Ibarrondo takes command as Neshaminy holds off Souderton
LANGHORNE >> Neshaminy coach John Gallagher enjoys being around Lola Ibarrondo, but he needed the junior to be somewhere other than standing a few feet away from him Friday night.
Early in the third quarter of Neshaminy’s SOL crossover matchup of division leaders against visiting Souderton, Ibarrondo kept getting stuck on Gallagher’s side as the host team’s offense stagnated against the visitors’ 1-3-1 defense. So while Gallagher is usually happy to have Ibarrondo around, he really needed her to get moving and said as much.
Ibarrondo got the message, going into attack mode and leading the way as SOL Patriot leader Neshaminy downed Souderton 37-32, handing the SOL Colonial leader its first division or crossover loss of the winter.
“She was on my side in the 1-3-1 and we’re not getting anything out of it thanks to all the great coaching that I did, so I said ‘Lola, you’ve got to get going,'” Gallagher said. “She did, she had some tough finishes, man, left-handed and right-handed that really opened up the door for us.”
Ibarrondo scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half, adding a number of critical plays on the defensive end in crunch time as Neshaminy (10-2, 8-1 SOL Patriot) twice held off Souderton (12-2, 8-1 SOL Colonial) comeback bids. The visiting Indians struggled offensively for stretches, but got an 18-point effort by Casey Harter that gave them two chances late to try and send the game to extra time.
Souderton spent the week on the road, scrapping together a late win at Pennsbury on Tuesday before finding itself in another slugfest on Friday. The first half emphasized the slugfest part, with both teams methodical in their approach and held back by the opposite defense for a 14-14 deadlock at intermission.
“Their offensive rebounds hurt us a lot, they boxed out extremely well and didn’t give us many. Neshaminy played extremely well,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “They were the better team tonight for sure. I didn’t think we were going to go through the rest of the regular season without losing one and I’m sure we’ll see them again, probably more than once, but we have to learn from this.”
Neshaminy started the third quarter by jumping a Souderton pass for a steal, a play that Gallagher called important in getting his team untracked. It certainly seemed to galvanize the hosts, who got an 8-0 run from Ibarrondo and senior Taylor Gurysh for a 22-14 lead midway through the frame.
Souderton closed with the last five points and when Harter split a pair of free throws following a sequence where the Northwestern recruit blocked a jumper, gathered the rebound and pushed the floor to draw the contact, the lead was down to 24-22. Neshaminy came back with five straight, the latter four from Ibarrondo who would then stretch it to a 7-0 run and a 31-22 lead on a strong baseline drive capped with a terrific reverse finish under the basket.
“Once I made one, I just wanted to keep going at them,” Ibarrondo said. “Especially once we got to the one-and-one, it was huge, I knew if we could keep attacking them and keep getting them in foul trouble, we could take them out early. When we attacked, we were getting looks.
“The threes really weren’t falling for us today, so I knew we had to keep going downhill.”
Gurysh, who is bound for Kutztown next year, finished with six points but added five rebounds and one of the game’s biggest plays with a great cross-court pass that found fellow senior Jess Purdy for a 3-pointer that put the hosts up 10 with 4:20 to play. Junior Reese Zemitis, the other piece of Neshaminy’s core trio, was covered by Harter most of the game but did post eight points and was able to draw some of the fouls on Souderton that got Neshaminy into the bonus for the closing stretch.
With both teams playing pretty sound defense, Friday’s outcome would come down to which team got more in the margins. Neshaminy had the edge there through its offensive rebounds, pulling down eight of its own misses, ability to force turnovers and contributions from supporting players like Purdy or sophomore Alena Cofield.
“We had a hard time scoring because they’re so darn long and they really know their spacing,” Gallagher said. “They’re fun to play against because they’re pretty consistent on offense and Casey Harter is such a hard guard to handle.
“They went to the 1-3-1, which we definitely weren’t ready for and that’s on me, they got it two but we overcame that.”
Neshaminy didn’t do itself any favors at the foul line in the fourth quarter, shooting just 6-of-12 at the stripe which kept the door open for Souderton to make one last push. A basket by Grace McDonough cut the lead to 34-32 with 1:34 left before Zemitis split a pair at the line to make a three-point game.
Ibarrondo was able to pick off a pass on the following possession, getting fouled soon after but the junior went 0-of-2 at the line, giving Souderton one more chance. When the Indians’ first look at a three fell short, Harter grabbed the offensive rebound, leading to a timeout and a second last chance.
This time, when the shot fell short, Ibarrondo was there to rebound it and was fouled again. This time, she was not going to miss.
“I was frustrated, I was mad at myself, the first one went in and out, so I took myself out of it on the second one so I knew I had to make it up,” Ibarrondo said. “I knew I was going to make the other two, I had to get them back.”
Neshaminy, which also has a win over Lansdale Catholic this season, is back on the court Sunday against AACA leader Villa Maria Academy at the Hoops for Hope event being held at Ursinus.
Souderton will return home Tuesday against Council Rock North. After two road games against teams that were able to show a couple flaws, Carroll was just eager to get her team back in the gym and back to work.
“We’ll show up tomorrow and there’s no doubt in my mind every girl on this team will have a goal of making sure we don’t feel this way again,” Carroll said. “This loss, to me, is not a big deal. In the end, I think this will end up being good for us and we will learn a little bit more about what we need to get better.
“Neshaminy deserved to win the game, they played really well on both ends of the court.”
Neshaminy 37, Souderton 32
Neshaminy 6 8 10 13 – 37
Souderton 6 8 7 11 – 32
Neshaminy Alena Cofield 2 0-0 4, Lola Ibarrondo 6 4-6 16, Taylor Gurysh 3 0-2 6, Reese Zemitis 1 6-8 8, Jess Purdy 1 0-0 3. Totals: 13 10-18 37.
Souderton: Erin Bohmueller 1 0-0 3, Mikayla McGillian 1 0-0 2, Casey Harter 7 3-4 18, Teya McConnaha 2 2-4 7, Grace McDonough 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 5-8 32.
3-pointers: N – Purdy, S – Harter, McConnaha, Bohmueller.
