Check out the recaps for SOL boys/girls basketball teams in action Wednesday.
Boys
UPPER MORELAND 51, WILLIAM TENNENT 42
Matt Tiernan had himself a day to remember.
The UM senior scored a game high 20 points in the Golden Bears’ win over the visiting Panthers. Later that night he committed to take his basketball talents to Juniata University.
“Matt is one of those guys – if I could have 10 of them on my team, I’d be in heaven,” UM coach Dan Heiland said. “He’s a great kid, who works extremely hard. He works and works and works, he grinds. If you watch Upper Moreland, Matt rarely comes out of the game. He never complains.
“He just does whatever it takes to win. He’s a competitor. He shows up every day ready to compete and make himself a better player and teammate. He does whatever is asked of him to help the team win. Our success – not only this year but also in years past – has been a lot contributed to Matt’s efforts and ability on the court.”
Tiernan is a 6-4 power forward.
“What was really effective for Matt tonight was being able to get open off the ball and getting a lot of nice entry passes from his teammates in the post and high-scoring areas where Matt is super efficient,” Heiland said. “That’s why he was able to score 20 points tonight.
“A lot of it has to do with Matt being able to get to those spots, but his teammates did a tremendous job of keeping their eyes up and seeing Matt when he was open and obviously feeding him.”
Tiernan wasn’t the only UM player to have a big game. Byron Hopkins added 17 points, which included a pair of 3-pointers.
“Byron is Byron Hopkins – I’m sure some coaches think, ‘Is this kid still around?’” Heiland said. “He’s been around for four years as a starter for us. He’s as steady as they come, he’s a guy you can rely on to get a big-time bucket and make a big-time play in a key moment.
“That’s what he did for us tonight. One thing the boxscore doesn’t show was his defensive effort – and this goes with the whole team. We did a great job of limiting William Tennent to one shot opportunities, no second chance opportunities. The whole team rebounded, hustled their butts off.”
The Golden Bears’ coach went on to acknowledge several other players in the win.
“Two guys that I definitely want to shout out to are Stefano Garofalo and Sean Dallahan, who were just relentless on the boards tonight, and that was a challenge I not only gave to those guys but to the team,” Heiland said. “When we watch film and look back on games, we see areas we need to improve upon. I challenged those guys specifically but the team in general, and those guys stepped up tonight in big ways and limited William Tennent’s opportunities.”
For the visiting Panthers, Tim Stanfield scored 12 points on four 3-pointers. Kirby Mooney added nine and Jeremy Henry had eight.
“They would not go away,” Heiland said of the Panthers. “It seemed like we would get up seven points, eight points, and even it got to 10 points at one point, but they just constantly were knocking down shots and never were really out of it. Give coach (Robert) Mulville a ton of credit. Those kids played really hard and fought to the very end.”
Upper Moreland (7-3, 3-3 SOL) will be on the road at Upper Dublin, and William Tennent (3-6, 3-3) will travel to Quakertown on Friday.
William Tennent 9-7-11-13 42
Upper Moreland 13-8-10-20 51
William Tennent (42) – Jeremy Henry 8, George Maion 4, Kirby Mooney 9, Isiah Dawson 2, Tim Stanfield 12, Daniel Scheller 2, Brandon Beluch 5.
Upper Moreland (51) Sean Dallahan 2, Byron Hopkins 17, Bo Meakim 2, Rashim Lancit 4, Matt Tiernan 20, Stefano Garofalo 6.
3-point goals: WT – Tim Stanfield 4, Brandon Beluch, Kirby Mooney, George Marion; UM – Byron Hopkins 2.
Girls
SOL Liberty/Freedom crossover
WISSAHICKON 36, WILLIAM TENNENT 34
After his team survived a heartstopping finish for the win on Wednesday, Rodney Cline was concerned that his players might want him to have a slight heart attack.
“My other coaches have hair – I don’t, but theirs is slowly coming out,” the Trojans’ coach said.
The Trojans, according to Cline, have not been the same team since they were shut down for eight days due to COVID protocols.
“We’re not playing up to our potential right now,” he said. “Those eight days just made such a difference, and we didn’t expect it to. We were playing so well before that.
“There’s no excuses. We just need to get better. We’re taking it one play, one game, one practice at a time. That’s all we can do. We need to get that continuity back which is important.”
The drama in the back-and forth-contest began with around 90 seconds remaining and the two teams deadlocked 34-34.
“They had the ball and they were stalling for the last shot,” Cline said. “Our concept was – let them make the mistake, be patient, just keep playing defense, keep them in front.
“We did, and they wound up throwing the ball backcourt with about 47 seconds left. They’re in a 3-2, and we’re running our zone set. We moved the ball and moved the ball. We kept the ball until about 26 seconds left. We go and shoot – Kylie Friedman shot an airball but got her own rebound and then shot it up again and made it with 4.9 seconds. We wound up playing defense, they threw a pass, Kaitlyn McGeary deflected it and Ava Schools dribbled it out, and that was it.”
One team’s celebration is another team’s heartbreak.
“We just can’t catch a break,” Tennent coach Laura Whitney said. “Out of the last four games, I think this is the third game where if we do a few things differently and make some changes, we’re on the other side of the win column.
“I feel awful for the girls – my heart just breaks for them because this is probably the most complete all-around game that we’ve played. The girls played their hearts out. Their effort was incredible. They really bought into our game plan, especially on the defensive side. They executed it perfectly.”
The Panthers’ coach recounted her recollection of the dramatic ending.
