Pennsbury shuts down Souderton, advances to SOL Tournament final

FRANCONIA >> Pennsbury girls basketball coach Frank Sciolla is not going to be confused with being a proponent of the current incarnation of the Suburban One League tournament.

But when the ball was tipped against a Souderton side with an identical 21-2 record entering Monday night’s SOL semifinal, the Falcons were set on playing their best on the same court they lost on a month ago.

“I’m not an enormous fan of this whole thing,” Sciolla said. “I’ve been very public about, very, very public so much so that I was asked not to say anything and I haven’t – until right now. Because there’s no stakes to this. But when we came out you definitely want to win.”

No. 3 seed Pennsbury’s zone defense stifled the No. 2 Indians offense while the Falcons got crucial 3-pointers to build a nine-point halftime lead then hold off Big Red after the break to advance to the final with a 48-34 victory.

“Our game plan going in tonight is that we were going to play our game, we’re going to establish our tempo which we weren’t able to do last time,” said Pennsbury senior Ava Sciolla, a Maryland commit. “And then once we got going, you cannot stop our team if we can establish our tempo and the people are knocking down shots the way my teammates were tonight.”

The Falcons (22-2) fell 40-34 to Souderton (21-3) in a SOL crossover Jan. 13 but Monday the SOL Patriot Division champs never trailed, knocked down nine 3-pointers – three each from Nicole Pompili and Nevaeh Dash – and led by as much as 16 in the fourth to snap the Colonial Division champ Indians’ 18-game win streak.

Pennsbury visits top-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh in the SOL final 7 p.m. Tuesday. The Colonials moved to 24-0 with a 55-35 win over No. 5 Abington.

“I wasn’t sure how I felt when we came up here. I don’t feel any differently,” Frank Sciolla said. “I’m going to say this, we will go and we will fulfill our obligation to the league tomorrow night but we will certainly not take any risks tomorrow night. I mean that 100 percent. We want to get ready for the (district) playoffs at this point.”

Both Pennsbury and PW are making their first appearances in the final of the SOL Tournament, which began in 2014-15 and had been a four-team playoff until expanding to eight teams when it returned this season after not being held during last year’s COVID-19 shortened campaign.

Frank Sciolla favors a return to the four-team format that would consist of the winners of the league’s four divisions.

“Patriot play Liberty and Colonial play the other one (Freedom) and then have a difference,” he said. “We’re playing Neshaminy on Saturday. They (Souderton) almost played (Central Bucks) West on back-to-back days. I like the charity aspect – play it all in the same gym, play it at Council Rock South, make it a day-long event, bring it back, do the same thing.”

Sofia Vitucci was 7-of-10 from the foul line in the fourth to score a team-high 13 points for the Falcons. Pompili added 11 points, Dash had nine points while Ava Sciolla collected all eight of her points in the first half.

“In the first game we drove into hands a lot, our little, small guards,” Frank Sciolla said. “Today was more about be more patient, get into gaps, kick it, get wide-open shot opportunities. Understand that they’re going to clog the lane with Ava and then be really, really solid in locating their shooters.”

Casey Harter scored a game-high 14 points while Teya McConnaha totaled 10 points for Souderton, which next plays in the District 1-6A playoffs. The Indians are the No. 2 seed while Pennsbury is No. 4 with both starting the tournament in its second round on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

“We’ve already won our SOL, the real title which is all we care about,” Ava Sciolla said. “We’re not a huge fan of these games just because we want to preserve our bodies before districts so tomorrow will be a different look. The people that we have on the floor and the way that we play this game because right now we’re just focused on keeping everybody healthy for districts which is what matters.”

Pennsbury utilized a 1-3-1 zone to throw Souderton’s attack off early, the Falcons going out to a 9-3 lead after consecutive Ava Sciolla baskets before the Indians scored the first quarter’s last five to pull within 9-8.

“Tonight it came together better than it had all season,” said Ava Sciolla of the zone defense. “We’ve been practicing it like crazy and finally, we’re moving as a unit which is great because this is the time it needs to happen.”

Pennsbury answered with a 6-0 run to start the second quarter – Dash hitting a three, Vitucci corralling a loose ball for a layup and an Ava Sciolla free throw for a 15-8 lead at 4:21.

A Harter 3-point play 13 seconds later had the Indians within four but back-to-back threes from Sciolla and Daniella MacDonald extended the Falcons’ advantage to 10. Harter’s foul shot with 7.7 seconds left made it a 21-12 at halftime.

Dash’s 3-pointer to start the third’s scoring had the Falcons up a dozen before baskets from Harter and Grace McDonough cut the margin to 24-16. But another Dash trey had Pennsbury up 28-16. After Brooke Fenchel knocked down a three, Pompili answered with a triple, putting the Falcons up 12. For there, the visitors’ advantage never dipped into the single digits.

Holding the lead and with Ava Sciolla playing through an injury – the senior described it as a “wonky patella” – the Falcons were fine with working the clock and picking their spots.

Vitucci drove for two for a 33-21 Pennsbury edge at the end of the third. A Mikayla McGillian jumper had Souderton down 10 but Layla Matthias and Pompili connected on consecutive threes to give the Falcons a 39-23 Pead.

“Without her (Ava Sciolla) in the second half it was impressive to still maintain our strength on the backboards cause they’re so good on the backboard,” Frank Sciolla said. “She couldn’t shoot anymore obviously or drive but she was able to get us a couple big drive-and-kicks for threes. Nevaeh Dash did a great job knocking them down, we got it from Nicole Pompili, Layla Matthias, so it’s a good win.”

A Harter 3-pointer made it 39-26 but Pennsbury was back up 16 at 41-26 after Vitucci hit the front end of a 1-and-1 with 2:09 remaining.

Souderton could only get as close as 10 at 44-34 in the final minute after a McConnaha 3-point play at 49.4 seconds then a Harter three.

Pennsbury 48, Souderton 34

Pennsbury 9 12 12 15 – 48

Souderton 8 4 9 13 – 34

Pennsbury: Sofia Vitucci 3 7-10 13; Nicole Pompili 3 2-2 11; Nevaeh Dash 3 0-3 9; Ava Sciolla 3 1-2 8; Layla Matthias 1 1-2 4; Daniella MacDonald 1 0-0 3; Totals 14 11-19 48.

Souderton: Casey Harter 4 4-5 14; Teya McConnaha 4 1-2 10; Erin Bohmueller 1 0-0 3; Brooke Fenchel 1 0-0 3; Grace McDonough 1 0-0 2; Mikayla McGillian 1 0-0 2; Totals 12 5-6 34.

3-pointers; P-Dash 3, Pompili 3, MacDonald, Matthias, Sciolla, S-Harter 2, Bohmueller, Fenchel, McConnaha.