Local flavor: A look at all the district matchups, including Plymouth-Whitemarsh taking on Central Bucks West
Two perennial powers will do battle in Saturday’s District 1-6A Quarterfinals, as second-seeded Plymouth-Whitemarsh hosts No. 10 Central Bucks West for a chance to go to the district’s final four.
Tipoff is at 3 p.m.
“We played them once and we were losing in the second half,” Colonials coach Dan Dougherty said of the Bucks. “(Emily) Spratt is an outstanding player, (Paige) Gilbert is an outstanding player. They really shot the ball well here when we played before.
“I think they had six or seven threes against us and we couldn’t stop Spratt – we couldn’t stop her. It’ll be a really difficult matchup.”
The Colonials rallied and prevailed 62-51 in that matchup on Feb. 6. The winner of this one keeps state-playoff hopes alive (one team advances out of District 1-6A).
“The fact that we played them once, we go back to that film,” Dougherty said. “Watch it, study it and probably have to come up with a different game plan than the first time we played them.”
The Colonials, led by Anna McTamney and Kaitlyn Flanagan, are coming off a 45-18 victory over Souderton Area while the Bucks are fresh off a 50-29 win over Unionville.
The winner of this game advances to face either No. 3 CB East or No. 11 Pennsbury on Wednesday.
West went 7-3 in its run through the Suburban One League Colonial Division while PW went a perfect 10-0 in the SOL Liberty.
(12) West Chester Rustin at (4) Upper Dublin (6 p.m. Saturday) >> The Cardinals may have shaken off a bit of rust in their opener, winning 23-18 over Haverford.
The shots just were not falling for the usually hot-shooting Cards.
“We gotta be on to Saturday,” coach Morgan Funsten said after the win over Haverford. “You can’t worry about what happened (Wednesday night). As frustrating as it was at times, you gotta let it go and you gotta move on.”
Senior Sarah Eskew should play a pivotal role for Upper Dublin, and freshman Amy Ngo made some nice plays in the win over the Fords.
Rustin is coming off a 50-41 victory over Downingtown East, led by Laine McGurk’s 21 points, including 15 in the second half.
The winner advances to face No. 1 Spring-Ford or No. 8 Abington.
(8) Abington at (1) Spring-Ford (3 p.m. Saturday) >> The Ghosts prevailed in a tough battle with Methacton, 68-56.
The Rams were 67-36 winners over Penn Wood.
Jaida Helm was sensational for Abington in its win over the Warriors, hitting 11 shots and scoring 24 points.
Khalis Whiting hit a pair of threes and finished with 25.
The Rams had three players, including Lucy Olsen (24 pts), in double figures against Penn Wood.
District 1-5A Semis
(4) Upper Moreland at (1) Springfield Delco (1 p.m. Saturday) >> Upper Moreland held on to win 41-37 over Bishop Shanahan in the quarterfinals while Springfield edged Mount St. Joseph 42-41.
Upper Moreland will try to cool the hot shooting hand of Lexie Aaron, who hit five 3-pointers for Springfield in its victory.
The winner faces either No. 2 Harriton or No. 3 West Chester East in the final on Wednesday.
Also, Gwynedd Mercy Academy played New Hope Thursday night in the District 1-4A Final, with the winner headed to states.
Jenkintown punched its ticket to states in Class A with its 57-47 win over Faith Christian.
