Shorthanded Souderton tops CB West for fourth straight win

FRANCONIA >> Megan O’Donnell was ready for a bit of well-earned rest Tuesday night.

“I am definitely going to go home and sleep for as long as I can,” the Souderton senior said.

With Megan Walbrandt out due with an illness, a little more was needed from O’Donnell and the rest of the Indians girls basketball team against visiting Central Bucks West. And Big Red provided the extra effort from the start, jumping out to an early lead then holding the Bucks at bay to claim a 48-33 Suburban One League Continental Conference win.

“Going into the game, knowing we didn’t have Walbrandt, in the locker room before the game we all kind of just looked at each other and we were like we can still win this without Megan, we just have to figure out a different game plan,” O’Donnell said. “And that’s exactly what we did. We had everyone step up, all of us did.”

Megan Bealer connected on three 3-pointers and scored 10 of her game-high 15 points in the second half while Mikaela Reese posted eight of her 10 points in the opening quarter as the Indians (5-1, 2-0 conference) earned a fourth-straight victory.

“Obviously being down a man and someone who does so much for us and to start out with as much confidence as we did and just keep it pretty much for 32 minutes, I could not be prouder of our team,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “Megan Walbrandt, defensively what she does, offensively she’s in a lot of ways our go-to player. And other people had to step up and other people stepped up big, big, big time.”

O’Donnell was one, taking on bigger roles in ball handing and defense while also recording nine points.

“That kid worked so hard tonight,” said Carroll of O’Donnell. “I think she played like 31-and-a-half minutes or something. We gave her a little bit of a break there in the fourth, but she handled the ball, she handled their pressure.

“She did a great job on (Diane) Nicholson, that’s a very good player who’s going to find ways to score and she did. And I think Megan O’Donnell’s going to sleep pretty well tonight from exhaustion but she was great.”

Effort was also the focus for Central Bucks West coach Terry Rakowsky – mainly in that it was lacking for the Bucks (1-2, 1-1) as they dropped their second straight.

“We got out-rebounded, I mean, we got out-hustled which is another thing. Again, two games in a row – three games in a row,” Rakowsky said. “Got a lot of kids who just aren’t playing with any kind of heart.”

CB West led twice, but both were just by a point in the first quarter – the last time at 4-3 before eight straight points by Reese put the Indians in front for good.

Maddie Burke paced the Bucks with 12 points – nine after halftime – while Nicholson finished with 11 points.

“We had to assists in the (Bethlehem Catholic) game – two. So what does that say? It says we got a lot of kids who are looking for their own shot,” Rakowsky said. “Yep, we’re not a very good team. Whether we will be or not, you know what, I don’t know it’s up to them. We are definitely not a good team right now.”

Both teams hit the road for SOL Continental contests Friday – Souderton is at Central Bucks South while West visits Pennridge.

After consecutive Reese 3-pointers capping her personal 8-0 burst made it 11-4 Indians in the opening quarter, Burke connected on a trey to get West within four. The Indians responded with baskets from Olivia Schneider and Erin Stephens to go up 15-7 but Nicholson scored on a drive to cut the Bucks’ deficit to six entering the second quarter.

“I was kind of having a hard time gauging them in the locker room before the game,” Carroll said. “I was obviously worried that they’re mindset was ‘Well, we don’t have Meghan, so we don’t have a chance.’ And they, from the very beginning, they played like they thought they could win the game.”

Souderton took its first double-digit lead when Bealer’s three made it 19-9 early in the second. West, however, chipped the margin down to five twice – second time when a Nicholson basket made it 22-17. Two from Bealer pushed the Indians’ lead to seven at the break.

Souderton started the second half by scoring the first five points of the third quarter – a Bealer three making it 29-17. A Burke transition three had the Bucks within 34-25 before Curran O’Donnell’s three-point play at 1:10 push the Big Red lead back to a dozen.

“We really didn’t want to lose our lead at all so we were staying packed in defense and not letting them take the shots they wanted to take,” Megan O’Donnell said.

A Burke three and Nicholson breakaway layup off a steal made it 37-30 but Megan O’Donnell dropped in a shot in the lane to put Souderton up nine after three.

The Bucks made it 39-31 after a Burke free throw at 7:20 in the fourth but West collected just two more points the rest of the way. Souderton was content to work the clock and had its lead back up to 12 at 45-33 after a Stephens jumper and two Bealer converted both ends of a 1-and-1 at 2:34.

The Indians grabbed their biggest lead at 48-33 after a Megan O’Donnell free throw with 1:02 left.