Souderton Area battles past Neshaminy in SOL Tournament semis
FRANCONIA TWP — With persistent defense and a trio of second-half threes, Souderton Area squeezed its way out of a tight contest with Neshaminy and into the SOL Tournament Finals.
Big Red prevailed 34-32 over the Skins on Saturday, advancing to face either Plymouth-Whitemarsh or Abington in the tourney championship on Monday or Tuesday night.
“It just kind of shows how we are as a team,” senior Casey Harter said of her team’s play in the final minutes. “We had composure and did what we had to do to get the win.”
The victory was Souderton’s seventh in a row and it lifted Big Red’s record to 21-3. Neshaminy is now 18-6 on the year.
“Reese Zemitis was amazing,” Harter said of the Skins guard, who scored a game-high 17 points. “We honestly played great defense on her and the rest of the team but we just had to keep fighting. We kept them under 40 points so we live.”
Harter (13 points) made some big shots for Souderton, particularly during a crucial second-half push.
She nailed a three and later hit a short jumper to keep Big Red on top, 19-17, in the third quarter.
Souderton would take a 23-22 edge into the fourth.
Brooke Fenchel and Erin Bohmueller each hit from three-point range for Souderton, and suddenly the lead was at 29-22.
“In the second half, it was Casey just finding a way to score. And Erin and Brooke with those two huge threes,” Big Red coach Lynn Carroll said. “That gave us enough breathing room where we could afford a few mistakes down the stretch.
“Neshaminy’s matchup zone is very, very good. They disrupted what we were trying to do. And that’s a big part of why they kept us in the 30’s.”
A short jumper by Harter provided Souderton a 31-24 advantage.
The Skins made one more run, getting to within 33-32 when they made a steal off an in-bounds pass and converted it for two.
Teya McConnaha hit one of two foul shots for Souderton with 18 seconds to go, increasing the lead to 34-32.
Neshaminy had one more chance, but Bohmueller blocked a three-point shot by Zemitis as time expired to nail down the victory for Souderton.
“It’s so exciting because last year we fell short (in a loss to Pennsbury in the semis),” Harter said. “We can’t wait. This is one of the things on our list, which is very long and we want to complete. It’s awesome we got to have this opportunity and we’re really excited for it.”
Said Carroll: “The girls felt like they had some unfinished business to take care of with this tournament.”
Souderton Area 34, Neshaminy 32
Neshaminy 9 4 9 10 – 32
Souderton 8 6 9 11 – 34
Neshaminy: 3 Alena Cofield 1 0-0 2, 11 Lola Ibarrondo 0 4-4 4, 13 Taylor Gurysh 2 0-0 6, 20 Ava Irizarry 1 0-0 3, 22 Reese Zemitis 8 0-0 17. Totals 12 4-4 32.
Souderton: 5 Erin Bohmueller 1 0-0 3, 10 Brooke Fenchel 1 0-0 3, 11 Mikayla McGillian 3 0-0 6, 12 Casey Harter 4 4-4 13, 15 Grace McDonough 2 0-0 4, 22 Teya McConnaha 2 1-2 5. Totals 13 5-6 34.
3-pointers: N-Gurysh 2, Irizarry, Zemitis; S-Bohmueller, Fenchel, Harter.
