She was 6-for-6 in the fourth quarter.
For the game, the Panthers were 20-of-24 from the foul line.
“We practice foul shots every day,” coach Greg Swavely said. “We always say that games come down to foul shooting, and tonight was no exception.
“This game was won at the foul line. If we don’t knock those down at the end, who knows what could happen. That’s where games are won and lost.”
Swavely, who was minus three regulars on Thursday, started three freshmen – Herd, Emma McLaughlin and Spenser Gray.
“We have a great freshman class,” he said. “They are great, not only athletes but great girls. They bring an element we haven’t seen for a while.
“They’re aggressive, they’re quick, they’re fast, and they really have no fear. I love it, and I’m just looking forward to those freshmen getting better and better over the next four years. It’s a nice thing to have.”
The game was tightly contested for one half, and the Panthers took an 18-17 lead into halftime. It was still a three-point game (28-25) late in the third quarter, but Vetter scored on a drive and then senior Cambria Gysi scored in the paint to send the Panthers into the final quarter with a 32-25 lead.
The Pirates trimmed that lead to five on several occasions, the final time with three minutes remaining when they converted a fast break to make it a 38-33 game. Herd calmly answered by draining a pair of foul shots to stretch the lead to seven.
“She does not play like a freshman,” Swavely said. “She stepped right in and has been one of our leaders on the floor as a freshman. She’s special.”
“She’s an amazing player,” Vetter added. “She’s a great (contributor) to the team, and she works well with the whole team, so that’s great. It’s really hard when you’re a freshman to click, but she clicked fast.
“We’re good friends. On the court, we communicate well.”
A pair of Vetter foul shots extended the Panthers’ lead to 42-33, and they never looked back.
Ashlee Ruzicka, who was whistled for her fifth foul with 5:25 remaining in the final quarter, added 10 points for the Panthers (2-5), who will face William Tennent in Friday night’s title game at 7:30 p.m.
“I tell the girls – it’s about playing together, playing as a team, and if you do that, good things will happen,” Swavely said. “I’m really excited about this team. They are great girls.
“Not only are they good athletes – they get along together. I don’t have those issues. They’re good in the classroom. I don’t have those issues. It’s a pleasure to coach these girls, win or lose. It’s just nice to see them win, to see them taste success because they’re just going to get better and better. It’s definitely fun.”
WILLIAM TENNENT 49, UPPER PERKIOMEN 31
The Panthers, who trailed 18-16 at halftime, outscored the Tribe 33-13 in the second half to earn the decisive win in Thursday’s opening round game of the Quakertown Christmas Tournament.
“We scouted them, and we know they’re a pretty well-coached team and vastly improved from last year,” coach Paul Veltre said. “We wanted to keep it as fast-paced as possible and hopefully pull it out in the stretch.
“We were very disappointed that we didn’t score as much as we thought we should in the paint. I think we missed nine or 10 layups in the paint, but the pace of the game helped. We changed our press in the second half and put the ball in the basket. We nailed free throws at the end, and that helped keep the lead too.”
The Panthers connected on 13-of-17 from the foul line, 11-of-12 in the fourth quarter.
Allison Chatburn led a balanced Panther attack with 12 points. She scored seven points in a fourth quarter that saw the Panthers outscore the Indians 17-5, which included Chatburn’s 5-of-6 effort from the foul line. Nikki Alden added 11 points and Ally Fenner, nine points.
The Panthers will face Quakertown in Friday night’s title game at 7:30 p.m.
NORTH PENN 36, ST BASIL ACADEMY 16
The Panthers brought a dazzling 8-0 record into Thursday’s game against the undefeated Maidens. Something had to give.
It did.
The Maidens’ suffocating defense never allowed the Panthers to find any kind of offensive rhythm as they rolled to the convincing win to capture the title of their division at the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood.
North Penn led 9-2 at the end of one quarter and stretched that lead to 20-7 by halftime. The Panthers, who live and die by the three, connected on just 1-of-24 shots from beyond the arc and were victimized repeatedly by the Maidens’ pressure defense.
“I had no intention of pressing them,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “Then all of a sudden Vicky Tumasz called the press, got a steal and set the tone on defense.
“It was night and day from yesterday’s game. It was the best defensive game we have played all year. The kids were so active defensively.”
Lauren Crisler led the Maidens with 15 points and 15 rebounds. deMarteleire lauded the performances of sophomore Leiana Dean and senior Tehya Daneker.
