Souderton pulls away from Hatboro-Horsham in SOL Continental opener

FRANCONIA >> Towards the end of the third quarter Friday night, Souderton girls basketball coach Lynn Carroll told her team it was going to have to win the game on defense.

The Indians did exactly that as they used a strong defensive performance to win its Suburban One League Continental Conference opener over Hatboro-Horsham 49-34.

In order for the Hatters to win the game they would have needed to bring their ‘A’ game. Hatboro-Horsham simply did not as it committed some uncharacteristic turnovers and mental errors that prevented them from taking advantage of the few opportunities that Souderton provided it to get back in the game.

“Breaking the press is definitely something we have to work on as a team,” Hatboro-Horsham senior Cassidy Quattro said. “We’re kind of young guard-wise so I think if we just develop more we’ll be OK.”

Although Hatboro-Horsham struggled to get things going on the offensive end, credit has to be given to the Indians for the defensive strategy as well as the defensive execution to keep the Hatters off the board.

Souderton made the Hatter guards handle the ball and make quick decisions. The strategy worked two-fold. It forced Hatboro-Horsham into turning the ball over as well as preventing the ball ending up in its best players’ hands in Quattro and Haley Seifert.

“Tori Dowd is just such a great on ball defender,” Carroll said. “She never lets up and when you have somebody with that kind of intensity on the defense end you use it as much as you can.”

When Quattro and Seifert  got their hands on the ball, the Souderton defense did a nice job collapsing on the ball and making it tough for the talented Hatter scorers to get off good shots. Despite the defensive effort, Quattro and Seifert still combined for 24 of the Hatters 34 points.

“Quattro and Seifert, every year they get better,” Carroll said. “If there is one thing we’re probably lacking its size. We tried our best to limit their touches. I was a little disappointed (Quattro) had (nine first half) points but even when you focus on somebody that much when you play at that level you’re going to make things happen.”

As a developing team, the Hatters had a tough time dealing with the experience and talent of teams like Souderton. But Hatboro-Horsham will get another shot at the Indians later in the season where a better performance should be in store.

“It’s definitely a lot of mental mistakes that we make,” Quattro said. “Our skill is there it’s not showing which is frustrating because we have the talent but when we get on the court we play timid.”