GIRLS’ BASKETBALL: Spring-Ford, Tiffan sisters quiet Upper Dublin

UPPER DUBLIN — It was something you don’t see very often, especially around here: a drought in February.

With a nine-point lead after the first period, the third-seeded Upper Dublin Cardinals seemed poised for another win in Saturday’s District 1 Class 6A quarterfinal against visiting Spring-Ford. But then the script flipped.

The Cardinals went the entire second and third quarters without a field goal, and No. 6 Spring-Ford rammed its way into the semis with an impressive, 44-39 victory in front of a full house at Upper Dublin High.

The Rams’ recipe? Defense and rebounding. Rebounding and defense. Oh, and the Tiffan sisters.

“I think it was about our pressure on defense,” Christina (Tina) Tiffan said. “And, for me, I could hear everyone talking and telling me what to do on the screens, and that really helped. Then, once we got a few steals, we came back with our run.”

The Tiffans traded off guarding Upper Dublin standout senior Amy Ngo, who took over at point guard after her sister, sophomore Megan Ngo, suffered a knee injury two weeks ago. While Amy still finished with a game-high 16 points, facilitating the offense was made more difficult by the Tiffans.

First, it was Katie guarding her. Later, when foul trouble required an assignment change, Christina took over against Ngo, who, after a pair of early threes, got seven of her remaining points at the foul line.

Upper Dublin’s Bridget DiMartile, left, works against Spring-Ford’s Kareena Preuss during the teams’ District 1 Class 6A quarterfinal at Upper Dublin High School on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (MediaNews Group)

Also, the Rams (22-5) forced 12 turnovers, pulled down 20 rebounds, and kept UD’s Tamia Clark — an inside and outside presence who was one of the Suburban One League’s top scorers — off the board for the first three periods.

Clark came to life in the fourth, finishing with nine points, but it wasn’t quite enough to lift the Cardinals (24-3).

“We work on rebounding and boxing out a lot in practice,” said Katie Tiffan, who led S-F with 15 points. “I think we knew they weren’t going for every board, and we took advantage of that and just crashed every time. And even though we had our own specific jobs, the help defense was key at the end (against Clark).”

Upper Dublin was 0-for-20 from the field in the middle two quarters.

“The start couldn’t have been any better,” Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten said. “I liked the shots we were getting today, unfortunately they just weren’t dropping in the second and third quarters. And I thought we gave up on a couple possessions defensively in the second quarter, and it got us. We compounded some mistakes on the offensive end by not getting back on defense or not boxing out. That’s something we’ve got to get better at.”

The Cardinals committed six turnovers in the second period, which turned the tide of the game. They suddenly were out of sync and didn’t recover until late.

“I feel like rebounding was a big part of it, and we rebounded really well,” said Spring Ford’s Kareena Preuss, who finished with eight points. “And Tina and Katie played great defense on Ngo.”

Anna Azzara poured in 11 points for the Rams, who will face No. 2 Conestoga in the district semifinals.

Brighid Brady added eight points for Upper Dublin, which, like Spring-Ford, had already clinched a state berth. The Cardinals now head to the playback bracket to determine state playoff seeding.

“They’re a really well-coached, Morgan has always done a fantastic job, and you always have to be prepared when you play Upper Dublin,” Spring-Ford coach Mickey McDaniel said. “You can’t make a lot of mistakes or bad decisions, because they’ll take advantage of them. His girls just keep playing and playing, and that’s what happened (in the fourth quarter). We had a couple rough shots and made some decisions that didn’t go our way, and they made it a game at the end. They’re going to be tough as things move along.

“Coming into this game, one of our main focuses was to rebound,” he said. “We got to the glass and didn’t give them a lot of second shots. That was key.”

Midway through the final period, Upper Dublin twice pulled within three. A 3-point try by Clark to tie it at 36 rattled in and out. A deep 3 by Ngo soon pulled the Cardinals to within three again, 39-36, and with 1:06 remaining, Brady heaved a 3 that cut the deficit to two, 41-39. But Spring-Ford was able to stave off the rally as UD had to start fouling. Katie Tiffan sealed it at the line.

“We’re a little undersized, so we have to rebound with effort, and we did have some good effort, but in the second and third quarter, we let turnovers and missed shots affect us on the defensive end,” Funsten said. “The effort in the fourth quarter, and in the second half overall, I’m very proud of the girls.”

Megan Ngo was on the sideline in a wheelchair a day after undergoing surgery on her right knee to repair a torn ACL and meniscus, her leg propped up in a black plastic brace. Before, during and after the game, a stream of well-wishers came over to greet her.

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Spring-Ford 44, Upper Dublin 39

Spring-Ford     8          18        7          11        —        44Upper Dublin  17        4          3          15        —        39

S-F: Katie Tiffan 4 1 4-5 15, Anna Azzara 3 0 5-7 11, Kareena Preuss 3 0 2-2 8, Aaliyah Solliday 2 0 0-0 4, Mae Pettinelli 0 1 0-0 3, Christina Tiffan 1 0 1-2 3. Totals 13 2 12-16 44.

UD: Amy Ngo 0 3 7-8 16, Tamia Clark 2 1 2-4, Brighid Brady 0 2 2-2 8, Bridget DiMartile 1 0 1-2 3, Nora Brady 0 1 0-0 3. Totals — 3 7 12-16 39.

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Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X at @the_defranc.