“We tried to slow it down a little bit, use a little bit of clock so that we could get a good shot,” Whitney said. “We had a turnover, which has been a pitfall of ours, and gave the ball back. We had a great defensive stop. Instead of grabbing the rebound, we tipped it, and the ball found a wide open girl on the baseline who hit a little jumper, and by the time we got the ball back, we tried to run a play but didn’t get a shot off. It was another heartbreaker.
“There were so many positives even though the outcome wasn’t what we wanted. One of these games we’re going to put it all together and we’re going to get that ‘W.’”
Friedman not only delivered the late game heroics, she led the Trojans with 12 points while Julia Verrier had 11 and Kaitlyn McGeary, nine points.
“Wissahickon is always coached well, and I knew they were going to come out ready to play,” Whitney said. “Obviously, our (defensive) focus is on Kaitllyn McGeary. We know that she’s a big part of their team, and a lot of stuff runs through her. Our focus was on limiting her touches, making sure nothing was easy for her. We knew we were going to give up some points somewhere. We were trying to force someone else to beat us, and fortunately for them, they had a couple girls really step up and hit some timely shots.”
For the Panthers, Courtney Bragen had 15 points, Chase Dubzak added seven and Morgan Volz had six.
Wissahickon (5-4, 2-4 SOL) will travel to Lower Moreland on Friday, and William Tennent (2-8, 2-4) will host Quakertown on Friday.
William Tennent 10-6-10-8 34
Wissahickon 11-4-12-9 36
William Tennent (34) – Ella Mednick 2, Chase Dubzak 7, Courtney Bragen 15, Alyssa Lewicki 2, Kate Smith 2, Morgan Volz 6.
Wissahickon (36) – Kylie Friedman 12, Ava Schools 2, Chloe Acuna 2, Julia Verrier 11, Kaitlyn McGeary 9.
ABINGTON 56, LOWER MORELAND 19
The Ghosts took care of business in a hurry, opening up a 26-2 lead after one quarter and extending it to 43-7 by halftime on their way to the decisive win.
On a day that saw 10 players put their names in the scoring column for the Ghosts, Cire Worley’s 17 points led the way. She scored all of her points in the first half, connecting on six field goals – one three – and burying 4-of-4 from the foul line. Abril Bowser and Jaida Helm both added nine points – all in the opening half.
For the Lions, freshman Brianna McFerran’s seven points led the way. Amelia Brown had six points on pair of 3s.
Abington (9-1, 6-0 SOL) will host New Hope-Solebury on Friday, and Lower Moreland (3-4, 1-4) will host Wissahickon on Friday.
Lower Moreland 2-5-2-10 19
Abington 26-17-6-7 56
Lower Moreland (19) – Tori Finnegan 1 0-0 2; Amelia Brown 2 0-0 6; Jess Shein 1 0-0 2; Jess Dugo 1 0-0 2; Brianna McFerran 2 3-5 7; TOTALS 7 3-5 19.
Abington (56) – Cire Worley 6 4-4 17; Abril Bowser 3 2-2 9; Jaida Helm 4 1-1 9; Maya Johnson 2 0-0 4; Dani Brusha 2 0-0 5; Sarah Oleary 1 0-0 2; Maura Day 2 0-0 5; Jordyn Reynolds 1 1-2 3; Piper McGinely 0 1-2 1; Lila Stonehouse 0 1-2 1; TOTALS 21 10-13 56.
3-point goals: LM – Amelia Brown 2; Abington – Cire Worley, Abril Bowser, Dani Brusha, Maura Day.
Non-league
PENNRIDGE 66, QUAKERTOWN 33
The visiting Rams led by just a 21-16 score after one quarter but went on to outscore the Panthers 19-4 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 40-20 lead. The Rams outscored their hosts 26-13 in the second half to notch the non-league win in the battle of neighboring rivals.
Three players finished the game in double figures for the Rams. Leading the way was Katie Yoder, who connected on a pair of 3s and scored a game high 17 points. Anna Croyle was not far behind with 15 points while Ava Fantaskey had 10 points. Ella Brown contributed seven points, and Emma Pyne had six.
For the Panthers, Carolyn Sipprell and Katie Catalano both had 11 points. Catalano’s showing included three baskets from beyond the arc.
Pennridge (7-6, 2-4 SOL) will host Nesahminy on Friday, and Quakertown (5-6, 2-4) will be on the road at William Tennent on Friday.
Pennridge 21-19-21-5 66
Quakertown 16-4-11-2 33
Pennridge (66) – Ella Brown 3 0-0 7; Ryan Hodder 1 0-0 2; Ava Unzicker 2 0-0 5; Katie Yoder 6 3-4 17; Anna Croyle 6 0-0 15; Ava Fantaskey 4 0-0 10; Emma Pyne 2 2-2 6; Layla Verbit 1 0-0 2; Katie Loughran 0 2-2 2; TOTALS 25 7-8 66.
Quakertown 33) – Carolyn Sipprell 5 1-5 11; Katie Hagerty 1 0-2 2; Katie Catalano 4 -0 11; Laney Mitchell 2 0-0 4; Maureen Healy 1 0-0 2; Kayla Sicher 0 1-2 1; Katie Offner 1 0-0 2; TOTALS 14 2-9 33.
3-point goals: Pennridge – Katie Yoder 2, Anna Croyle 3, Ava Fantaskey 2, Ava Unzicker Ella Brown, Quakertown – Katie Catalano 3.
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