CB South girls speed up, top Abington

ABINGTON >> When Central Bucks South’s girls’ basketball team gets things going at its pace, it isn’t a fun outing for the opponent.
Saturday afternoon in the SOL Challenge, Abington saw that the hard way as the Titans came in and set the pace in a 49-38 win over the hosts. Abington was done in by a key stretch bridging the second and third quarters and an inability to break the Titans’ hold on the tempo.
“There were two keys to this game,” Galloping Ghosts coach Dan Marsh said. “In the first quarter, they sped us up a little bit and we made a lot of bad decisions. They got that lead with the turnovers, we cut it to three then gave up a 3-pointer. After that, we start the third by giving up six straight points.”
With excellent guard in Taylor Dunn, Jordan Vitelli, Chloe Entenberg and Alexa Brodie, CB South coach Beth Mattern was able to burn clock in the second half while Abington tried to fight back.
“She had us by the throat at that point,” Marsh said. “What I told them is we have to eliminate the mistakes, we can’t allow the other team to dictate how we play and then we have to come out and take care of business.”
It was a great win for South, coming off its second setback of the season against North Penn. Courtney Dietzel made Ghosts forward Lizzie O’Leary work for all 14 of her points while Vitelli took advantage of Abington’s sped-up offense with four steals and 14 points.
Vitelli, a senior guard, staked South to a 10-7 lead on a first quarter 3-pointer as the Titans took a 12-7 lead at the end of the period. South closed the quarter on a 10-2 run and took a 16-9 run with 4:59 left in the second.
Abington turned in an 11-7 run that cut South’s lead down to 23-20 when Sammy Lochner drove and scored with 52.8 seconds left in the half. Sparking the run was five points and three steals from sophomore Sam Brusha, who finished the game with 11 points.
But with momentum finally back on its side, Abington couldn’t hold onto it. Brodie, a freshman, made a huge shot by sinking a corner 3 with 2.6 seconds left, sending the Titans to half with a six-point lead and a load of confidence.
“That 3, those first two possessions of the third, it was seven points right there and arguably, it could have won us the game,” Mattern said. “It was huge. Anytime, you can get the last word of a half and start the next half on your own terms, it creates a nice little cushion. That Abington team is good, they have size, they’re athletic and they can shoot. To be able to control that was what we had to have in order to win.”
South opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run, with three points coming via Mackenzie Ehresman at the line. In a blink, the Ghosts were down 12 and South was able to start taking time with the ball and letting its standout guards do their thing. Brodie closed the quarter, again with 2,6 left, with a pair of foul shots that handed South a 37-26 advantage.
The freshman’s nine points all came at critical moments, especially her bucket in the fourth quarter. After O’Leary converted a three-point play and just before Brusha hit a 3, Brodie scored a layup on a fantastic move she said she picked up from Sam Carangi of North Penn.
That layup gave the Titans a brief 10-point lead, and helped them stay up by two possessions after Brushas’ trey and two foul shots from O’Leary halved it in 90 seconds. Brodie then helped her team regain some space by driving, sucking in the defense and kicking out to Dietzel, who then found Dunn for a clutch 3 with 4:47 left.
“I’m just really proud of our decision-making today and our ability to execute what we wanted to do,” Mattern said. “You have to limit your mistakes when you play a team like this where matchups are so tight for us.”
Britney James got a layup to fall with 4:24 left to cut the lead down to 42-36, but after a stop, Brusha wasn’t able to connect on a 3-pointer and South started eating more clock, forcing the Ghosts to foul. After Ehresman made three of four at the line Lochner made it a seven-point game but Vitelli scored four in a row to seal the deal.
“We have youth, and three kids with varsity experience, so we’re learning,” Marsh said. “It’s that way the whole year. We’re not in a bad spot, we’re 10-5 and 7-1 in the league. Right now, we want to focus on Tuesday, we want to go in and beat Neshaminy, go in and take care of the league then worry about districts when we get there.”