CB South shuts down Souderton in 2nd half
FRANCONIA >> There are plenty of expectations the Souderton girls basketball team have this season. But one coach Lynn Carroll did not hold was the Indians were going to go undefeated.
Tuesday night was the first setback for Big Red. Souderton could not hit from outside and visiting Central Bucks South’s defense clamped down on everything else. The Titans limited the Indians to just six points in the second half and pulled away for a 40-25 victory in the Suburban One League Continental Conference opener for both sides.
“I told them in the locker room, I didn’t come into this season thinking we were going to go 22-0. I knew a loss was going to happen at some point, it was a matter of when,” Carroll said. “And now it’s all a matter of what do we do. Figure out what to fix and commit to fixing it and getting back in the gym tomorrow and getting better at stuff.”
Haley Meinel scored eight of her game-high 15 points in the second quarter while Alexa Brodie added 12 points as CB South (5-0, 1-0 conference) completed a two-game run of avenging postseason losses from last year.
GIRLS #BASKETBALL: @Titan_Terror’s Alexa Brodie flashes the handles then drops in a shot off a spin move in the lane 3Q vs. Souderton. pic.twitter.com/2OXTt7GYmo
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) December 20, 2017
The Titans topped Plymouth Whitemarsh — which beat South in the District 1-6A semifinals — 58-52 last Saturday and four days later shut down Souderton, which won their PIAA second round contest en route to reaching the state semis.
“Both of the PW game and Souderton game is like a revenge game for us cause last year we lost to them,” Meinel said. “So this was pretty important for us.”
South held Souderton 23 points below its average through the first five games (48.4) with the Indians (5-1) unable to reach 30 points for the first time since falling to North Penn 45-27 on Jan.3, 2017.
“For the most past, we kind of stayed stuck in the middle so they couldn’t get those inside shots and then force them out so they’d take the outside shots,” Meinel said.
The Indians could only hit one 3-pointer, that coming from Alana Cardona in the first quarter to make it 3-3 — the only tie of the game. The Titans then scored the next six points, the last two on a Meinel steal and layup.
“Every year that I’ve been coaching against (CB South coach) Beth (Mattern) this is what they do and it is very disruptive,” Carroll said. “One of our keys to the game was handling their disruptive defense. And at times we did and at times we didn’t. We know Haley Meinel’s very good at jumping the passing lane and getting steals. We let her do that a couple of times.
“So the things that they do well, they did very well and we didn’t do much well.”
GIRLS #BASKETBALL: @SoudertonGBB’s @acardona2300 scores inside & is fouled off a @meganwalbrandt assist 1Q vs. CB South. pic.twitter.com/fDeeqN5qLH
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) December 20, 2017
Cardona finished with 14 points in pacing Souderton, which looks to bounce back 7 p.m. Friday at Central Bucks East.
“Teams are going to want to be us and we’re going to want to beat other teams and that’s just how it is,” Cardona said. “And I think we just have to come out really intense and not really take anybody for granted cause everybody in our conference is really good.”
Central Bucks South is home against Pennridge 7 p.m. Thursday.
“Listen, statements in December mean nothing when you’re sitting at home in February and March,” Mattern said “So, listen, they’re going to be tough to beat the second time cause they shoot the ball better than what they did tonight and but we’ll deal with that when the time comes.”
Down 13-8 early in the second quarter, baskets from Cardona and Megan Walbrandt pulled the Indians within one. But fourth straight points from Mackenzie Ehresman made it 17-12 South while a Meinel bucket had the Titans up six at 21-15.
“They were definitely overplaying a lot so we had a lot of turnovers in the beginning and towards the end. And then also they really packed it on the defensive end, too,” Cardona said. “And they were relentless to get steals, so just with their intensity it was hard to get shots in the basket.”
GIRLS #BASKETBALL: @Titan_Terror’s @haleymeinel with a steal & layup 1Q vs. Souderton. pic.twitter.com/f3lZ3ROsIi
— Mike Cabrey (@mpcabrey) December 20, 2017
Two Meinel free throws with 35.8 seconds left made it 23-17 before Kate Connolly hit two from the line at 21.0 seconds and Souderton went into halftime down four.
The Indians got within two twice in the third — the last at 25-23 after a Walbrandt basket — but Brodie collected the final four points of the quarter. The junior got into the lane then dropped in a shot off a spin move to make it 27-23 then hit a runner before the buzzer for a 29-23 advantage.
“Hailey Meinel killed us in the first half. Everything we know she does well she did well. She played really well and Alexa Brodie played really well in the second half once they got that lead,” Carroll said. “She makes it very difficult to do much defensively with her speed in that situation.”
After a Meinel free throw had the Titans up 32-23 with 4:45 in the fourth, Cardona cut the lead to seven but that ended up being Souderton’s final points.
