Archbishop Wood 61, Conwell-Egan 51

Conwell-Egan (51)
Carmen Tyson-Thomas 10 2-2 26; Rachel Moore 1 0-0 2; Trish Watson 3 2-5 8; Jenny Rongione 0 0-0 0; Kaitlyn Mourer 4 0-0 9; Kim Breslin 1 2-2 4; Sam Lubey 0 0-0 0; Kristen Ralph 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 6-9 51.

Archbishop Wood (61)
Christine Verrelle 1 0-0 2; Cait McCartney 0 0-0 0; Ashley Robinson 6 9-11 21; Sam Greenfield 5 4-4 14; Jenelle Hudson 1 0-0 2; Grace Gallagher 0 0-0 0; Jen Maxwell 2 0-0 5; Kelly Young 0 0-0 0; Steph Keyes 6 0-0 17. Totals: 21 13-15 61.

CEC: 16-10-10-15—51
AW: 8-19-18-16—61

Three-point goals: Tyson-Thomas 4, Mourer (CEC); Keyes 5, Maxwell (AW).

TEN THINGS

1. Conwell-Egan (14-8, 8-6) jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead after 4 1/2 minutes and still led by six points, 24-18, with 2:20 left in the first half. Wood (17-5, 13-1) took its first lead, 25-24, on a basket by Sam Greenfield with 1:14 remaining in the second quarter. The Vikings led the entire second half, but not always by a lot. Conwell-Egan was within three points, 39-36, after two free throws by Kim Breslin with 1:45 to go in the third quarter. The Eagles were only down six, 57-51, in the game's final minute.

2. Conwell-Egan senior Carmen Tyson-Thomas had 26 points, seven rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots. Wood senior Ashley Robinson had 21 points, six rebounds, five blocked shots and three steals.

3. “(Conwell-Egan) has a lot of weapons. They are a very good team,” Wood coach Jim Ricci said. “Carmen is a tough matchup for anybody."

4. For Wood, Greenfield had 14 points and four assists and sophomore guard Steph Keyes scored 17 points off of the bench. Keyes hit five 3-pointers. She hit four of those in a span of 4 1/2 minutes in the second half.

5. The game was fast-paced and extremely physical. The two teams combined for only 24 free throws, but there was a lot of hard contact that wasn't called either way.

6. Conwell-Egan junior Kaitlyn Mourer did a nice job defending Robinson. "She played tremendous defense," Conwell-Egan coach Norman O'Rourke said. "We didn't gang up on (Robinson). It was mostly one on one."

7. Wood has won eight straight and 12 of its last 13 games. The Vikings are 14-2 since a 3-3 start. Wood won its last 11 Catholic League games after losing to Archbishop Carroll on Dec. 11, 55-41.

8. Wood tied for first place in the PCL with Carroll and Cardinal O'Hara. Wood will be the top seed in the playoffs because it won a coin flip. That means the Vikings wouldn't see Carroll or O'Hara until the PCL championship game.

9. “We came out and left everything on the court,” Tyson-Thomas said. “As seniors, we knew it was time to step it up.”

10. “We have an opportunity to do great things,” Robinson said of the PCL playoffs.

Conwell-Egan 41, Archbishop Ryan 34

Archbishop Ryan (34)
Lauren Heisse 0 0-0 0; Kelli Jerdan 1 0-0 2; Megan Tole 4 5-8 13; Sarah Strybuc 2 2-2 7; Jess Koci 2 0-10 4; Lauren Smith 2 0-0 5; Brittany Wood 1 0-0 3; J. Vandiver 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 7-20 34.

Conwell-Egan (41)
Trish Watson 2 0-1 5; Rachel Moore 2 0-0 4; Kaitlyn Mourer 4 0-2 8; Kim Breslin 1 0-0 2; Carmen Tyson-Thomas 8 2-2 18; Jenny Rongione 2 0-1 4. Totals: 19 2-6 41.

AR: 3-5-10-16--34
CEC: 15-8-6-12--41

Three-point goals: Strybuc, Smith, Wood (AR); Watson (CEC).


SIX THINGS

1. Conwell-Egan dominated this game from the start. The Eagles led by 17 points, 20-3, two minutes into the second quarter. Ryan never got close than 10 points until the final minute of the fourth quarter.

2. Conwell-Egan (10-4 overall, 5-2 Philadelphia Catholic League) held Ryan to 18 points in the first three quarters. The Eagles kept quick Ryan guard Megan Tole from penetrating until the end of the game and didn't give up many open shots from the perimeter.

3. Ryan (11-2, 6-1) had been the only unbeaten team left in the PCL. The Ragdolls were ranked 10th in the state in Class AAAA by the Harrisburg-Patriot News.

