Check out the results for SOL girls’ basketball teams in action on Tuesday.
It was a night for the record books in the SOL.
While Cheltenham freshman Ashley Jones was ensuring her spot in the history of her school’s storied basketball program, sophomore Lyric Lewis was doing the same at Bensalem.
Jones has made an immediate impact in a program that includes a lengthy list of legendary players, including – to name a few - Brandi Butler, Stacey Smalls and high school All-American Laura Harper.
In Cheltenham’s 71-67 overtime win over Upper Merion on Tuesday, the freshman guard did what no Lady Panther had done before her when she re-wrote the record books with a 40-point performance. The previous record was 38, a mark, according to coach Brendan Nolan, held by several players.
The fab frosh scored 33 of her points after halftime, and her performance included a 16-for-23 effort at the foul line.
“She gets to the line so easily,” Nolan said. “She just has such control when she’s penetrating, and she’s learning not to get quite so deep.
“Early in the season, as soon as she penetrated, she was always going to the rim. She’s mixing it up now, and she’s so much more effective. She hit three threes – there’s not a part of her game that she doesn’t have. For a freshman, it really is unbelievable.”
At Bensalem, Lewis – who has been struggling with a leg injury – exploded for a school record 42 points. The 5-7 sophomore guard had 15 field goals and was 12-for-16 from the free throw line.
“This was her best game since she’s come back,” coach Don Bogan said. “She’s been favoring her leg, but it’s better now.
“She really played well tonight. She had a couple of breakaways. She played within herself. She had five assists and did a lot of good things. To be honest, she’d rather assist than score sometimes. She’s very unselfish.”
Ashley Jones. Lyric Lewis. Remember their names because area basketball fans will be hearing a whole lot more from both in the months and years to come.
American Conference
CHELTENHAM 71, UPPER MERION 67 (OT)
The Vikings took what appeared to be a comfortable two-point lead when Tatiana Pleasant scored with six seconds remaining in regulation, but this game was far from over.
Pleasant delivered a potentially game-saving defensive play when she blocked Amarri Trueheart’s layup attempt at the other end, but Cheltenham freshman Nashira Brown picked up the loose ball, pivoted and banked it home at the buzzer to extend the game to overtime.
“You have to feel pretty good when you’re up by two with six seconds to go,” Upper Merion coach Tom Schurtz said. “Defensively, in that situation, we did everything you’re supposed to do, but the ball wouldn’t bounce our way.”
The Vikings scored the first five points of overtime only to watch freshman Ashley Jones seize control of the period, scoring 14 straight points and allowing the Lady Panthers to survive the loss of their point guard – Trueheart – to fouls.
“Everyone in the gym knew what the strategy was when we had the ball,” coach Brendan Nolan said. “Ashley was going to have it, and she was either going to get fouled or get a shot up.”
Jones finished with a school record 40 points to lead all scorers.
“One of the neatest things is – her last game was probably her worst game of the year,” Nolan said of his team’s 61-44 win over Upper Moreland. “She had eight points and was in foul trouble the entire game, she sat almost the entire second half in foul trouble and then fouled out with about six minutes to go.
“For a 14-year-old girl to turn around and respond to that performance with this performance – that in itself is incredible that she has that kind of maturity to do that. She wasn’t upset, she didn’t hang her head, she just goes back out there and plays. That’s amazing.”
The Lady Panthers led 13-5 at the end of one quarter only to watch the Vikings rally to make it a 22-21 game at halftime. The Vikings took a 39-35 lead into the fourth quarter when the Lady Panthers rallied to knot the score.
“It was a great high school game,” Nolan said. “Both teams played great.
“It basically came down to Regie (Robinson) and their bigs with some help from their guards against our backcourt and some help from the bigs.
“It turned out the ball dropped in a few more times for us than it did for them, but they played great. They knew what they needed to do against us, and they did it.
“I guess the difference was Ashley Jones. She kind of willed us to the victory there.”
Nolan would get no argument from Schurtz on that point.
“Regie Robinson covered Jones for much of the first three quarters, and going into the fourth, Jones had 18 (points),” Schurtz said. “Due to our guard foul trouble, we needed to move her, and she made a couple of clutch shots late.
“You’d be hard pressed to find two faster players than Trueheart and Jones. Those two girls can just flat out score.”
Robinson, who was 10-for-11 from the foul line, finished with 26 points. Shekema Gentles had another double-double for the Vikings with 15 points and 18 rebounds.
“It was a battle of styles today,” Schurtz said. “There was a point halfway through the third quarter where we had sort of put them in a real bad foul situation.
