Westphal’s clutch shooting closes chapter for Upper Dublin, senior class
CHAMBERSBURG >> Upper Dublin girls’ basketball coach Morgan Funsten was scanning his tablet of statistics when it hit him.
The game his team had just played, what went right, what went wrong, why the Cardinals’ shots didn’t go in and why they did for Bethel Park’s Olivia Westphal didn’t feel as relevant in that moment. Funsten knew as soon as he opened the door to the locker room, it was over for this season’s team.
Despite a furious comeback effort by Upper Dublin, the clutch shooting of Westphal pushed Bethel Park past the Cardinals 47-40 Tuesday night in the second round of the PIAA 6A tournament at Chambersburg Area High School.
“It kind of hit me, the reality of what just happened, and it had nothing to do with the game,” Funsten said. “It had everything to do with walking in and knowing we wouldn’t be able to see those girls again in the same setting. It turned from basketball talk very quickly to emotional talk and I tried to do my best to express I appreciated the team.”
The loss ends Upper Dublin’s season a few rounds earlier than the Cardinals, more specifically their seniors, had hoped and closes the book on a class that had a remarkable run. It was the largest senior class in Funsten’s tenure but each of them had their own path and role to fill over the past four seasons.
Center Jackie Vargas was the most front and center of the group, a starter from her first game and off to Lehigh at the end of next summer to continue playing. From the senior class, she’ll be joined in the college ranks by Anajae Smith at Millersville and Kara Grebe at Gettysburg College.
“You have girls like Jackie Gorman and Brianna Felgoise who for four years, worked just as hard as everybody else and to have the positive attitudes they did is what made this team so special,” Funsten said. “Anajae turned herself from just an OK basketball player as a freshman to a girl going to college for free. Jackie Vargas, who is arguably the greatest player in Upper Dublin history and Kara Grebe, a two-year captain and only time I’ve had a two-year captain. The demands of being a captain and always putting the team in front of yourself can be taxing with the long seasons we’ve had and, I’m just really going to miss this group.”
As sophomores, they won the program its first state title then made a run to the state semifinals last year and hoped to do it again but fell a few possessions short against a high-quality opponent and a player determined not to go home yet. Vargas’ vividly recalled her freshman year ending with a blowout state loss to Cardinal O’Hara and wondering what the future had in store.
“When you’re a freshman, you don’t see it, you don’t know how it’s going to be,” Vargas said. “Sophomore year, we win a state championship and I don’t know how we did it that year but ‘Team Plus Heart Equals Dub’ and that’s what we had. The past couple years, I feel we’ve gotten unlucky but it happens.
“Pressure on people doesn’t always bring out the best in people but the last two years, we’ve been more honest with each other and it’s helped us along the way.”
As for the game, Bethel Park came in with a plan on both ends of the floor and executed it well. Defensively, the Black Hawks bottled up Vargas as best as possible by crowding the senior around the rim and playing her physical under the basket.
Offensively, they found the gaps in Upper Dublin’s defense and took advantage with a blistering shooting performance. Westphal credited her team’s practice squad for getting them prepared but Bethel Park still had to go out and execute.
“We saw how good defensively they are so we knew we had to execute our man sets,” Westphal said. “I thought we handled it really well. Our girls hit the screens, which gave us way more open shots and we just stroked them, we shot really well.”
Westphal, a junior who’s already surpassed 1,000 points and carries about 15 Division I offers, poured in nine first quarter points as Bethel Park opened up an 18-10 lead on the Cardinals. Upper Dublin, which didn’t have sharpshooting junior Dayna Balasa due to illness, buckled down after that but still had a sizable hole to climb out of.
Funsten credited Bethel Park’s ability to steal momentum back as a key factor in the game and after UD cut the lead to 18-14, the Black Hawks responded with a 7-2 run led by Westphal and Madelyn Dziezgowski.
Jess Polin sparked UD late, with a steal leading to a Sarah Eskew three and the junior canning a buzzer-beater from 30 feet out to cut the lead to 25-22 at the half. Vargas scored to open the third, making it a one point game but again, Bethel Park answered.
“Every time we got a little momentum, even going into halftime, we had great momentum and they just responded,” Funsten said. “They were tough and scouting them you could see they are a bunch of competitors and they have a couple special players.”
Funsten also pointed out Bethel Park played a lot of zone defense, something the Cardinals hadn’t seen a lot of, in the first half and went to man in the second and defended well regardless.
It also helped the Black Hawks had someone not afraid to take the big shot when needed. Bliss Brenner, who took Balasa’s place in the starting lineup, did a good job trying to shadow Westphal but she was still there with the ball in her hands late in the game.
“We always have the mentality of playing not to lose, we’re not going to hold the ball,” Westphal said. “Those shots, you have to have the guts to take them and then you have to stroke them. Big time, big moments, it’s a mentality.”
Trailing by nine entering the fourth, UD’s seniors tried to author one more comeback. They got close with Grebe and Vargas combining for five straight points to cut the lead to 38-35 with 2:02 to go.
Westphal, who had been called for a travel much to her disbelief just a possession earlier, left no doubts on her next try. She buried a catch-and-shoot effort from Dziezgowski with 1:48 on the clock as Bethel Park broke UD’s pressure.
Grebe hit a three with 55 seconds left but again, No. 22 for Bethel Park had something to say about it. Westphal pulled up a couple feet behind the line on the left wing, certainly an ambitious shot given the state of the game, but she hit all net with 44.2 on the clock.
“Honestly, I wasn’t really thinking,” Westphal said. “I was open. I’m not going to play scared so I just had to stroke it.”
Westphal led all scorers with 23 points and added 10 rebounds. Bethel Park will face Plymouth Whitemarsh, a 53-27 winner over Baldwin, in Friday’s quarterfinal round.
Upper Dublin will have a much different look next season but Funsten wasn’t ready to think about that yet. Vargas had 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks while Grebe had nine points and Polin scored eight with three assists.
“This senior class was so special, just their accomplishments,” Funsten said. “They played over 120 games, Jackie Vargas and Kara Grebe have played in almost all of them. The volume of games and accomplishments aside, they’re a fun group and brought something good so we’re going to miss them.”
“When I think about what the captains and everybody else do preparing for games, it’s all genuine hard work,” Vargas said. “Even the players who sat on the bench, they had positive attitudes and showed that even if things aren’t going your way, all that effort has an upside.”
BETHEL PARK 18 7 11 11 – 47
UPPER DUBLIN 10 12 5 13 – 40
BP: Lauren Miller 1 3-3 5, Madelyn Dziezgowski 2 3-4 9, Sophia Nath 4 0-0 10, Olivia Westphal 8 4-5 23. Totals: 15 10-12 47
UD: Jess Polin 2 2-2 8, Kara Grebe 4 0-0 9, Sarah Eskew 2 1-2 7, Bliss Brenner 1 0-0 3, Jackie Vargas 5 3-4 13. Totals: 14 6-8 40
3-pointers: BP – Westphal 3, Nath 2, Dziezgowski 2; UD – Polin 2, Eskew 2, Brenner, Grebe
