Four score in double figures as Plymouth Whitemarsh tops CB West in SOL quarterfinals
WHITEMARSH >> Saturday’s Suburban One League quarterfinal was the Plymouth Whitemarsh girls basketball team’s third game in three days and the fourth in the last five.
But the busy schedule did little to disrupt the undefeated Colonials’ high quality of play against visiting Central Bucks West
Top-seeded PW had its offense working inside and out in racing out to a 21-5 lead during the first quarter, extending its advantage to as large as 23 before the break then kept the No. 8 Bucks at bay in rolling to a 66-45 victory.
“It was definitely hard for sure – we’re all tired, we played four games straight for the past five days but we just have it in our heads that we’ve going to win each game we play,” Colonials senior Lainey Allen said. “We’re going to play the hardest we can even if we end up losing we’re always going to come out strong and try our best. So I think that’s been our mindset these past couple games which has got us through these important games.”
Allen, a Maryland-Eastern Shore commit, scored 12 of her game-high 18 points in the first half and was one of four PW starters in double figures as the Colonials (23-0) advance to host SOL Liberty Division rival No. 5 Abington – a 50-40 win over No. 4 Upper Moreland – in the semifinals 7 p.m. Monday.
It’s the third meeting this season between PW and the Galloping Ghosts, the Colonials winning the previous two – the most recent meeting last Tuesday as Plymouth Whitemarsh clinched the division title with a 58-46 victory.
Two days later, the Colonials topped Wissahickon 56-15 then on Friday bested Philadelphia Catholic League heavyweight Cardinal O’Hara 52-40.
“I’m excited to play the same team for the third time knowing that they’re going to come out prepared for us and we’re going to come out prepared for them,” Allen said. “And no matter what happens I think that we’re just going to get better as players knowing that we can either beat a team for a third time or lose to a team and experience that and grow from it.”
The PW-Abington winner faces either No. 2 Souderton or No. 3 Pennsbury in the final Tuesday with the higher seed hosting.
Erin Daley scored 10 of her 14 points in the first quarter while Jordyn Allen and Abby Sharpe added 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Colonials. Kaitlyn Flanagan finished with nine points.
“I think today was a display of just how talented our starting five is,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said. “Lainey Allen, on that final breakaway (in the fourth), she looked like she could get up and throw it down. She was really special out there today.
“And everybody takes turns having explosive games but today I really thought we demonstrated all five of these kids can score, they can all five defend, we defend without fouling, we can press for four quarters so I thought it was good – good example of just how talented our team is.”
Emily Spratt totaled a team-high 14 points while Katie Finnan hit a trio of 3-pointers to score nine points for Central Bucks West (16-7), which followed a 43-34 loss Friday to District 1-6A’s second ranked team Souderton with a quick turnaround to face the No. 1 ranked side.
“What we talked about in the locker room is ‘Hey we have been in there with the top two teams in the district, again back-to-back nights, understand that you guys can do it,’” CB West assistant coach Jen Fabian said. “We have some pivotal moments where we need to make some changes and maybe work on our composure a little bit but you can hang with the best, so there’s no reason we can’t make a fun district run.”
The Bucks’ deficit got as big as 24 in the third but they rallied to cut the margin to 12 twice in the fourth but could not get any closer. West now prepares for the district tournament, heading into the playoffs ranked 12th which would give it a first-round home game.
“I think one of the key characteristics of our team is we fight, right, this group no matter what’s going on, they’re going to fight back,” Fabian said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re playing the Philadelphia 76ers or a municipal team we’re going to fight the whole 32 minutes.”
A Spratt 3-pointer pulled the Bucks to within 7-5 in the first quarter, but PW proceeded to score the next 14 – eight provided by Daley, the junior hitting a pair of threes then capping the run with a basket off a Fiona Gooneratne assist to make it 21-5.
“We had a lot of mismatches on our team against this shorter team,” Allen said. “So we were able to see those looks and call for the ball and just see each other. So those open baskets were easier to have.”
Nia Perry’s three had the Bucks trailing 23-11 at the end of the first eight minutes but the Colonials started the second quarter with an 11-1 burst. Sharpe hit a trey for a 33-12 lead with an Allen basket inside putting the hosts up 35-12.
A Sharpe basket had PW again up 23 at 39-16 before consecutive West threes from Alexis Castro and Finnan made it 39-22. Two from Allen gave the Colonials a 41-22 lead at halftime.
“It’s the maturity of this team – they knew, they went out and celebrated after the end of the regular season yesterday, we cut the nets down, they had a good time doing it,” Dougherty said. “They went out, seven o’clock had a pizza together and they know what they’re doing. It’s the maturity of the team.
“They know I got to go to bed and I got to wake up this morning, I got to have a good breakfast, I got to get to the gym and got to start mentally preparing for a team that we didn’t even know we were going to play.”
This year’s SOL tournament is the first with eight teams and with seeding based on the District 1 power ratings that meant the four quarterfinals matchups were not set until late Friday.
“It’s incredibly disrespectful, frustrating to us as coaches to have to throw all this stuff around at 11 o’clock at night last night and just think that we’re all going to be ‘Oh, let’s just roll the balls out and have a game today,’” Dougherty said. “We’re scrambling, watching film this morning and it’s frustrating to think we spent the whole week thinking we’re going to play Upper Dublin on Saturday, they’re thinking they have a back-to-back with Souderton.”
“And then 11 o’clock last night because some people can’t put scores in by 10 o’clock at night by some ridiculousness you change the matchups and then expect everybody to be like “OK, yeah we’re fine, all good.’”
In the third, a Tai Henkels basket had West down 43-25 before the Colonials put together a 8-2 spurt to hold their largest lead at 51-27 after Allen scored inside off a Flanagan assist.
But the Bucks kept battling and hit four 3-pointers – two by Finnan – during an 18-6 run to pull within 12 twice in the fourth, the second time at 57-45 after two Spratt free throws with 3:58 remaining. PW, however, pulled away by collecting the final nine points.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 66, Central Bucks West 45
Central Bucks West 11 11 15 8 – 45
Plymouth Whitemarsh 23 18 12 13 – 66
Central Bucks West: Emily Spratt 3 6-8 14; Katie Finnan 3 0-0 9; Alexis Castro 2 0-0 6; Tai Henkels 2 0-0 5; Gabi Senior 2 0-0 4; Nia Perry 1 0-0 3; Ava Longo 2 0-1 2; Gabby Reichner 1 0-0 2; Totals 16 6-9 45.
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Lainey Allen 8 2-2 18; Erin Daley 5 2-3 14; Jordyn Thomas 5 2-4 13; Abby Sharpe 5 0-0 12; Kaitlyn Flanagan 3 3-4 9; Total 26 9-13 66.
3-pointers: CBW-Finnan 3, Spratt 2, Henkels, Perry; PW-Daley 2, Sharpe 2, Thomas.