“We got contributions from our posts – Shekema, Tatiana Pleasant and Eryn Brady, and we put both of their big girls on the bench. I thought at that time we were in pretty good shape, but we made a couple of mistakes in our fullcourt press that allowed them to tie the game up.
“It was playoff basketball. It was two teams getting ready for the (Class) AAAA playoffs. When you see two teams going into the 60s and 70s at this level – it was pretty exciting. It was a heck of an effort.”
The Lady Panthers are 9-4 in league play (14-6 overall) while the Vikings are 8-5 (12-8 overall).
Cheltenham 13 9 13 21 15-71
Upper Merion 5 16 18 17 11-67
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 36, UPPER DUBLIN 35
Asia Baker buried both ends of a one-and-one with 20 seconds remaining in regulation, and the Colonials forced a turnover to regain possession. But the Flying Cardinals returned the favor, forcing a turnover only to watch their desperation shot at the buzzer fall short.
“This was a huge win for the team,” PW coach Daniel Dougherty said. “It keeps our slim chances of tying for the conference championship alive, and it’s a big momentum boost trying to get ready for playoffs.
“Upper Dublin is the only (conference) team that this year’s seniors have never beaten at any level. They’ve never beaten them as freshmen, they’ve never beaten them at jayvee, so this is a first.”
In a game that was highlighted by defense, the Flying Cardinals took a 10-6 lead at the end of one quarter and still led 21-19 at the intermission. Upper Dublin led 31-27 heading in the final frame when the Colonials outscored the Cardinals 9-4.
“Asia Baker and Cara Sweeney played just phenomenal defense against Regan Gallagher and Julie Cross,” Dougherty said. “That was a big, big part of the game.
“Rachel Konowal did a great job of slowing down their shooter, Allison Chernow. It came down to executing at the end of the game.”
Chrissie Mesunas finished with eight points, but two of those were three-pointers in the second half.
“Chrissie hit a monster three, and then Alynna Williams hit a jump shot for us to go up by one,” Dougherty said. “Julie Cross got a putback, so they went up by one.
“There was a minute to go, and we held the ball until about 25 seconds to go. We had a drive to the basket, and Asia got fouled on the floor.”
Baker buried the foul shots, and the big win was in the books. Baker led all scorers with 16 points to go along with six rebounds while Williams added nine points. Cross led the Cardinals with 10 points and eight rebounds while Gallagher had nine points, eight rebounds and three steals.
“Both teams were coming off two days of no practicing,” Dougherty said. “Both teams have each other so well scouted.
“As soon as they call a play, we know what it is. As soon as we call a play, they know what it is. If you love defense, it was just a phenomenal defensive game. Every shot was contested, every rebound was a battle.”
While the Flying Cardinals fell to 11-2 in the league (17-3 overall), the Colonials are 10-3 in the league (16-4 overall).
“We have two games left, and if we win both of them, I think we have a real good chance for a home playoff game, which is what we’re shooting for,” Dougherty said.
Upper Dublin 10 11 10 4-35
Plymouth Whitemarsh 6 13 8 9-36
SPRINGFIELD (MONTCO) 30, UPPER MORELAND 21
The Spartans won a defensive battle with the Golden Bears. They led 8-7 after one quarter and took a 14-11 lead into halftime. They outscored the Golden Bears 16-10 in the second half to earn the win.
“This is our third time playing Upper Moreland, and that can be tough,” Springfield assistant Laurie Kristiniak said. “Playing a team that many times, you get to know each other.
“We really worked on planning our defense around their strengths and worked hard at practice keeping our girls balanced and poised on offense. We stressed to our girls to stay focused, composed and enjoy the game.”
Molly Dugan led a balanced attack with 10 points while Jewell Ringgold added eight. Meghan Wheatley had six points for the Spartans (5-15, 2-11 SOL).
The Golden Bears (4-16, 2-11) were led by the six-point effort of Madison Pisut.
Springfield 8 6 8 8-30
Upper Moreland 7 4 6 4-21
NORRISTOWN 60, WISSAHICKON 41
Continental Conference
NORTH PENN 58, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 43 (Photos by Marge Bullock)
Tuesday’s game pitting last year’s Continental Conference co-champions was less than 30 seconds old when North Penn senior Vicky Tumasz – using an Erin Maher outlet pass after a West miss – coasted in for a fastbreak layup and 2-0 lead.
In the whole scheme of things, it was just one play, but the Lady Knights had made one thing clear – they were not afraid to run with a West team that goes nine deep and thrives on wearing their opponents down by game’s end.
