Gwynedd Mercy tops New Hope-Solebury for 4th straight District 1-4A title

LOWER GWYNEDD >> Kaylie Griffin is confident in the Gwynedd Mercy girls basketball team’s ability to quickly flip a game in its favor.

“We know we’re a good shooting team and we can either go from making no shots then we can go 10-for-10,” the Monarchs senior said. “Really just from zero to 100 in no time.”

And Friday in the District 1-4A final, GMA found the right moment to hit the accelerator.

When visiting New Hope-Solebury pulled to within a point in the third quarter, the top-seeded Monarchs had a very effective response – capping the period with a 14-0 run to go up 38-23 and comfortably secured their fourth straight district title with a 43-28 win over the No. 2 Lions.

“It means a lot. It’s obviously a goal to win it every single year,” said Griffin, the Saint Joseph’s commit finishing a perfect 4-for-4 in district finals. “And it’s really exciting, especially going into states, especially this year, too, because we didn’t have as much games, we didn’t have as much preparation for these type of situations too, when we’re winning by a lot or we’re only up by one. It means a lot that we just could win this game especially this year.”

Half of Gwynedd Mercy’s 16 field goals came from beyond the 3-point arc – Griffin hitting three in the first quarter in scoring 11 points. Junior Sofia Coleman collected 10 of her game-high 12 points in the third as the Monarchs (15-2) pulled away for their sixth District 1 championship in the last seven seasons.

“At halftime we talked about that we weren’t moving the ball like we’re supposed to,” GMA coach Tom Lonergan said. “We weren’t passing and cutting and filling and looking for the gut. And they did a much better job of that in the second half and we got some open looks.

“Sofia came in and as I reminded her at halftime how important she is to be on the floor for us. She was off the floor for nine-and-a-half minutes in the first half so that’s going to definitely affect our offense because she’s by far our best field-goal percentage shooter.”

Maddie Newell and Hannah Griffin both chipped in seven points for the Monarchs, who limited New Hope-Solebury’s 1,000-point scorer Rachel Sexton to no field goals and just two points as they held the Lions to their second-lowest scoring output of the season.

“Maddie and Hannah it was our goal for them to switch up on (Saxton),” Kaylie Griffin said. “They were switching up on her and well we changed, we don’t usually press that much but Maddie, she did great, trying to pressure her. I don’t think she was prepared for us to do that cause we haven’t done that all season.”

Gwynedd Mercy advances to the PIAA-4A Tournament to face District 11champ Allentown Central Catholic in the first round Wednesday. Winner takes on the District 12 champ in the quarterfinals Saturday, March 20.

Juliana Covino made three 3-pointers in scoring a team-best nine points for SOL Freedom Division co-champ New Hope-Solebury (16-5), which was looking to win its first District 1 title since 2016. The Lions instead lost in the district final for a third consecutive year – the previous two seasons falling to Saint Basil in the Class 3A title game.

“I think our attention to detail was really good but we lost it for a couple of minutes and that just ballooned the lead out of control,” Lions Steve Polinsky said. “Give credit to them, they bring a lot of intensity and stuff like that. Coach Lonergan’s a great coach and we needed to be smarter there, quite frankly.

“It is what it is, I mean they’re a great team, we had a great season. I’m proud of my seniors, my girls. I knew what we were up against, how good they are especially with a D1 point guard they have who’s an excellent player but it was all good though.”

After a three from Coleman – who had picked up two fouls in the first quarter – put GMA up 24-17 in the third, Covino drained back-to-back treys to cut New Hope-Solebury’s deficit down to 24-23.

The Lions, however, did not score again until the fourth while the Monarchs got its offense in rhythm after struggling with the visitors’ matchup zone.

“I think our offense, what we were trying to do on offense changed,” Kaylie Griffin said. “We started pushing the ball upcourt instead of just walking it down and we wanted to pass and move instead of running our normal offense. Instead of like setting up a play we decided to pass and cut, just keep it moving, keeping the defense on their toes.

GMA’s Jenna Mangan went to the foul line with 4:36 left in the third – she made the first, missed the second but the Monarchs grabbed the offensive rebound which led to a Kaylie Griffin jumper. Coleman then scored off an outlet pass from Kaylie Griffin to make it 29-23.

Gwynedd Mercy proceeded to use the 3-pointer to further increase its lead. Hannah Griffin found Newell for a trey for a 32-23 advantage at 3:06 while Coleman drained a healthy triple off a Hannah Griffin assist to make the margin 12.

“Honestly, I just wanted to keep the energy up,” Coleman said. “Cause the other team started getting another run and I knew I just did not want to lose this game.”

In the final seconds of the third, Kaylie Griffin drove and dished to Hannah Griffin for a three from the right wing that sent GMA into the fourth up 38-23.

“That was the best quarter I’ve seen us play all year,” Lonergan said.

Emily Primavera’s putback got the Lions within 38-25 but the Monarchs were content working the clock and pushed their lead as high as 17 after Bianca Coleman’s 3-pointer made it 43-26.

A pair of Kaylie Griffin 3-pointers helped GMA jump out to an 8-0 lead. The senior’s third triple of the first quarter put the Monarchs up 13-6 before two Saxton free throws at 1:21 had New Hope-Solebury trailing five after eight minutes.

“I think coming out with those three threes, knowing that I could make those shots really helped,” Kaylie Griffin said. “And I think it really motivated my team cause all right we’re going to make these threes and we’re going to keep going, we’re going to feed off each other.”

Hannah Griffin got down the lane for two and a 17-10 GMA edge before a three from the Lions’ Madi Fasti. Another Hannah Griffin basket made it 19-13 but two free throws by Kate Dougherty had New Hope-Solebury down four at halftime.

District 1-4A Final
Gwynedd Mercy 43, New Hope-Solebury 28
New Hope-Solebury 8 7 8 5 – 28
Gwynedd Mercy 13 6 19 5 – 43
New Hope-Solebury:  Juliana Covino 3 0-0 9; Kate Dougherty 2 2-2 7; Reagan Chrencik 1 3-4 5; Madi Fasti 1 0-0 3; Emily Primavera 1 0-0 2; Rachel Saxton 0 2-2 2; Totals 8 7-8 28.
Gwynedd Mercy: Sofia Coleman 4 2-2 12; Kaylie Griffin 4 0-0 11; Hannah Griffin 3 0-0 7; Maddie Newell 3 0-0 7; Bianca Coleman 1 0-0 3; Jenna Mangan 1 1-2 3; Totals 16 3-4 43.
3-pointers: NHS-Covino 3, Dougherty, Fasti; GMA-K. Griffin 3; S. Coleman 2, B. Coleman, H. Griffin, Newell.