St. Basil shuts down Gwynedd Mercy in AACA opener
ABINGTON >> Through two games this season Gwynedd Mercy Academy has struggled shooting the ball. Unfortunately for the Monarchs that trend continued Tuesday night as they fell to AACA opponent St. Basil Academy 40-19.
“We’re struggling right now shooting the ball,” GMA coach Tom Lonergan said. “We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well in the preseason and we’re starting slow out of the gate here.”
Gwynedd struggled to get anything going in the first half offensively as it managed only four points. Of course, some credit is certainly due to the Basil defense which did an excellent job contesting shots and getting defensive rebounds to stop second chance opportunities.
“We worked hard on that during the preseason,” said St. Basil coach Terry Mancini of his team’s defense. “On that end, we’ve been very good and I just told them that if we continue to do that and get better each game we should have a nice season.”
Coming out of halftime the only real option for the Monarchs (0-2, 0-1 AACA) was to try to press the Panthers. GMA forced Basil into a couple of turnovers and opened the half on a 7-4 run, however the Panthers (3-0, 1-0) adjusted and still won the quarter 13-10.
“We worked on it, we were prepared,” said Mancini of the GMA press. “(Lonergan) has been doing that since he’s came into our league so we definitely work on it yesterday in practice.”
For the Panthers offensively they went with a balanced attack as three players finished with at least eight points including a game-high 10 from sophomore guard Casey Remolde.
The Panthers are still a young team, playing two freshmen and starting a sophomore, coming together which might be a scary sight for the rest of the AACA as their now 3-0 with the win over last year’s defending conference champion.
“We had our eyes set on this game but its long season. I’m sure they’ll get better as they go on,” Mancini said. “But if you hold a team like that to four points (in a half) you’re playing some good man to man defense.”
As for the Monarchs, it is definitely no time to push the panic button they just need to get some shots to fall and get into the win column and some good things should be coming down the road.
“We just need to get a W,” Lonergan said. “The team needs to get a W to get some confidence back into themselves and get some confidence to be able to move forward and get the train back on track.”
St. Basil 40, Gwynedd Mercy 19
St. Basil Academy 7 10 13 10—40
Gwynedd Mercy Academy 3 1 10 5—19
St. Basil: Casey Remolde 4 2-2 10; Maddie Riehman 2 0-2 5; Natalie Kucowski 3 2-4 9; Cheryl Remolde 2 2-2 6; Jule Gura 4 0-2 8; Paulie Storck 1 0-0 2; totals 16 6-12 40
GMA: Maura Conroy 1 0-0 2; Carly Heineman 1 0-2 3; Danielle Senour 1 2-4 4; Megan Dougherty 2 1-2 6; Bridget Casey 1 0-0 2; Molly Hutton 1 0-0 2; totals 7 3-8 19
Three-point goals: Heineman, Dougherty, Riehman, Kucowski.
Top Photo: Saint Basil Academy’s Jule Gura looks to pass as she drives the base line during the Panthers’ game against Gwynedd Mercy Academy on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016. (Gene Walsh/Digital First Media)