“We have a new rule or outline that we should only run two plays a quarter,” Maher said. “The other times we should be pushing the ball, driving to the basket, creating shots for our teammates.
“Plays are just a framework, and we can build off of them. Coach has done a great job of really getting that into our mindset. The last time we played them I said we were outhustled and outworked, and this time the shoe was on the other foot.”
“This time we came in completely mentally ready” senior Brianna Cullen added.
And this time the Lady Knights dictated the tempo, pushing the ball for four quarters and coming away with a win that clinched sole possession of the conference title.
“It’s really something special,” Maher said. “Last year we shared the league title with West, and to be able to clinch it tonight was really something special.
“It was a complete team effort out there, and I thought we controlled the game all four quarters.”
Tumasz – after scoring just three points in the first quarter – lit up the net for 12 in the second, allowing the Lady Knights to turn a 12-12 tie into a 21-11 halftime lead. The senior sharpshooter led all scorers with 26 points, including a 6-for-6 effort from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
“Vicky was struggling a little at the beginning,” coach Maggie deMarteleire said. “I took her out for a second, and I said, ‘Just play.’
“She pretty much lit it up in the second quarter. Erin Maher had just an outstanding game. Mikaela (Giuliani) battled, and Bri (Cullen) has a bad shoulder, and she did really well. Sam Carangi - for a freshman - did really, really well, and Irisa (Ye) and Jess (Huber) came off the bench and gave us some minutes, so we were able to rest people.”
The win avenged a 44-36 loss to the Bucks in the initial meeting between the two teams. In that game, the Bucks controlled the backboards. This time, it was Maher – with 17 defensive rebounds – owning the paint. She also had nine points. Sophomore Mikaela Giuliani added six rebounds, three blocked shots and seven points.
“Individually and collectively, we all focused on the things we didn’t do the last time against West that we needed to do this time,” Maher said. “As a team, we played completely together.”
“We made better decisions,” Tumasz added. “We were so pumped when we came to this game. We knew it was going to be a big game. Everybody stepped up, and we just all played basketball.”
The Bucks – who were led by the 13-point efforts of Nicole Munger and Mackenzie Carroll – didn’t go down quietly. The Lady Knights led 37-23 early in the third quarter, but Carroll scored five straight points to make it a nine-point game. Makenzie Mason connected on a pair of baskets for the Bucks, and when Munger scored late in the quarter, the Bucks trailed by just six (42-36).
A Munger putback early in the fourth quarter made it a four-point game, but Maher calmly drained a three-pointer from the top of the circle, and after a West miss, Giuliani scored on a drive to extend North Penn’s lead to 47-38. A Munger shot off the dribble pulled the Bucks to within seven. They would get no closer.
“We didn’t do a very good job of acknowledging their shooters,” West coach Terry Rakowsky said. “We know who their shooters are, our girls know who their shooters are, but we did not acknowledge where they were.
“No excuses – they did a good job. We didn’t do a good enough job. They played smart, they played aggressive, and they did a better job than we did.”
The Bucks (16-5, 9-4) honored the team’s two seniors – Taylor Moylan and Sarah O’Hara – before the game. O’Hara connected on West’s first basket of the game while Moylan had four points, but the night belonged to North Penn (18-3, 11-2).
“They would come at us, and somebody would make a big shot, a big play,” deMarteleire said. “The goals were obviously to win the league and then to come in the top four in the district, and we’re close to that too.
“We just need to be sure we play well against Pennridge on Thursday.”
North Penn 12 21 9 16-58
Central Bucks West 12 11 13 7-43
SOUDERTON 45, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 34
The Indians – after stumbling in their game against Norristown last week – understood the significance of Tuesday night’s game against a Titan squad above them in the conference standings.
“This was a huge game,” coach Lynn Carroll said. “The playoff implications – it felt like that was the most important thing about this game.
“We had a tough loss last week against Norristown, and you want to feel good about your team at this point in the season. We didn’t feel great last Thursday night, and you can tell by the score – this was a defensive win for us.”
The Indians’ coach credited Allison Gallagher and Sarah Derstein for their defensive performances against South’s Alysha Lofton and Lauren Mosher.
“But what we really had was help for them,” Carroll said. “At no point did they feel like they had to do it on their own. We were really committed to helping and trying to prevent their big kids, who are very, very talented, from taking over the game.”
Bianca Picard led a trio of Indians in double figures with 15 points while Gallagher added 13 and Derstein, 10 points to go along with 13 rebounds.
