Friday, February 15, 2008

Conwell-Egan 51, Arch. Ryan 37

ARCHBISHOP RYAN (37)
Laura Grow 2 4-4 6; Missy Milanese 3 0-0 6; Danielle Foreman 0 5-6 5; Jess Kosi 2 0-6 4; Kim Hollawell 2 2-4 6; Kate Keal 1 0-0 3; Sarah Strybuc 2 2-3 7; McArdle 0 0-0 0; Smith 0 0-0 0; Heisse 0 0-0 0; Shaw 0 0-0 0; Jerdan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 13-23 37.

CONWELL-EGAN (51)
Kaitlyn Maurer 2 0-0 4; Rachel Moore 1 0-0 2; Hilary Cloonan 1 7-8 9; Theresa Griffin 1 4-6 7; Carmen Tyson-Thomas 8 5-5 22; Kate Chase 1 0-0 2; Rebecca Howell 0 0-0 0; Jenny Rongione 1 0-1 2; Trish Watson 0 3-6 3; Kim Breslin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 19-26 51.

AR 7 9 7 14--37
CEC 12 14 8 17--51

Three-point goals: Keal, Strybuc (AR); Griffin, Tyson-Thomas (CEC).

Link to Courier Times game story

Link to Friday's Courier Times girls basketball notes

SEVEN THINGS

1. Conwell-Egan (20-5) will face Cardinal O'Hara (23-2) in the Philadelphia Catholic League semifinals at 6 p.m. on Tuesday night at St. Joseph's University. Conwell-Egan hasn't been to the PCL semifinals since 1998.

2. CEC junior guard Carmen Tyson-Thomas had 22 points for the Eagles. Senior center Hilary Cloonan scored nine points and senior guard Theresa Griffin added seven points.

3. “This is the best,” Griffin said, “to come all this way. The support we got from the school makes it even better. We were hoping to get there. We worked hard for this. Ryan is a great team, but we wanted this real bad.”

4. “It’s not something we usually do, so it’s a big deal for us,” Tyson-Thomas said. “We played hard this year, and this is what we deserve. We’ve been playing like you’re supposed to play. We’re playing as a team. That’s the way to win games.”

5. Archbishop Wood faces Archbishop Carroll in the other PCL semifinal in a rematch of last year's PCL championship game (Carroll won).

6. Conwell-Egan has won 13 of its last 14 games since Dec. 27. The Eagles only loss during that span was to Wood on Jan. 22.

7. Conwell-Egan jumped out to a 12-3 lead and never trailed. Ryan didn't get closer than nine points in the second half. CEC beat Ryan three times this season.

Second Round AAAA Thoughts, Plus ...

A few observations on the District One Class AAAA and Catholic League playoffs ...

1. Really big wins for Great Valley and Methacton. Many people questioned Great Valley's schedule, but the Patriots reached states with consecutive wins against North Penn and Cheltenham. Methacton reached the state tournament for the first time with a tough victory over visiting Council Rock-North.

2. Downingtown East is rolling. The Cougars haven't been in a close game since a 32-31 win over Wilson on Jan. 19. Their last seven wins have been by an average of 26.3 points. All of those victories were by at least 20 points.

3. Norristown's upset of Conestoga isn't really a shock. The Pioneers were vulnerable and the Eagles were underseeded. How did the SOL Continental not have a team seeded in the top 12 again? Norristown won. Tennent lost by only two to Spring-Ford. CR-North led Methacton in the second half and was down by three points late despite leading scorer and rebounder Sarah Kiely missing almost the entire game with foul trouble. The system needs to be reevaluated again. If you want to use the power rankings, fine. Although they are horrifically labor intensive for the people who have to calculate them. But use power rankings as one of several factors. Do I need to remind the district that there was usually only minor grumbling, if that, after the old seeding meetings? I sat in on the final one and found it very fair. The system was not broken for the girls. It is now.

4. The PCL playoffs started on Thursday with Archbishop Carroll's 64-43 win over Neumann-Goretti and Cardinal Dougherty's play-in win over St. Hubert. Tonight, Wood hosts Dougherty, Conwell-Egan hosts Archbishop Ryan, and Cardinal O'Hara hosts Archbishop Prendergast.

