Plymouth Whitemarsh runs past Hatboro-Horsham
WHITEMARSH >> Plymouth Whitemarsh scored in bunches Tuesday night.
The Colonials opened their game against Hatboro-Horsham with nine straight points and that was just one of six dominant stretches they put together in a 76-32 Suburban One League American Conference win at Plymouth Whitemarsh High School.
Kaitlyn Flanagan converted an old fashion three-point play after the Hatters cut their deficit to 11-9. Flanagan’s and-one sparked an 11-0 run late in the first quarter and PW led by 11, 25-14, after eight minutes.
“When you play at a fast pace like we do,” PW head coach Dan Dougherty said, “and Hatboro likes to play at a fast pace, too, you’re not going to shut teams out. There’s no panic when a team hits a couple shots or makes a three in transition. Other kids practice, too, and they’re good. They make a shot and we just run back at them. If it’s a game situation in the fourth quarter – now you’re panicking a little bit more trying to stop them, but in the flow of the first, second or third quarter at that pace, you give up a couple points here and there, it’s OK.”
“As a team we really focus on coming out strong,” Flanagan added. “We want to try to score early so that we can get into the press and start picking up the pace of the game.”
It was more of the same in the second quarter. The Colonials (14-0, 7-0 SOL American) opened with eight straight points. After a Hatters (7-6, 4-3 SOL American) basket, PW scored 10 straight to take a 43-16 lead. The SOL American leaders had another 11-0 run before halftime to go to the break with a 54-18 advantage.
PW’s final big run came early in the third quarter. After Hatboro-Horsham made the first basket of the half, the hosts rattled off a 13-1 run, extending their lead to 68-21 and allowing Dougherty to get his reserves some minutes.
It was a balanced offensive night for the Colonials. Erin Daley led the way with 14 points, Gabby Cooper added 12 and Flanagan and Anna McTamney each had 10. Flanagan added nine assists, four rebounds and two blocks and McTamney had eight rebounds and a block.
“It’s nice to be able to spread it out so not all the pressure is put on one or two players to get those points,” Flanagan said. “It’s great that we can move the ball and everyone can contribute to the score.”
Caroline Shegogue led the Hatters with six points, Ava McKinney added five and Jess Howard and Alice Hall each had four.
Top of the League
After the first round of league play, PW is a perfect 7-0 in the SOL American and a full two games ahead of second place.
“I was just saying to them in the locker room,” Dougherty said, “the second time through the league, now every team has film on you. Now every team knows to prepare. We have to try to continue to grow. There are things that have been objective since the first day of practice that we still struggle with. We have to continue to work and continue to motivate ourselves to play better. Another thing this team has is championship aspirations. We talk about championship teams always find a way to get up and play angry, to find a way to hate your opponent every night or hate each other in practice for a day. We’re trying to build that. We’re trying to build competitive practices. Sometimes our practices are so fast and so intense the games almost feel slow.”
“There’s definitely confidence,” Flanagan added, “but we also know it’s always harder going through the second time. We still have to stay strong throughout the season.”
Outside Praise
After Plymouth Whitemarsh’s 46-27 win over Upper Moreland Friday night, the Golden Bears girls basketball Twitter account, @UMHSGirlsBball, tweeted, “Flanagan from @PWHSGirlsBball is such a pleasure to watch. She does so many subtle things on the court that just come naturally. She had 6 points in the game but completely dominated. Plays like a senior. Good game kid!”
“It was really nice of them,” Flanagan said. “I didn’t personally think I had a great game, but that’s definitely a confidence booster. Their coaches and their players are all very nice people. It was nice to hear.”