Lofton led the Titans with eight points, but seven of those came in the fourth quarter when the Titans – who trailed 35-20 heading into the frame – staged a late-game rally, using a 12-4 run to make it a 39-34 game with 3:13 remaining in regulation. Lofton sparked the run with two treys, a steal and a foul shot.
“She was really trying to take over to the point where we had to regroup and call a couple of timeouts,” Carroll said of Lofton.
Early on, the Indians led 15-8 after one quarter and then limited the Titans to just three second-quarter points. Souderton took a 25-11 lead into halftime.
“I think we set the tone in the first half and made foul shots down the stretch,” Carroll said. “Sarah had another great night – she had nine rebounds in the first half alone, but this was a solid effort and a solid defensive effort from everyone.”
The Titans were once again without sophomore Jordan Vitelli (injury), and according to Carroll, they lost two of their starters – sophomore point guard Chloe Entenberg and senior Brie Wade – in the second half.
“I give them credit,” Carroll said. “They really battled. They had kids come off the bench for them that played extremely well in the fourth quarter.”
Souderton and South – along with CB West – boast identical 9-4 records in conference play. The Titans are 16-5 overall while the Indians are 15-6.
Souderton 15 10 10 10-45
Central Bucks South 8 3 9 14-34
HATBORO-HORSHAM 48, QUAKERTOWN 38
Quakertown senior Ashlee Ruzicka celebrated Senior Night with an 18-point performance, but it wasn’t enough on a night that saw Hatboro-Horsham sophomore Cassidy Quattro explode for 21 points with a glittering performance of her own. Hannah Mallon added eight points.
Junior Meghan Klee added 10 points for the Panthers, who trailed 13-8 at the end of one quarter and 28-19 at the intermission. The two teams all but played to a draw in the second half with the Hatters edging the Panthers 20-19.
The Hatters are 2-11 in league play (2-17 overall) while the Panthers fell to 0-13 in the league (1-19 overall).
Hatboro-Horsham 13 15 8 12-48
Quakertown 8 11 8 11-38
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 61, PENNRIDGE 46
Karoline White turned in an impressive double-double in Tuesday’s win, contributing 14 points and 12 assists. Katelyn Miller led the Patriots with 15 points, and Courtney Webster had 14 points and four blocked shots.
For the Lady Rams, Shelby Schoonover led a balanced attack with 12 points while Ashley George added 11 and Devan Rimmer, seven points.
The Lady Rams battled, trailing 17-14 at the end of one quarter and finding themselves on the short end of a 35-27 score at the end of a high-scoring half. The Patriots added to that lead in the second half, outscoring the Lady Rams 26-19.
The Patriots upped their league mark to 8-5 (13-6 overall) while the Lady Rams fell to 4-9 (8-13 overall).
Central Bucks East 17 18 16 10-61
Pennridge 14 13 11 8-46
National Conference
BENSALEM 63, HARRY S TRUMAN 61
Samantha Wirth buried a three-pointer from long range with less than 10 seconds remaining, propelling the Owls to their first SOL win of the season.
“We had called a timeout to talk about it,” coach Don Bogan said. “She had been shooting, but she had been missing.
“We are decimated by injuries big time right now. She said she wanted to take it. It was a very deep three. It was a nice shot.”
The night belonged to Lyric Lewis, who torched the Tigers’ defense for 42 points.
“I didn’t think she scored 42,” Bogan said. “When I heard it, I was shocked. She played really well tonight.
“She did not take one outside jump shot the whole night – they were all inside.”
Bridget Watson added eight points, and Wirth had five.
“We had to play all guards today because my bigs are hurt again,” Bogan said. “We’ve been playing okay, but we just don’t have the height anymore.
“They really played well tonight. They boxed out when they had to. Some of the girls that haven’t played a lot are starting to play. The future looks bright, very bright.”
Truman senior Khristaijah Jackson had a monster night of her own, scoring a team high 34 points. Taylor Gasperi added 11 points.
“I had a 5-3 girl guarding Jackson, and she did a good job on her for a period of time,” Bogan said. “The girls are accepting the challenge. It’s tough.”
Bensalem senior Christine Cueto, who measures in at 5-1, found herself playing under the basket in Bogan’s 3-2 defense. She finished the game with four rebounds and four charges drawn.
The win was the first in league play for the Owls (2-15, 1-10).
“I think it was good for the girls’ morale,” Bogan said. “They’ve been coming to practice upbeat.”
The Owls have been plagued by injuries and inconsistencies.