“Tehya had five offensive rebounds,” the Maidens’ coach said. “That was something we challenged her to do before the game.”
The trip to the Boardwalk Classic was deMarteleire’s 11th – four with North Penn and seven with LC. It is the first time any of her teams went 2-0 at the tournament. The Maidens take a perfect 8-0 record into January.
UPPR DUBLIN 69, SPRINGSIDE 34
The Flying Cardinals seized early control of Thursday’s game, opening up a 22-11 lead at the end of one quarter and extending that to 41-17 by halftime. Curtrena Goff led the Cardinals’ offensive attack with 22 points, which included four three-pointers. She scored 16 of her points in the opening half. Regan Gallagher added 10 points, and Bri Spector had nine points.
The win was the sixth in a row for the Cardinals (6-1), who will face Villa Joseph Marie in Friday night’s title game at 7 p.m.
SOUDERTON 60, HARRITON 50
The Indians received double-digit scoring efforts from three players in an opening round game of the Wissahickon Trojan Classic. Bianca Picard led all scorers with 19 points, which included four three-pointers. Allison Gallagher added 17 points, and Sarah Derstein had 13 points. Senior Libby Wetzler had a big game under the backboards, pulling down 14 rebounds to go along with four assists.
“We had a great team effort,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “Bianca came out and hit two three’s to start the game, and we went up 6-0.
“The more they paid attention to Bianca, the more opportunities it created for Allison. I would say 10 of her 17 points were in the open court. She was just getting out, and the other guards were getting her the ball.
“They had a tough time playing us down low. I think just about all of Sarah’s points were three feet from the basket, which is good. She’s been scoring around the elbow, but we haven’t gotten Sarah and Libby involved enough around the basket. Katie O’Connor hit some big shots. She hit a big three as time was running down in the third quarter. Libby had 14 rebounds. It was a great team effort.”
The two teams battled to a 14-14 tie at the end of one quarter, and the Indians took a 30-28 lead into halftime. The Indians led 45- 41 heading into the final quarter when they outscored Harriton 15-8.
“We need to win a game that wasn’t an easy win,” Carroll said. “It was 10 points, but it felt closer.
“It was important for us to battle and gut out a win instead of winning easily.”
The Indians (2-3, 1-2 SOL) will face Gwynedd Mercy Academy in Friday’s title game at Wissahickon at 4 p.m.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 41, BETHLEHEM LIBERTY 27
Courtney Webster scored 16 points to lead the Patriots to the win in the opening round of the Unionville Tournament. The senior center scored four points in each of the four quarters. Karoline White and Morgan Kelly each added eight points for the Patriots, who led 17-11 at the intermission and then outscored Liberty 14-8 in the third quarter to all but ice the win.
The Patriots (4-3) will face Unionville in Saturday’s title game.
LOWER MORELAND 59, HARRY S TRUMAN 41
Taylor Gasperi scored a season high 21 points, but it wasn’t enough to make up for a slow start by the Tigers. The Tigers (3-6) trailed 16-5 at the end of one quarter and never could make up the ground they lost.
ALTOONA 66, ABINGTON 45
The Ghosts hung tough for a while in Thursday’s opening game of the Aloona Tournament and trailed by just three at halftime (27-24). Altoona, which boasts three players six feet or taller, opened the game up with a 23-10 third quarter burst.
Deja Rawls led the Ghosts with 15 points while Michael Harris added 12. The win snapped a four-game winning streak for the Ghosts (5-3), who will face Pine Richland in Friday’s consolation game at 4 p.m.
WOODROW WILSON 64, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 39
BANGOR 57, PENNRIDGE 34
GWYNEDD MERCY ACADEMY 40, WISSAHICKON 36
SACRED HEART 52, SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 29
NORTH PENN 48, MILLVILLE (NJ) 36 (Wednesday, Dec. 26)
Senior Lauren Crisler had a monster game for the Maidens, scoring 20 points and pulling down 16 rebounds. Junior Vicky Tumasz added 12 points and three steals while freshman Mikaela Giuliani had nine points and nine rebounds.
The Maidens, who trailed 20-18 at the intermission, outscored Millville 30-16 in the second half.
“We looked like we had three days off from practice,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “We practiced (Wednesday) morning, but we looked pretty sluggish.
“We had 23 turnovers, and most of them were not forced turnovers. That was a little bit disappointing. Hopefully, we will play better tomorrow.”
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