CB West bands together, edges North Penn for SOL Continental title

DOYLESTOWN >> Jess Broskey wasn’t going to let Emily Spratt down.

She couldn’t, not after Spratt kept trying when most anyone else would have given up on the play. She couldn’t, because it would have gone against everything the Central Bucks West girls basketball team has spent the season  saying and believing about itself.

Jess Broskey wasn’t going to let Emily Spratt down and she didn’t, turning a hustle save on the baseline into an and-one score that all but sealed up Friday’s win over North Penn.

“It all starts with Maddie (Burke) down the other end, we’re always looking for teammates and Maddie found Emily down the court, but it was going out of bounds,” Broskey said. “A lot of teams, they would have quit on that play but it epitomizes our entire season. Emily hustles out of bounds, practically falls out of bounds, saves it to me and since she had my back, I had to have hers.”

For Broskey and her three senior classmates — Maddie Burke, Maddy McGarry and Olivia Irons — it was a night to celebrate a season that’s gone right, but a celebration they had to earn with a 56-46 win over the Knights to secure an outright SOL Continental title on their home floor.

“It’s so special the group we have, we want it for each other,” Broskey said. “None of us go out and ask ‘how many points do I have? What’s in the boxscore?’ Everybody is picking each other up, we love it and we could not be having more fun.”

West locked up its first conference title since the 2014-15 season, before anyone on the current roster was in a Bucks uniform. The night, which began with a ceremony for the four seniors, ended with them cutting down the net.

There was just one problem.

“I’ve never done it, I didn’t even know how to,” Burke said. “It was pretty fun.”

Bucks (16-3, 10-0 SOL Continental) coach Zach Sibel, in his first year leading the program, stepped in and showed the players how it was done, a fitting metaphor for the way he’s brought the group together. Broskey heaped tons of credit on Sibel for setting the tone for the season and Burke added that any time the team has felt frustrated, Sibel has got them back on track.

While they were assured at least a share of the title before tip-off, the Bucks wanted to make sure it was all their own, but the Knights (13-6, 6-4 SOL Continental) weren’t just going to let them. North Penn’s defense was excellent all game, but turnovers early plus some missed shots late coupled with West making plays proved a little too much.

“I’m proud of the girls, they stepped up and battled and until the fourth quarter, it was a game,” Knights coach Jen Carangi said. “Maddie was Maddie and Spratt hit a couple shots but we really executed the game plan pretty well.

“We just have to find a way to stop sabotaging ourselves, the turnover and missed shots. We’re getting there, and I think the good news is we were right there with the No. 3 team (in the district rankings).”

Burke spent much of the game in foul trouble, picking up two in the first six minutes of the game and two more in the third that left her on the bench until the final push. When she was in, the Penn State-signed senior hit some big-time shots but when she wasn’t, her teammates stepped up for her.

Anna Blue hit back-to-back threes late in the second quarter that allowed the Bucks to take a 25-23 lead into the half, Paige Gilbert spread out some timely buckets and Spratt got rolling late in the third quarter to help set up the finish. Broskey and Irons didn’t have big scoring nights, but their energy was felt.

McGarry, normally a reserve player, got the start on Senior Night and scored seven, including the go-ahead three that kicked off West’s 10-0 third quarter ending run.

“We set goals in the beginning of the season, we let the girls talk and every single one of them came in with the same mindset to play team basketball and win an SOL title,” Sibel said. “These girls deserve it. Every single girl down the line had the same idea and that’s what happens when a team comes together like this and has that kind of leadership, you can weather any storm.”

Spratt scored the last six of the third and McGarry opened the fourth with a hoop to put West up 46-37. North Penn, which had balanced scoring, netted the next six with a bucket from Valerie McGriff pulling her team within 46-43 with 4:51 to play.

McGriff led the Knights with 13 while Alli Lindsay had 10 and Imani Plaza came off the bench for 10 points. Sibel felt the Knights defense was as good as any he’s seen this winter and both Broskey and Burke said it was a game they had to work extra hard to win.

For North Penn, which held the No. 7 seed in District 1-6A pregame, it’s a setback but not one that takes anything out of their hands.

“In my opinion, that run in the third quarter was the game,” Carangi said. “We didn’t just quit and came back and played hard. We just have to make shots.”

Burke subbed in after the Knights cut it to three and did her thing. She assisted a layup to Broskey then after a stop, walked into a deep three that stuck the Bucks to a 51-43 lead with 3:21 left. After Plaza hit a three to give North Penn lift, Burke scored on a third-chance bucket, then made the long pass that Spratt saved for the Broskey and-one to ice the game.

“It was all mental, (North Penn) played really well, they were making shots and finally in the second half, we started making shots,” Burke said. “We just had to keep our heads in it. It was all defense, we were looking to get stops and get good offense from it.”

Broskey, who is playing through a knee ailment because taking time off it rest it just isn’t an option for her, saw Friday as the first step in what she hopes is a journey that stretches for two more months.

“It’s all heart, it’s all heart,” Broskey said. “We knew how much we wanted this game. All credit to North Penn, they came in hungry and we know from now on, we have targets on our back. It shows teams can make big punches but if we punch back, we know in our hearts we can do it and we’re showing it.”

CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 56, NORTH PENN 46
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 12 13 19 12 – 56
NORTH PENN 9 14 14 9 – 46
CBW: Olivia Irons 0 2-2 2, Emily Spratt 4 0-0 8, Jess Broskey 4 1-1 10, Maddie Burke 5 2-2 15, Maddy McGarry 3 0-2 7, Paige Gilbert 2 3-7 8, Anna Blue 2 0-0 6. Totals: 20 8-14 56.
NP: Alli Lindsay 4 0-0 10, Alaina Mullaly 2 2-2 7, Carley Adams 1 0-0 2, Valerie McGriff 5 1-2 13, Rachel Dunn 2 0-2 4, Imani Plaza 4 0-0 10. Totals: 18 3-6 46.
3-pointers: CBW – Burke 3, Blue 2, Broskey, McGarry, Gilbert; NP – McGriff 2, Lindsay 2, Plaza 2, Mullaly.