4. Senior guard-forward Carmen Tyson-Thomas scored 18 points for CEC, giving her 1,815 points for her four year career. Tyson-Thomas scored nine points in the first 6 1/2 minutes of the game. She faced physical double-teams all night.

5. CEC forward Kaitlyn Mourer scored all eight of her points in the second half. Guard Trish Watson had five points for the Eagles.

6. At the end of the third quarter, Watson threw in a shot from the opposite foul line, but she had released the ball a split-second after the buzzer.

Penn Charter 53, Conwell-Egan 38

Conwell-Egan (38)
Carmen Tyson-Thomas 6 2-2 15; Rachel Moore 1 1-2 3; Trish Watson 0 0-0 0; Jenny Rongione 2 0-0 4; Kim Breslin 1 0-0 2; Kaitlyn Mourer 4 0-0 8; Sam Lubey 2 0-1 4; Kaleigh Ewing 0 0-0 0; Kaity Moonan 0 0-0 0; Kristen Ralph 0 2-2 2. Totals: 16 5-7 38.

Penn Charter (53)
Nikki Gwynn 2 0-0 4; Dianna Thomas 5 2-3 12; Aleesha Powell 3 5-6 12; Kendall Stokes 5 0-2 10; Brianna Butler 2 3-3 7; Mary Kate O'Brien 2 0-2 4; Erin Martin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 10-16 53.

CEC: 13-8-11-6--38
PC: 15-13-12-13--53

Three-point goals: Tyson-Thomas (CEC); Powell (PC).


EIGHT THINGS

1. Conwell-Egan (6-3) shot poorly after hitting about 48 percent of its shots in a 66-33 first round win over Immaculata in the Eastern States Christmas Invitational Tournament at Trenton Catholic Academy. But despite a very low percentage from the floor, the Eagles were in this game into the third quarter. CEC's Kim Breslin had a steal and a layup with 5:06 to go in the third quarter to make it a three-point game, 32-29. Forty seconds later CEC senior Carmen Tyson-Thomas scored on an offensive rebound put-back to make it 34-31. After that, Penn Charter (8-2) went on a game-breaking 17-1 run over about nine minutes.

2. Tyson-Thomas finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals. She had some trouble getting shots, took a bunch of three-pointer and only hit one. Against Immaculata, Tyson-Thomas had 17 points.

3. CEC forward Kaitlyn Mourer scored eight points. The other three Eagles starters combined for five points. Guard Trish Watson, who scored 16 points vs. Immaculata, was scoreless vs. Penn Charter.

4. Penn Charter sophomore guard Aleesha Powell scored 12 points, but didn't shot particularly well. The 5-7 Powell, who is one of the top sophomores in the Philadelphia area, scored 29 points in Penn Charter's 60-51 tournament-opening victory over Trenton Catholic Academy. Penn Charter didn't shoot particularly well as a team vs. Conwell-Egan.

5. Tyson-Thomas: "All of us didn't come out as tough as we should have."

6. Mourer: “I think we lost some of the intensity and momentum we needed to keep us in this game.”

7. Conwell-Egan coach Norman O'Rourke: “We shot atrocious. We got five points (combined) out of three of our starters. You can’t win games that way.”

8. Conwell-Egan has scored fewer than 40 point three times in nine games and lost all three games.

Conwell-Egan 2008-2009

Coach: Norman O'Rourke (5th season)
Last year: 20-6 (10-2 PCL North)

Schedule
Dec. 6 Kennedy-Kenrick W, 67-44 (1-0, 1-0)
Dec. 8 at VJM W, 49-42 (2-0)
Dec. 9 Lansdale Catholic W, 52-40 (3-0, 2-0)
Dec. 12 at Cardinal O'Hara L, 24-62 (3-1, 2-1)
Dec. 15 Lower Moreland W, 48-47 (4-1)
Dec. 16 Little Flower L, 39-43 (4-2, 2-2)
Dec. 19 at Cardinal Dougherty W, 61-38 (5-2, 3-2)
Dec. 26 Immaculata W, 66-33 (6-2)
Dec. 27 Penn Charter L, 38-53 (6-3)
Dec. 29 Bridgewater-Raritan W, 44-22 (7-3)
Jan. 5 Rancocas Valley
Jan. 6 Germantown Academy
Jan. 9 at Archbishop Prendergast
Jan. 10 Pennsbury
Jan. 13 Archbishop Ryan
Jan. 16 Neumann-Goretti
Jan. 20 at West Catholic
Jan. 22 at Neshaminy
Jan. 23 at St. Hubert
Jan. 24 Bishop McDevitt
Jan. 29 John W Hallahan
Feb. 3 at Archbishop Carroll
Feb. 6 at Archbishop Wood

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.