5. Some Bucks County PCL facts: Wood won its 12 PCL games by an average margin of 35.1 points. The Vikings scored 741 total points in 12 games and allowed 320. Wood averaged 61.8 points a game in the league and allowed an average of 26.7 points. Conwell-Egan’s 10 PCL wins were by an average of 20.3 points. The Eagles won three Catholic League games by 40 points or more. They averaged 59.2 points a game in 12 PCL games and gave up an average of 43.4 points a game.

6. The PIAA and District One need to do something to improve the quality of officiating in the girls games. I really respect the hard work and effort of the officials. But questionable calls and inconsistent officiating have too much impact on playoff games, I believe. One or two bad calls can completely change a game. It's too much of a factor, and the situation is getting worse.

7. Lower Merion is also rolling. The Aces have won 16 of 17 since Dec. 19.

8. Norristown guard Bryn Cotteta seems to be a real clutch shooter. She beat Conestoga with a last-second 3-pointer on Thursday. A few weeks ago, she hit two big 3-pointers down the stretch to beat CR-North.

9. Abington's defense and size could mean trouble for Methacton. It's going to be a close, low-scoring game. And Renee Womack was able to avoid fouls on Wednesday by jumping over CR-North rebounders when she didn't have position. She won't be able to do that against the Ghosts.

10. At 14-10 against one of the top schedules in the district, Downingtown West obviously deserved better than a No. 22 seed. The Whippets played the third-toughest schedule in the entire district. Tweaks to the power rankings must include much more credit for scheduling--and not necessarily beating--very good opponents.

11. League records in the first two rounds:
Ches-Mont Nat.5-1
Central3-2
PAC3-2
SOL American4-3
SOL Continental4-4
Ches-Mont Am.2-2
SOL National3-5
Del-Val0-4
Independent0-1

Thursday, February 14, 2008

D1 AAAA Second Round Recaps

No. 1 Downingtown East 43, No. 17 Henderson 22

Recap:Downingtown East allowed four points in the first half and led 32-11 after three quarters. Kristen Blye had 16 points for the Cougars.

Disappointingly, no online game story.

***

No. 8 Lower Merion 46, No. 9 Upper Dublin 41

Recap: Lower Merion (21-5) came back from a nine-point halftime deficit to defeat the Cardinals (20-6). Aces junior Molly Hanlon scored 14 of her game-high 17 points in the second half.

Link to Times-Herald game story

***

No. 13 Norristown 45, No. 4 Conestoga 42

Recap: Norristown guard Bryn Cotteta hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to upset the Pioneers (20-6).

Link to Times-Herald game story

***

No. 5 Great Valley 52, No. 21 Cheltenham 42

Recap: Huge win for Great Valley (23-3). Andrea Pride scored 20 points for the Patriots.

Link to Inquirer game story

***

No. 2 Methacton 48, No. 15 CR-North 40

Recap: Senior forward Renee Womack had 26 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists for Methacton (26-0). CR-North (17-9), which was within three points, 38-35, in the fourth quarter, got 14 points from sophomore Kelly Scull.

Link to Courier Times game story

Link to Times-Herald game story

***

No. 7 Abington 55, No. 23 Boyertown 25

Recap: The Ghosts (22-4) held Boyertown to 10 points in the first half. Casey Pritz scored 11 points and Emily Leer had 10 points for Abington.

Link to Pottstown Mercury game story

***

No. 3 Spring-Ford 63, No. 19 William Tennent 61

Recap: The Panthers (17-9) nearly upset Spring-Ford (24-2). Tennent sophomore Sarah Godfrey had 18 points and 13 rebounds. For Spring-Ford, Megan Bedard scored 22 points and Allie Kakareka scored 21 points.

Link to Intelligencer game story

***

No. 22 Downingtown West 49, No. 6 CB South 38

Recap: Kelly Coker scored 16 points for the Whippets (16-10).

Link to Intelligencer game story

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Methacton 48, CR-North 40

CR-NORTH (40)
Juliann Fricke 1 4-5 6; Devin Gold 4 0-0 10; Kelly Scull 5 2-2 14; Sarah Kiely 2 2-4 6; Jen Sroba 0 0-0 0; Kate Logan 2 0-1 4; Jenn Casper 0 0-0 0; Katie Van Aken 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 8-12 40.

