Spring-Ford staves off Central Bucks East, 42-37

ROYERSFORD >> Spring-Ford head coach Mickey McDaniel was concerned about the quick turnaround from Wednesday’s Pioneer Athletic Conference championship victory to Friday’s first round of the District 1 Class 6A playoffs.

Four minutes into Friday’s visit from Central Bucks East and out to a 13-point lead, McDaniel’s concerns appeared unnecessary.

But the longtime Spring-Ford coach’s instincts were right: every bit would end up necessary for his Rams to advance.

No. 22 seed Central Bucks East rallied from the big early deficit to ultimately gain a third-quarter lead, but No. 11 seed Spring-Ford came up with enough shot-making late to survive 42-37 Friday night at Spring-Ford.

“We really had to dig deep for that one,” said sophomore Siena Miller (8 points). “It got nerve-wracking in the third quarter. Our energy dropped a bit but we really dug deep and brought the energy back up to pull out the win.”

The Rams (19-5) advance to a meeting with No. 6 West Chester Rustin on Wednesday, Feb. 23 and are now guaranteed at least playbacks for one of District 1’s 12 state playoff berths in 6A. Central Bucks East (10-12) saw its season come to a close.

Sophomore guard Anna Azzara scored a team-high 11 points and most crucially the 3-pointer that gave the Rams the lead for good with 4:36 to play. Microwave substitute Aaliyah Solliday added nine points – all in the second half – while sophomores Miller and Katie Tiffan both drained a pair of 3-pointers on the way to 8-point nights.

Senior Elise Duffy scored the Patriots’ first eight points on her way to a game-high 18 points. Duffy, a Drexel recruit in soccer, was the game’s standout bringing the battle to Spring-Ford.

After the one-sided start, CB East was within eight at the end of a quarter (19-11) and whittled it to three at halftime, 23-20. After four scoreless minutes to start the third, the Patriots opened the period on a 6-0 run after an Erin Leray putback, Duffy free throws and Leray jumper that gave the Patriots the improbable lead at 26-25.

While Azzara’s 3-pointer gave the Rams the lead for good, Tiffan’s second 3 with 2:28 left put Spring-Ford up 40-35 and let the air out of what had become a very tense one-possession contest

“I wasn’t 100 percent sure I was going to take that shot,” the sophomore said. “But I was told I should take the shot. Whether it went in or not I was going to have to be OK with it. And it went in so I was really happy about that.”

“That gave us a lot of relief,” said Miller. “And it gave us the energy to pick it up and factor to drive us home.”

Tiffan and Miller are first-year starters and key members of Spring-Ford’s standout sophomore class that have helped Spring-Ford maintain its lofty standards. While fellow sophomore starters Azzara and Mac Pettinelli (4 points) played crunch time for last year’s District 1 champion and PIAA finals team, Tiffan and Miller have been thrust into big positions and done well all season for the Rams.

“We’ve worked hard every day in practice and try to show it on the court,” Tiffan said. “I like helping out the team. It’s definitely different than last year.”

“I think I learned a lot from last year. Seeing Lucy (Olsen), Abbey (Boyer) and Emily (Tiffan), and Hailey (Hudak) and Anna (Azzara) too, their chemistry on the court was so good,” said Miller regarding the Rams’ Class of 2021 players. “You could learn a lot just sitting and watching them, and then practicing with them gives you a lot of experience.”

Spring-Ford, currently on a six-game winning streak,  has already won four postseason games – its three wins in the PACs were over district qualifiers Upper Perkiomen, Methacton and Perkiomen Valley – and will qualify for the state tournament for a fifth straight year with a win in either of its next two games.

After its sluggish start while unable to cope with Spring-Ford’s early half-court trap, the Patriots won most of the battles – rebounding, turnovers – except the one that counts most: the scoreboard.

Narrow losses were a theme for the Patriots this season.

“It’s such a broken record,” said head coach Liz Potash. “We have 12 losses on the year and this is our 10th loss of under six points. It’s hard. …  We’re super proud of them. I’ve never seen any group come in to battle the next day like they have. We lost three games by one this year but they come into practice and just say, ‘OK, what do what we have to do?’ It’s never a lack of effort.”

CB East’s season included wins over No. 2 seed Souderton and No. 12 Central Bucks West, but  inconsistent scoring could plague the Patriots. 

“When we got the lead in the third quarter I thought, ‘We might win this.’ But that’s what we did all year. We beat Souderton, beat CB West and hung with everyone else. We know we can play.”