Reese brings pieces together as Souderton wins season opener
FRANCONIA >> Things are a little new for Souderton girls’ basketball this winter.
The Indians have just one senor back from last season’s state playoff team and unlike the veteran teams of the past three years, there’s a lot of fresh faces in the lineup. While Souderton may be short on experience, it’s not short on talent and the program is eager to see where that goes.
Friday was the first step, with senior Mikaela Reese leading the Indians to a 35-24 win over Harriton in the opening game of the Jim Church Classic.
“The major thing is just keeping everyone’s heads up and positive,” Reese said. “I think this season at times will be a battle but I also think it’s a battle we can handle. As long as everyone has the same energy level, I feel like we can do as well as we’ve done in previous years.”
Reese, the only starter back from a season ago, posted a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds to lead a Souderton team that started one freshman and brought two more off the bench. The forward scored the team’s first seven points of the third quarter as the Indians started to pull away from a hard-playing Rams team.
While it may be most of the teams’ first time playing together, Souderton’s offense generated a lot of quality looks. Only problem for the Indians was, they didn’t want to drop early as Souderton shot 3-of-12 in the opening quarter.
“At the end of the first quarter we basically talked about that it looked like a first game,” Indians coach Lynn Carroll said. “I was pretty happy with the shot selection and we said they are going to fall, but we had to work to find a better balance.”
With Harriton packing its defense inside the arc, the Rams gave Souderton free range to shoot from outside. At one point, the Indians had taken 11 3-pointers to 10 twos, something Carroll noted to her players and they worked to change.
After Harriton had cut the Indians lead to 6-5 to open the second quarter, the hosts went on a 10-0 run to finish the frame. Junior Jordan Zimmerman keyed the spree with two assists and five points, including the first make of the season from 3-point territory.
“Going off screens, I think we used them really well and when we could kick out, it seemed like everybody was ready to shoot,” Reese said. “We had a lot of people offensive rebounding, so I think that played a big part in getting those shots.”
Freshman Casey Harter, who had a nice debut game, found Reese inside for a layup early in the third. Following five straight points by the Rams to make it 18-12, Reese answered.
The senior finished another bucket inside, then left alone at the top of the arc, buried a trey for a 23-12 lead before finding Harter on a cut for a hoop to cap the 7-0 run. Harriton would close to 25-12 by quarter’s end but Reese kicked out to an open Harter for three to start the fourth quarter and the Indians matched their biggest lead of the night.
“Mikaela is going to be the engine all year for us,” Carroll said. “She’s playing her best basketball right now, she’s setting the tone at practice everday and she could care less whether or not she scores the points, she just wants the team to do well. She’s already in a young season, committing to helping the young players along.”
Reese didn’t score in the fourth quarter, but didn’t need to as her teammates stepped up. Freshman Erin Bohmuller hit four straight foul shots to close the game, and had five of her six rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Carroll didn’t want to use the word “rebuilding” to describe the Indians this year, but did not the team’s inexperience posed different challenges than the past few seasons. Friday, that showed a few times when players passed on open shots but Carroll expects that to fade as the newcomers get more comfortable in games.
“We still have to find our identity,” Carroll said. “It’s going to take time but every day, we talk about doing what we need to do to get better and reach our potential. When you have a young, inexperienced team, you kind of expect that but I’m overall very pleased with how we played today.”
It certainly helps the Indians have the right leader to look to every day in practice and every possession in games. While Reese is the last one standing from her class, she feels this year’s group is just as close as any in her four years and has high hopes for where the Indians end up by the end of the regular season.
“It’s funny, my freshman year we only had one senior and now that it’s my senior year and I’m the only one, it kind of went full circle,” Reese said. “It’s been fun, I still enjoy it and I like that because you’ve been through it, you can help the other girls and use the experience from mistakes you may have made. My biggest thing is I just want to help them for the future years as well.”
Souderton will face St. Basil in the Jim Church Classic title game at 3 p.m. Saturday.
SOUDERTON 6 10 9 10 – 35
HARRITON 3 2 10 9 – 24
S: Mikaela Reese 4 1-4 10, Jordan Zimmerman 2 2-2 7, Olivia Schneider 2 0-3 4, Casey Harter 3 1-3 8, Erin Bohmuller 1 4-4 6. Nonscoring: Hayley Fenchel, Hannah Alderfer, Mikayla McGillen. Totals: 12 8-16 35
H: Smith 4 2-3 12, Aspesi 0 2-2 2, Calhoun 2 0-0 4, Paternoster 2 0-0 4, Kasmer 1 0-0 2. Totals: 9 4-7 24
3-pointers: S – Zimmerman, Reese, Harter; H – Smith 2