METHACTON (48)
Alison Hammond 1 1-2 3; Renee Womack 7 12-13 26; Lauren Ruhl 1 3-6 5; Rachel Meier 2 1-2 5; Brittany Roth 3 1-3 7; Lindsey Allebach 0 0-0 0; Melanie Ordway 1 0-0 2; Leeann Randall 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 18-26 48.

CRN 4-15-12-9—40
M 10-11-11-16—48

3-point goals: Gold 2, Scull 2 (CRN).

Link to Courier Times game story

EIGHT THINGS

1. Methacton 5-foot-11 senior Renee Womack had 26 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists. She was 12 for 13 from the foul line. After CR-North took a two-point lead, 23-21, early in the third quarter, Womack scored eight straight points for the unbeaten and second-seeded Warriors (26-0).

2. No. 15 seed CR-North (17-9) had a three-point lead, 26-23, midway through the third quarter and was still within three points, 38-35, with four minutes to go in the game. Methacton sealed the win with a 7-0 run.

3. “The fourth quarter is our quarter,” Womack said. “Even if the game’s not going well, we have to pull it out. It’s do or die.”

4. “It’s a huge win for us,” Methacton coach Craig Kaminski said. “It’s exciting for the team and for the whole school."

5. In the quarterfinals, Methacton will play the winner of Thursday's game between No. 7 Abington (21-4) and No. 23 Boyertown (15-9). The Warriors have qualified for the state tournament. CR-North failed to win at least two district games for only the second time since 1997.

6. Indians sophomore forward Kelly Scull had 14 points, and freshman guard Devin Gold scored 10 points.

7. Kaminski felt that it was unfortunate that the district seedings matched CR-North and Methacton in the second round. "(CR-North) is better than a 15th seed," he said. "They played a tremendous schedule. It’s a shame that one of us had to go home.”

8. CR-North will return four starters next season. "I am excited for the future," said Scull, who earned a starting spot midway through the season. "We got a chance to play together. We had to get our chemistry down. It was hard, but we did it."

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

D1 AAAA Second Round

No. 17 Henderson (16-8) at No. 1 Downingtown East (23-1)
Henderson is 13-3 since Dec. 15. Downingtown East hasn't lost since Dec. 8. The Cougars beat Henderson twice during the regular season, by 17 and 18 points.

No. 9 Upper Dublin (20-5) at No. 8 Lower Merion (20-5)
Lower Merion is 15-1 since Dec. 19. Upper Dublin's only losses are to Methacton (twice), Downingtown East, Conestoga and Central.

No. 13 Norristown (19-6) at No. 4 Conestoga (20-5)
Pioneers guard Katie Dunn scored 18 points in the first round. Norristown has won eight of its last nine games.

No. 21 Cheltenham (15-10) at No. 5 Great Valley (22-3)
Cheltenham is 7-2 in its last nine games. The Patriots are only 4-3 in their last seven games. A must-win for Great Valley.

No. 15 CR-North (17-8) at No. 2 Methacton (25-0)
The Indians are are 19-1 in the first two rounds of districts since 1998. Methacton hasn't allowed more than 44 points in 25 games and hammered Souderton by 26 points, 69-43, in the first round, but really did not play a great nonleague schedule as strong a nonleague schedule as some of the other top-seeded teams.

No. 23 Boyertown (15-9) at No. 7 Abington (21-4)
Boyertown is 10-2 since Jan. 2. The Ghosts are 12-1 since Dec. 27.

No. 19 William Tennent (17-9) at No. 3 Spring-Ford (23-2)
Tennent is coming off of an emotional 46-44 win over SOL Continental rival CB East. Spring-Ford's only loss since Dec. 15 was to Mount St. Joseph, 62-58, in triple overtime on Jan. 19.

No. 22 Downington West (15-10) at No. 6 CB South (20-5)
CB South beat the Whippets by nine, 45-36, in a nonleague game on Jan. 24. Downington West was 6-7 on Jan. 5.

Plus, a real quick ...

