Souderton sophomores shine in District 1-6A first round win over Neshaminy

MIDDLETOWN >> The Souderton girls basketball program knows that its future is bright with sophomores Erin Bohmueller, Casey Harter and Teya McConnaha.

The 10th grade trio showed what it’s capable of in the first round of the District 1-6A playoffs Monday, combining for 28 points and playing lights out defense to lead the No. 18 Indians to a 36-15 win over No. 15 Neshaminy at Maple Point Middle School.

Bohmueller and McConnaha tied for a game-high with 11 points apiece while Harter added six. McConnaha added 14 rebounds, Bohmueller grabbed seven and Harter dished out four assists.

“This is such good experience for our younger kids,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “Our seniors helped us get to this point and I’m happy for them that it turned into a season that we could actually play and have a postseason, but for Erin, Casey and Teya to put up the numbers they put up – they don’t play like sophomores.”

“It’s amazing,” Bohmueller said. “We’ve been playing together for so long. We grew up together so it’s really nice to be able to play all together.”

Bohmueller took control of the game late in the third quarter to seal the win for Souderton (8-8). After Neshaminy cut its deficit to single digits, 16-7, the sophomore immediately responded with a basket through contact and completed the three-point play. She added two more layups to end the third quarter and hit two free throws early in the fourth for a personal 9-0 run over 2:39, building a 25-7 lead with 7:29 left in the game.

“I sometimes get late starts,” Bohmueller said, “but once you get into it it’s just a momentum that keeps going.”

Bohmueller’s surge was enough for Souderton with the way its defense was playing. After the game was tied 2-2, the Indians held Neshaminy without a field goal until there was 5:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. They held Neshaminy to quarter totals of three, two and two points before allowing eight in the fourth.

“Our defense was very, very good,” Carroll said, noting that Neshaminy was missing its starting point guard Taylor Gurysh. “The way Casey Harter was able to defend (Neshaminy’s Reese) Zemitis, knowing that her teammates were there to help her, I think really set the tone for us defensively. We only gave up four offensive rebounds – Teya (McConnaha) was just a monster on the boards. When we’re playing good defense we can really make it tough for other teams to play the way they want to play and that’s what we did tonight.”

“(The gameplan) was about keeping (Zemitis) from scoring,” Bohmueller said. “She was our main focus. Otherwise it was just about keeping people in front and not letting them get by you. We did have a few fouls, but we kept on getting back.”

The Indians held Zemitis to two points. Kacie Sienko led Neshaminy with nine points.

The win sends Souderton to the second round of the District 1-6A playoffs where it will face No. 2 Plymouth Whitemarsh Wednesday. The Indians played the Colonials, who had a first-round bye, earlier this season and lost, 45-31, on Jan. 28.

“It’s always great to still be playing this time of year,” Carroll said. “Obviously we have our hands full Wednesday night with PW, but we’ll be happy tonight and focus on them (Tuesday).”

Souderton 36, Neshaminy 15
(18) Souderton 5 6 12 13 – 36
(15) Neshaminy 3 2 2 8 – 15
Souderton: Zimmerman 0 1-2 1, Bohmueller 3 5-5 11, Schneider 1 0-0 2, Harter 3 0-0 6, Thatcher 0 0-0 0, McConnaha 4 3-5 11, McGillian 0 0-0 0, Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Fenchel 1 3-3 5, Stefanowicz 0 0-0 0, Schewe 0 0-0 0. Total 12 12-15 36.
Neshaminy: Irizarry 0 0-0 0, Sienko 1 7-9 9, Lall 1 0-0 2, Metcalfe 0 0-0 0, Lewis 0 2-2 2, Little 0 0-0 0, Zemitis 1 0-0 2. Total 3 9-11 15.
Three-point goals: None.