Conwell-Egan 47, Archbishop Ryan 29

ARCHBISHOP RYAN (29)
Tole 3 2-3 8; Grow 0 0-2 0; Foreman 1 0-0 2; Hollawell 3 2-2 8; Keal 0 0-2 0; Strybuc 2 0-0 5; Jerdan 1 0-0 2; Milanese 0 0-0 0; Heisse 1 2-2 4; Shaw 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 6-11 29.

CONWELL-EGAN (47)
Griffin 3 0-0 7; Moore 4 0-2 9; Tyson-Thomas 6 2-3 15; Mourer 1 0-0 2; Cloonan 0 4-4 4; Howell 0 0-1 0; Rongione 1 0-0 2; Chase 4 0-0 8; Breslin 0 0-0 0; Ewing 0 0-0 0; Lubey 0 0-0 0; Moonan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 6-10 47.

AR 2-9-8-10—29
CEC 10-6-13-18—47

3-point goals: Strybuc (AR); Griffin, Tyson-Thomas, Moore (CEC).

Link to Courier Times game story

SEVEN THINGS

1. Conwell-Egan (12-4 overall, 4-1 Philadelphia Catholic League North) led the whole way and moved into a tie for second place in the division with Ryan (10-5, 4-1). The Ragdolls closed to within one point, 16-15, early in the third quarter, but CEC answered with a decisive 13-1 run.

2. Conwell-Egan junior guard Carmen Tyson-Thomas, already a two-time PCL North MVP, finished with 15 points, four assists and four steals. She has 1,355 career points and is closing in on the schools' (Bishop Egan, Bishop Conwell and Conwell-Egan) all-time career mark: Katie Kilker's 1,417 points.

3. Junior guard Megan Tole and senior forward Kim Hollawell had eight points apiece for Ryan, which has a great team Web site at www.geocities.com/bb_coach_f/.

4. Junior guard-forward Rachel Moore had nine points and four assists for Conwell-Egan, and senior guard Theresa Griffin added seven points. Moore and Griffin had important 3-pointers in the third quarter. Tyson-Thomas also banked in a 3-pointer at a crucial spot.

5. I never criticize individual officials. I know they work hard and try their best. But the level of officiating this season is by far the lowest I've seen in 11 seasons of covering girls basketball. It's not a looming crisis. It's a current crisis. Something needs to be done now to recruit and train talented young officials. The kids deserve quality officiating.

6. Conwell-Egan had not beaten Ryan since a wild 68-66 victory on Jan. 17, 2006. Ryan won the second game that season and swept three games in 2006-2007, including a 41-32 win in the PCL playoffs. If Archbishop Wood goes on to win the PCL North, as expected, Ryan and Conwell-Egan will likely meet again in the PCL quarterfinals.

7. College note: Ryan 2007 graduate Meghan Gibson is averaging 4.8 points and 4.1 rebounds as a freshman forward for unbeaten Holy Family University (13-0), which is ranked No. 11 in the country in NCAA Division II.

Conwell-Egan 51, Villa Joseph Marie 39

VILLA JOSEPH MARIE (39)

Files 1 0-0 3; J. Heston 4 3-5 11; Kazarnowicz 2 2-3 6; Quattrocchi 4 0-1 9; C. Heston 2 0-0 4; Van Wert 2 0-2 6; Abel 0 0-0 0; Bierly 0 0-0 0; Quinones 0 0-0 0; Farr 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 5-11 39.

CONWELL-EGAN (51)

Tyson-Thomas 6 6-7 20; Griffin 2 3-4 8; Cloonan 3 1-1 7; Rongione 1 0-0 2; Moore 0 1-4 1; Mauer 1 2-3 4; Chase 0 2-2 2; Watson 0 0-0 0; Howell 1 0-0 3; Breslin 2 0-0 4. Totals: 16 15-21 51.

VJM 11-12-10-6—39

CEC 17-9-8-17—51

3-point goals: Van Wert 2, Files, Quattrocchi (VJM); Tyson-Thomas 2, Griffin, Howell (CEC).

Link to Courier Times game story

SEVEN THINGS

1. CEC junior guard Carmen Tyson-Thomas: 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals. The two-time Catholic League North MVP has 1,092 career points.

2. CEC senior guard Theresa Griffin scored all eight of her points in the fourth quarter and added four assists. Griffin had 10 points and four assists in a 57-40 win over Shipley on Friday.

3. VJM got within one, 34-33, at the end of the third quarter.

4. Senior forwards Jennie Heston (11 points) and Sarah Kazarnowicz (six points) played very well at times.

5. Tyson-Thomas scored CEC's first eight points in 2 1/2 minutes.

6. Conwell-Egan has a big test against Germantown Academy on Tuesday.

7. VJM guard Jennie Quattrocchi scored nine points.