“In our Council Rock (North) game last week, we were down five at halftime, and we only scored six points in the second half,” Bogan said. “We have spurts of playing good basketball, but we have longer spurts where we have a lot of turnovers.
“We only have two wins, but I’ve had a very enjoyable time coaching the girls because they’re learning how to play and getting better every time out there.
“Today they put a lot of things together. We scored 63 points, which is a lot for us.”
Harry S Truman 8 20 15 28-61
Bensalem 21 14 8 20-63
NESHAMINY 47, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 37
The Indians led 12-11 after one quarter, but the ‘Skins answered with a 16-4 second quarter to go into halftime with a 27-16 lead. Neshaminy led by as many as 23 before the Indians staged a late game rally.
“We were able to get out and run,” coach Joe Lally said. “Our press was effective. Megan (Schafer) did a great job of distributing the ball.
“Maddie Murray and Sarah Oliveira seemed to be beating their players down the floor consistently.”
Oliveira – who had 10 points in the third quarter - led the Redskins with 16 points and 10 rebounds while Murray had 13 points and 13 rebounds.
“I think they took our loss to (Council Rock) South last week a little bit personal,” Lally said. “They wanted to show they could play with people in the middle, and they really stepped up tonight.”
Schafer finished with eight assists, six steals and six points. Morgan Goldenbaum added seven points.
“Stephanie Donohue does everything we need her to do,” Lally said. “She does all the hard work. She gets loose balls, she gets offensive rebounds, and she always defends a very good player on the other team. She does a great job for us.”
Jessica Gerber led the Indians with 10 points while Hailey Burns added eight.
Just one win separates the Redskins (15-3, 11-1 SOL) from clinching a share of the conference title. The Indians saw their record drop to 7-5 in league play (9-10 overall).
Neshaminy 11 16 17 3-47
Council Rock North 12 4 7 13-37
ABINGTON 47, PENNSBURY 46
Maggie Kane buried a three-pointer to give the Falcons a one-point lead with 40 seconds to play in Tuesday’s contest, but 20 seconds later, Abington’s Leah Simmons connected on a baseline jumper that turned out to be the game winner. The final seconds were not without drama, but the Ghosts held on for the important win.
“It was a very tight game,” Abington coach Dan Marsh said. “I don’t know where we are in the (district) rankings, but we’re trying to get a home game. We definitely wouldn’t have gotten it if we had dropped this game.”
The Falcons took a 15-10 lead at the end of one quarter and extended that to 26-16 by halftime.
“Kaitlin Kelly came out and hit three three’s in the first quarter and then another girl banked one in, so they came out hot,” Marsh said. “We were kind of shellshocked and not playing real well.
“Give them credit – they were playing good defense, and we weren’t getting what we were looking for.”
Things changed in the second half. The Ghosts outscored the Falcons 15-9 in the third quarter to make it a 35-31 game heading into the final frame.
“We turned up the pressure, and we were able to get going,” Marsh said. “Michael Harris got going.”
Harris led the Ghosts with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Simmons added 10 points, and Deja Rawls had eight. Sammy Lochner had seven points.
Kelly led the Falcons with 18 points – which included five three-pointers - while Sajanna Bethea had 13. The Falcons had seven three-pointers.
The Ghosts improved to 10-2 in league play (14-6 overall) while the Falcons fell to 7-6 in the league (9-11 overall).
Abington 10 6 15 16-47
Pennsbury 15 11 9 11-46
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 40, WILLIAM TENNENT 25
The Golden Hawks upped their winning streak to six games with Tuesday’s win over the Panthers. The two teams were deadlocked 7-7 after one quarter, but the Hawks outscored the Panthers 11-8 in the second quarter to go into halftime with an 18-15 lead. They outscored the Panthers 23-10 in the second half to win going away.
“They’re believing in themselves and playing the way I thought they could have in the first half of the season too,” coach Monica Stolic said. “We’re playing pretty good defense.
“We held Tennent to 25 and Neshaminy to 39, so we’re picking it up on the defensive end.”
Taylor Dillon led the Golden Hawks with 15 points. Shannon Taub connected on three three-pointers for nine points – two in the second half. Allison Taub added six points and 16 rebounds.
Nikki Alden led the Panthers with eight points while Emily Wasserleben added six.
The once 3-11 Golden Hawks upped their overall record to 9-11 (7-5 SOL). The Panthers are 11-9 overall (5-8 SOL).
Council Rock South 7 11 13 10-40
William Tennent 7 8 7 3-25
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