Plymouth Whitemarsh stays perfect, cruises past Upper Dublin
UPPER DUBLIN >> Kaitlyn Flanagan maybe just be a sophomore, but the Plymouth Whitemarsh point guard knows the key against Upper Dublin’s defense is to be precise in picking your moment.
“It’s mainly just staying calm and not trying to force it because it’s seeming to go so slow, because I want something to happen,” she said. “Just let the ball movement break it apart and find lanes to drive.”
And Wednesday night, when those moments of opportunity came, the Colonials made the most of them. PW ripped off 17 straight points in the first half then put the SOL American girls basketball contest away in the second half with a 17-2 burst as the Colonials kept their perfect record intact with a 47-25 victory.
“We’re a much-deeper team this year,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “We have seven to eight kids that we can rotate in and not miss a beat. And the other thing is we have another year of experience. We have everyone back minus one kid but we have everyone back. And our practices are so intense that the game does not frighten these kids.”
Flanagan and Jordyn Thomas each finished with 10 points to pace the Colonials (11-0, 4-0 conference), who lost all three meetings with the Cardinals last year but had little trouble hitting the halfway mark of this regular season with another convincing win. After Wednesday, PW is besting opponents by an average of 35.0 points per game.
“I feel like together even though we are a young team, we really do focus in practice and try our best and we just wanted this game really bad,” Thomas said.
The loss was the third straight for Upper Dublin (6-5, 3-2), who got off to a solid start – taking a 6-1 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jackie Vargas and Sarah Eskew – but went cold the rest of the half, registering just one more field goal to trail 23-10 at the break.
The Cardinals trimmed the deficit down to six in the third but Plymouth Whitemarsh collected the last five points of the quarter then started the fourth with a 12-2 run to go up 21.
“PW’s relentless, they’re really in a groove right now and right now mentally and just basketball-wise weren’t not at our best,” Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten said. “And they certainly are, they have a lot of confidence and we’ve had a tough time recently.
“The expectations of our season I think, is weighing on our girls a little bit. And I think we need to get away from the expectation and focus on the present and focus in the now.”
Upper Dublin tries to end its skid 8 p.m. Friday when it visits Wissahickon. Plymouth Whitemarsh is also on the road Friday facing Upper Moreland at 7 p.m.
“Tonight was a test, Abington was a test and Upper Moreland will be too,” Dougherty said.
After a Thomas basket inside gave the Colonials an 8-7 lead at end of the first eight minutes, PW proceeded to take control by scoring the first 15 points of the second quarter.
A transition layup by Gabby Carter made it 14-7 and forced a UD timeout at 5:20. Anna McTamney followed with a steal and layup then hit a jumper for an 18-7 lead.
“We really had to push the ball and kind of beat their defense up the court,” Thomas said. “And the faster that we played the more baskets that we got.
Flanagan scored the next five – connecting on two free throws at 2:51 then hitting a 3-pointer, pushing the advantage to 23-7.
“I think (Jess) Polin getting in foul trouble and our ability to switch between defenses doesn’t allow them to be comfortable,” Dougherty said. “You know, you don’t want Upper Dublin to be comfortable, you want to make them uncomfortable.”
Vargas, who finished with team-high nine points, finally ended the PW run with a three but those were Upper Dublin’s lone points of the quarter.
“It’s kind of been our story lately, in the first half we’ve struggled offensively,” Funsten said. “And then I think that it’s affected our defense a little bit. And that’s the concerning part because you want to be mentally tough enough to not have a drop off defensively and good defense can then lead to good offense.
“But if we’re missing shots or we’re turning the ball over offensively and then either we’re not getting back on defense or missing an assignment or we don’t know what defense we’re in, then obviously it’s going to snowball.”
The Cardinals found a bit of an offensive spark at the start of the second half, beginning the third with a 9-2 run. Five of those points came from Polin, who drained a three then followed with a reverse layup to make it 25-17. A Vargas basket inside had UD within 25-19.
Flanagan, however, hit a jumper to PW up eight then in the quarter’s final seconds pushed the ball upcourt and found Abby Sharpe in the corner. Sharpe was fouled shooting a three with just a second left and made all three at the line for a 30-19 Colonials lead entering the fourth.
“Kate is outstanding,” said Dougherty of Flanagan. “She is one of the best players around. And she’s starting to believe in herself more and she’s just so smart. Her basketball IQ is through the roof. Her Sports IQ is through the roof. She knows our offense inside and out, she knows Upper Dublin’s offense inside and out. She’s a wonderful kid. She’s a joy to coach.”
After an Eskew basket had UD back within 11 at 32-21, Plymouth Whitemarsh answered with 10 straight points – five from Thomas.
“We haven’t really had those close games in the fourth quarter but we’ve definitely – even those games where we are winning by a lot – it’s taking a lot of hard work,” Flanagan said. “For example, this game, the Abington game, we played a game in Delaware against St. Mary’s, all those games even though it seemed like the score really we pulled away, we had to work hard to get to that point.”
Flanagan assisted on a Thomas basket inside with the sophomore point guard coming up with a steal off a McTamney deflection and feeding Erin Daley for a layup to make it 37-21. Two free throws from Flanagan had PW up 42-21 with 3:32 remaining.