Southeastern Pa. Top 10
1. Cardinal O'Hara
2. Archbishop Wood
3. Germantown Academy
4. Archbishop Carroll
5. Downingtown East
6. Mount St. Joseph
7. Spring-Ford
8. Villa Maria
9. Methacton
10. Conestoga

Monday, February 11, 2008

Dist. 1 AAAA First Round Observations

A few thoughts from the first round ...

1. Nice win for Great Valley (22-3) over North Penn. A lot of people thought the Knights would pull the upset. It wasn’t even close. But the Patriots really need to defeat Cheltenham (15-10) in the second round. Yes, Cheltenham played a tough schedule and has a talented young team. But the Panthers also lost during the regular season to CB East, CR-North, Norristown and Upper Dublin--all seeded much lower than Great Valley.

2. It is tough to score vs. Abington (21-4). The Ghosts have not given up more than 46 points in regulation this season. On Saturday, Abington held Garnet Valley to 11 points in the first three quarters of a 51-26 win. Look for another low-scoring game against Boyertown.

3. William Tennent (17-8) rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat rival CB East. The Panthers had lost the two regular season meetings. Tennent has a lot of talent and can be tough to stop when it is playing well. But the Panthers are going to have to play extremely well to stay in the game with Spring-Ford.

4. Conestoga guard Katie Dunn scored 18 points in a 49-33 win over Chichester. Chelsea Shine and Kristen Johnson are very talented, but the Pioneers (20-5) need to continue to get strong backcourt play to contend for a district title.

5. It’s difficult to understand a system that seeds three teams from the Central League above the first-place team in the SOL Continental.

6. Methacton (69 points), Upper Dublin (66) and Cheltenham (62) scored the most points in the first round.

7. If you want to follow some of the other district basketball tournaments, here are some of the other PIAA Web sites: District 11, District Three and District Seven (WPIAL).

8. I don’t see the sites listed on the District One Web site for the girls Class AAAA semifinals, and the boys just lost their original semifinals site--Villanova--at the last minute. You'd think there would be a contract for something like that. Anyway, I hope they don’t try to put important games at Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s Colonial Elementary School again. There's little seating and even less parking. And there are so many excellent gyms in the area.

9. Click here for the new state rankings from the Harrisburg Patriot-News. They break the rankings into five pages. What a terrible layout. If their intentions are to annoy readers and drive them away from their Web site, they are doing a terrific job. I can never get past the second page.

10. League records in the first round:

Ches-Mont Nat.3-0
SOL American3-1
Central2-1
PAC2-1
SOL Continental3-2
SOL National2-4
Ches-Mont Am.1-2
Del-Val0-4


(Note: I am a little embarrassed to say that I can't figure out what league Garnet Valley is from. Help?)

Bucks County Bonus No. 11: MaxPreps.com has Archbishop Wood ranked No. 1 in the state. That's great for the Vikings, and they could very well be the best team in Pennsylvania. But I don't think too much of these MaxPreps-style sites, which count on coaches to report everything. They usually have humongous gaps in information. The accuracy is highly questionable. The same poll has Archbishop Carroll at No. 8. I think Wood, O'Hara and Carroll are clearly the top teams in Pennsylvania (not necessarily in that order), with Germantown Academy at No. 4. There are years when the best PIAA teams are as good as or better than the top teams in the PCL. Not this year. I also think the PIAA needs to create a separate class for private schools. But that's a huge debate for another year.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Dist. 1 Class AAAA First Round

Coming on Monday, thoughts on the first round. On Tuesday, previews of the second round. -sc

No. 1 Downingtown East 48, No. 32 Neshaminy 28

Recap: Junior Kristen Blye scored a game-high 21 points for the Cougars (23-1). Chelsea Rota scored seven points for Neshaminy (11-14).

Link to Daily Local game story
Link to Courier Times game story

***

No. 17 Henderson 55, No. 16 Bensalem 43

Recap: The game was tied, 41-41, with 3:48 to play. Junior forward Sharmane Hall had 13 points and 16 rebounds for Bensalem (15-9), while junior guard Kristen Gilroy scored 12 points. Henderson's Shante Evans had 19 points and 19 rebounds for Henderson (16-8).

