Souderton tops CB East, wins seventh straight
FRANCONIA >> Fast breaking in the first half and executing better overall in the second, Souderton Area led from the start and pulled away to a 54-35 victory over Central Bucks East Friday night.
Balance and the bench were keys for Big Red, who had four players score eight or more in the team’s seventh straight victory. The Indians climbed to a perfect 4-0 in the Suburban One League Continental Conference.
“Teams are really focused in on Megan Bealer and Megan Walbrandt,” said Big Red coach Lynn Carroll, who saw her team win a battle between two state-playoff squads from a year ago. “And the fact that (Bealer and Walbrandt) are not forcing the issue and other people are stepping up, is allowing us to have three, four or five kids scoring 8 to 12 points.”
One of those was Curran O’Donnell, who checked off a whole list of chores to help notch the victory.
“She’s one of the players offensively who has really stepped up,” Carroll said, “and has taken the pressure off Bealer and Walbrandt. She’ll be the leading scorer in a bunch of our games this year.
“She’s versatile. She can shoot the three. She can attack the basket. She has a good mid-range game and she’s playing the best defense she has ever played.”
Curran O’Donnell hit a pair of threes, including the one that extended Souderton’s lead to 20 in the fourth quarter.
Said the senior of her night: “I was kinda like ‘I’m open, so I’m just gonna shoot it.’
“Our coaches are always talking about distributing the twos and threes and I think that really helps our offense, because we’re thinking in the back of our minds on certain plays what we should be getting out of it.”
Souderton’s evening started with a tough layup by Curran O’Donnell, who then hit the ensuing free throw to complete a three-point play. A basket by Megan Bealer spiked the Big Red advantage to 5-0 in the opening moments.
Gabby Wilga scored the first points of the night for the Patriots (1-3 conference), but Souderton had control in the opening quarter. Contributions by Megan Walbrandt, Megan O’Donnell and Olivia Schneider helped provide the Indians a 15-7 advantage after one.
Schneider continued her strong play off the bench in the second quarter, adding a pair of baskets, and Mikaela Reese (9 points) was finding room underneath.
In addition, “Erica Stephens gave us real good minutes off the bench,” Carroll said. “Defensively, she played really well and she hit a couple shots for us.”
The second quarter closed with a scoring frenzy — East’s Skylar Krause hit twice, including a three — but Souderton stayed firmly in front, a coast-to-coast layup by Megan O’Donnell contributing to a 31-21 lead at the break.
Megan O’Donnell’s buzzer-beating jumper capped a pivotal third quarter for Big Red, who had widened the gap to 17 points.
“We were fast breaking a lot in the first half,” Curran O’Donnell said. “And then we started to slow it down a lot. We were looking for the open man, getting lots of layups and lots of open shots.
“And I think that’s really what pulled the whole game together.”
Souderton is home against Abington Monday night and CB East (1-3 conference), led by Gabby Wilga’s 11 points Friday, is back on the court Saturday, at home against St. Basil at 1:30 p.m.
