Erin Daley adding offense for Plymouth Whitemarsh

HORSHAM >> Erin Daley knew her role was going to change as a senior at Plymouth Whitemarsh. She was able to focus on defense as a junior with a ton of surrounding talent on a team that went 34-0 and won a state championship.

With four of the top six players from last year’s team gone, Daley knew she was going to take on a bigger offensive role.

So far, so good.

Through six games, the 6-foot forward is averaging 15.1 points per game. In her last three, Daley scored a career-high 25 points, 18 points and, in a 61-38 Suburban One League Liberty Division win at Hatboro-Horsham Thursday night, 16 points.

“She’s a great basketball player,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “The last couple of years, her role on the team wasn’t necessarily a scorer. The last couple of years we had such a balanced five-player attack and this year, trying to get new faces out there. She is taking charge more. She is a very talented offensive player. She can shoot, she’s made multiple threes this year too.”

“Obviously last year coming off of our very big season we had five really, really good all-around girls who could score the ball,” Daley said. “I knew losing four of the six of our players I was going to need to step up, especially because I was going to be one of the older people and a leader on the team. Defense is my No. 1 thing. I’m always focused on defense first, but I’ve been working on my offense more, trying to attack the lane more because I know I need to be more of an offensive threat. I think last year I held back a little too much. I’m always looking to pass the ball as well to my teammates. I think my size and my aggressiveness to want the ball off of offensive rebounds and pushing the ball up the court are some of the main reasons why I’ve gotten that many points.”

Daley’s aggressiveness on the offensive glass was on display in the Colonials (5-1, 2-1 SOL Liberty) win Thursday. She had multiple sequences where she grabbed offensive boards and went right back up for baskets.

Among the four players lost from last year’s team were forwards Lainey Allen and Jordyn Thomas. Daley played the small forward position alongside those two 6-footers, but now is playing at power forward.

“I think Erin’s natural position is the four,” Dougherty said. “The last couple of years with Lainey Allen and Jordyn Thomas on the floor for us, we used her athleticism as the three. Her more-natural position is the four and that’s why I think she’d be a college four, also. Not many kids can score with their back to the basket and she can. She has post moves to score with her back to the basket. At the high school level that’s hard to defend. It’s hard to tell a kid which way you’re supposed to turn and all that kind of stuff.”

Daley made an impressive shake move with her back to the basket against the Hatters (3-3, 1-2 SOL Liberty), but was fouled. She went 4-for-5 from the free-throw line in the game after going 10-for-12 in her 25-point performance against Garnet Valley last week. She’s hit a few three-pointers early this season after working on her shooting and improving her confidence during the AAU season with the Philadelphia Belles.

Daley’s offensive skillset meshes well with the Colonials other returning starter, senior Abby Sharpe, and guards Angelina Balcer and AJ Avery. Sharpe hit four three-pointers in an 18-point effort against Hatboro-Horsham while Balcer, a senior, and Avery, a freshman, each hit two threes.

“It’s the potent outside-inside combination,” Dougherty said. “When teams play us in man, that leads to the athletic guards that we have. Teams play us in zone and we hit a couple shots from the outside, that makes it that much harder to stop Erin on the inside. Same thing with man, too. We’ve played some good teams to start the season. They can stop your man-motion for one or two passes, but then next thing you know somebody is switched onto somebody they shouldn’t have switched on and Erin does a good job of taking advantage of that and her teammates do a good job of finding her.”

Balcer and Avery joined Sharpe and Daley in double figures, scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively, against the Hatters.

Plymouth Whitemarsh used an early 18-2 run to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 20-6 lead. Sharpe hit three threes and scored 11 points in the first eight minutes.

The Colonials defense dominated the second quarter. They forced the Hatters into 11 turnovers and held them to zero made field goals. PW won the quarter, 14-4, to take a 34-12 lead into halftime.

The lead ballooned to 30, 55-25, at the end of the third quarter.

Alli Hewish led the Hatters in scoring with 12 points. Leah Harrington added 10 points and Kitty Randa eight.

Plymouth Whitemarsh 61, Hatboro-Horsham 38
Plymouth Whitemarsh 20 14 21 6 – 61
Hatboro-Horsham 8 4 13 13 – 38
PW: Abby Sharpe 6 2-2 18, Erin Daley 6 4-5 16, Angelina Balcer 4 2-4 12, AJ Avery 4 1-1 11, Azzy Crumpton 2 0-0 4, Haley O’Hara 0 0-0 0, McKenna Winland 0 0-0 0, Quinn Daley 0 0-0 0, Taylor Williams 0 0-0 0, Joslyn Perez 0 0-0 0. Total 22 9-12 61.
HH: Caroline Shegogue 2 0-0 4, Abby Waeltz 1 0-0 2, Maggie Smith 0 0-0 0, Kitty Randa 3 2-2 8, Alli Hewish 5 0-0 12, Leah Harrington 3 2-2 10, Maddy Patel 0 2-2 2, Madison Duggan 0 0-0 0, Mia Fisher 0 0-0 0, Kateryna Mliuzan 0 0-0 0. Total 14 6-6 38.
3-point goals: PW Abby Sharpe 4, Angelina Balcer 2, AJ Avery 2. HH: Leah Harrington 2, Alli Hewish 2.