Link to Courier Times game story

***

No. 8 Lower Merion 48, No. 25 Chester 35

Recap: Lower Merion led by 21 points, 40-19, after three quarters. Junior guard Molly Hanlon had 23 points and seven steals, and junior guard Lil Carney scored 19 points for the Aces (20-5). Sophomore Karen Flagg had 12 points and six steals for Chester (13-11).

Link to Inquirer game story

***

No. 9 Upper Dublin 66, No. 24 Penn Wood 60

Recap: Upper Dublin (20-5) was up by 20, 59-39, early in the fourth quarter. Junior forward Rebecca Courter had 19 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Senior Shira Newman had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Link to Times-Herald game story

***

No. 4 Conestoga 49, No. 29 Chichester 33

Recap: Sophomore point guard Katie Dunn hit five 3-pointers and scored 18 pointers for Conestoga (20-5), and 6-foot-3 forward Chelsea Shine had 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Six-foot forward Kristen Johnsen finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. For Chichester (10-14), Delaney Cohan had 12 points and five rebounds.

Link to Daily Local game story

***

No. 13 Norristown 56, No. 20 Unionville 36

Recap: Alissa O'Donnell scored 12 points and Bryn Cotteta added 10 points for the Eagles (19-6).

Link to Times-Herald game story

***

No. 5 Great Valley 50, No. 28 North Penn 24

Recap: Impressive win for Great Valley (22-3). Dana Walsh had 20 points, and senior center Emily Ellisen added 14 points for the Patriots. For North Penn (10-15), center Shakia Robinson had foul trouble and finished with three points.

Link to Daily Local game story

***

No. 21 Cheltenham 62, No. 12 Perkiomen Valley 55

Recap: Shayla Felder scored 19 points for Cheltenham (14-10). Megan Finn had 20 points for Perkiomen Valley (18-7). Tough seeding for Perkiomen Valley. The Panthers, the defending state champions, had a young lineup and a tough schedule and wound up way down in the district's power rankings.

No online game story.

***

No. 2 Methacton 69, No. 31 Souderton 43

Recap: Senior forward Renee Womack scored 22 points for unbeaten Methacton (25-0). Becca Reach scored eight points for Souderton (11-14).

Link to Intelligencer game story

Link to Pottstown Mercury game story

***

No. 15 Council Rock-North 50, No. 18 Pennridge 43

Recap: Sophomore center Sarah Kiely had 13 points and nine rebounds, and freshman guard Devin Gold scored 13 points for the Indians (17-8). Gold made two free throws with 36.7 seconds left to seal the victory. Sam Simononis scored 11 points for the Rams (15-10).

Link to Courier Times game story

***

No. 7 Abington 51, No. 26 Garnet Valley 26

Recap: Sophomore forward Emily Leer had 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Ghosts (21-4), who held Garnet Valley to 11 points in the first three quarters.

Link to Montgomery Newspapers blurb

***

No. 23 Boyertown 47, No. 10 Sun Valley 42

Recap: Alex Brown had 16 points and Kate Murphy had 15 points for the Bears (15-9). Kelly Custer had 13 points for Sun Valley (20-5).

Link to Pottstown Mercury game story

***

No. 3 Spring-Ford 58, No. 30 Kennett 37

Recap: Megan Bedard scored 19 points, and Allie Kakareka added 17 for Spring-Ford (23-2). Verena Woloson scored 18 for Kennett (12-13)

No online game story

***

No. 19 William Tennent 46, No. 14 CB East 44

Recap: Senior Lissa Tercha had four 3-pointers and 14 points for the Panthers (17-8), and sophomore forward Sarah Godfrey added 13 points. Tennent, which won its first district tournament win since 1991, came back from a four-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Tercha scored eight points in the fourth quarter. CB East (16-9) failed to reach the state tournament for the first time in nine seasons.

Link to Intelligencer game story

***

No. 6 CB South 52, No. 27 Wissahickon 46

Recap: Tori Reynolds scored 18 points and Katelyn Schneider added 10 points for CB South (20-5). Jenny Knoebel scored 14 points for Wissahickon (15-10).

Link to Intelligencer game story

***

No. 22 Downingtown West 51, No. 11 Upper Darby 48

Recap: The Whippets (15-10) came from behind to pull the upset. Upper Darby (18-7) led by nine points, 31-22, at halftime.

Link to Delco Times game story