CB South honors seniors with win over Souderton
WARRINGTON>> The Central Bucks South girls basketball team starts three seniors who total nine years in the Titans program. With that comes experience, leadership, and a “yes coach” attitude throughout the team.
“I think the seniors definitely lead by example with the effort they put in and what they want to accomplish,” South coach Beth Mattern said. “They always have a smile on their face…they are true team players.”
CB South honored their seniors — Lexi Edwards, Megan Kuypers, and Melissa Veal — on Senior Night with a 48-39 victory over a quality Souderton team to finish out the regular season strong.
“If their name is called, they’re ready to go,” Mattern continued about her seniors. “They’ve really grown a lot.”
Even with all that veteran leadership, it was a sophomore who carried South to victory on Tuesday night. Alexa Brodie played strong on offense all night, driving to the bucket and scoring to the tune of 17 points. Brodie finished out the game at the line as well, hitting four free throws to put the game away. The point guard was 7-for-8 from the charity stripe on the night.
“That’s what she does. She played great,” Souderton coach Lynn Carroll said. “We did not execute defensively unfortunately. And when we did, there were several times when we did exactly what we were supposed to do, and she still made a nice play. But we weren’t consistent enough on the defensive end trying to execute our game plan.”
The Souderton game plan defensively was to limit Brodie, and they were able to do that at times, which is when the CB South role players came up big.
Senior Veal was consistent all night, scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds.
“It was just a big deal because it was my last league game,” Veal said. “We were just really pumped up before, during warm ups.”
“They stepped up and executed the way we practiced,” Mattern said about her role players. “It’s nice to see them get some credit and (have) their abilities be shown tonight. They were clutch. You don’t beat a good Souderton team on accident.”
Also important in beating sixth-ranked Souderton was Maddie McShane, who scored six second-quarter points.
“Anytime Maddie came in off the bench is definitely in our favor because she just plays hard all the time…it was nice for her to be able to execute and do what we needed.”
McShane led a run that saw the Titans win the second quarter 18-11 and head into the locker room with a 22-19 lead.
“I think we all wanted to make sure we stepped up and played as a team together because we really needed this win,” McShane said. “We wanted to do it for the seniors too on Senior Night.”
Kate Connolly led Souderton on the night with 15 points and four rebounds.
“Kate seemed to really want the ball in the fourth quarter,” Carroll said. “It was my impression that she felt there was a little bit of a mismatch, she had a size advantage. For the most part if I have a player who seems she really wants it, I’m gonna try and get her the ball.”
She scored five early fourth-quarter points for Big Red to cut the deficit to two, but they never got over the hump. That was largely due to 12 turnovers, including some costly ones late.
“(CB South) deserved to win the game tonight,” Carroll said. “We did not deserve to win and they absolutely did. They played better on both ends of the court and they played with some energy.”
Alana Cardona was strong as well for Souderton with 11 points. Megan Bealer didn’t score in the game, but she did collect five rebounds and dished out five assists.
Souderton finishes its regular season with a 17-5 record, including an 8-4 season in the Suburban One League Continental.
Both teams were clicking on offense in the first half, especially in the second quarter. After Souderton won the first 8-4, the second quarter saw a combined 29 points.
South entered the final week of the regular season as the eighth seed, and finished it with a win over quality opponent and a 7-5 conference record. The only thing left to do for the Titans is wait.
“So much can happen in those rankings in a week,” Mattern said. “As I just told the girls, ‘Listen. We’re done. 17-5 for the regular season the second year in a row is a great accomplishment. We’ve done our part…the rest will fall into place…Whatever the draw is the draw is.”
For now the seniors, and their teammates are going to continue enjoying their time together.
“I really like playing with my team. I think we just have a good bond,” Veal said. “I like being a part of the team and having a good connection with them.”
“The seniors are a really good three girls,” McShane said about her teammates. “They’re really fun. They bring intensity to our practices and they pick everyone up when we’re down…they make sure we know that we’re a team and they’re always there for us.”
