Hinkle, Samayoa help CB South edge Pennridge for 3rd straight win

EAST ROCKHILL >> With points at a premium Tuesday night, Central Bucks South’s Taylor Hinkle knew that effort could not be.

“Offensively for both teams we couldn’t really hit anything,” Hinkle said “It was just one of those nights we couldn’t really hit deep shots and outside shots. So we knew we had to find a way, if it was driving then drawing a foul or driving and kicking and then ripping and then finding another foul.”

The Titans recorded just one point in the first quarter against host Pennridge but bounced back in the following eight minutes. And late in the fourth of the low-scoring SOL Colonial girls basketball contest, South found a way to make enough plays to come away with a victory.

Hinkle’s two foul shots with 70 seconds left tied the game while Allison Sauers’ steal and layup in the final half-minute allowed Central Bucks South to edge the Rams 30-28.

“I’ll take it,” Titans coach Beth Mattern said. “We haven’t played in a week just cause after our tournament last Tuesday we really weren’t feeling well so we took a couple days off and then we weren’t in school yesterday so we didn’t get to practice so I was a little nervous.

“I think that first quarter really showed them, I said we’re just going to touch the basketball again and believe in ourselves, you know we went through our game plan and I thought they did a pretty nice job executing it in the end, they played hard my girls.”

Hinkle, a Holy Family commit, scored all 10 of her points in the second half after picking up two early fouls while Yordana “Yoyo” Samayoa collected all of her 11 points in the second quarter as the Titans (6-3, 2-3 division) won their third straight.

“Yoyo hit a couple big shots for us in that second quarter,” Mattern said. “Taylor had some foul issues and I just thought we battled and at the end it was nice that we had a couple people step up and just try and keep pushing.”

Pennridge (5-4, 2-3), meanwhile, was handed another close defeat, having dropped four of its last five – three coming by four points or less – since opening the season 4-0.

“This is like our fourth loss that we’ve lost by one possession, one or two possessions and you know what, we’re tired of it,” Rams coach Mike Elton said. “I don’t know what it takes to get them past that next step but we’ve had too many close games and we’re not able to close them out.”

Katie Yoder had a game-high 11 points while Anna Croyle chipped in eight points for Pennridge, which limited CB South to just a Sauers free throw in the first quarter. The Rams, however, could not take full advantage of the Titans’ slow start and led 9-1 at the end of the period.

A Croyle basket had Pennridge up 13-4 but Samayoa helped the Titans find a bit of offensive footing and cut the Rams’ lead down to 19-18 at halftime.

“Just kind of a slow trickle – they slowly got back into the game so that’s one of the things that we really have to work on,” Elton said. “That’s not the first time. Every loss we’ve had we’ve had a decent lead in the first half and we have to find a way to be able to close that out.”

After the third quarter finished with Pennridge ahead 25-24, it took more than five minutes before either side registered another point in the fourth – a Croyle block leading to Yoder finding Emma Pyne for a fast-break layup with 2:35 remaining to put the Rams up three.

But Hinkle responded with a jumper just inside the foul line and after a Yoder free throw made it 28-26 at 1:23, Hinkle was fouled 13 seconds later and connected on both ends of a 1-and-1 to knot things at 28.

Sauers proceeded to get a hand in the passing lane for a steal at midcourt and converted on a contested layup for a 30-28 South lead with the Rams calling a time out with 22 seconds left.

“She’s a great defender, she’s very quick on her feet, can read everything really fast, has a quick reaction time,” said Hinkle of Sauers. “So when she got that steal and she brought it there were two girls on her and I knew she was either going to draw the foul or make the layup. So I had trust in her.

“We got to have faith in each other and play as a team. And I knew that was going in.”

Croyle’s three from the left corner rimmed out and Samayoa came up with the rebound and was fouled with 2.9 seconds. A missed front end of a 1-and-1 gave Pennridge one last chance after Pyne grabbed the rebound and the Rams got a time out with 2.4 seconds. But Pyne’s three-quarters court heave was off the mark.

“I tell these kids every day this is a game of every possession matters,” Elton said. “And when you have two or three possessions that don’t matter, that’s the difference in the game.”

Both teams are on the road Friday for 7 p.m. SOL crossover games that count in the division standings – Pennridge taking on Truman while CB South faces Bensalem.

Three-pointers from Ava Fantaskey and Croyle gave the Rams a 8-0 lead before Sauers put the Titans on the scoreboard with a free throw at 1:59 left in the first quarter. A Yoder foul shot 14 seconds later made it 9-1.

Samayoa started the second quarter by knocking down a three but two Yoder free throws then a Croyle layup after South saved a ball going out of bounds directly to the Rams sophomore gave Pennridge its biggest lead of the night at 13-4.

Yoder made both ends of a 1-and-1 for a 19-12 lead with 1:43 left but the Titans ended the half with six straight points – four from Samayoa, who hit a pair from the line with 4.2 seconds to make it 19-18 at intermission.

After having to sit on the bench with two fouls, Hinkle made a quick impact in the third. The senior scored in transition after her steal to give South its first lead at 20-19 then put back her own miss for a three-point edge.

““It’s tough when you pick up two fouls, early fouls especially and the first quarter wasn’t even over yet so it was really tough,” Hinkle said. “So I sat the whole rest of the first half and I knew I had to come out strong and just contribute for my team rather if it’s offense or defense or getting boards, it doesn’t matter  I just had to do it for my team.”

Pennridge posted the next six points – a Fantaskey baseline floater giving the Rams back the lead at 23-22 while Pyne’s putback made it 25-22 before a Hinkle basket had CB South down one entering the fourth.

Central Bucks South 30, Pennridge 28
Central Bucks South 1 17 6 6 – 30
Pennridge 9 10 6 3 – 28
Central Bucks South: Taylor Hinkle 4 2-2 10; Yordana Samayoa 3 2-3 10; Madelyn Tantum 1 2-5 4; Alyssa D’Orazio 1 0-0 3; Allison Sauers 1 1-2 3; Totals 10 7-12 30.
Pennridge: Katie Yoder 1 8-10 11; Anna Croyle 3 2-2 8; Ava Fantaskey 2 0-0 5; Emma Pyne 2 0-0 4; Totals 8 10-12 28.
3-pointers: Samayoa 2, D’Orazio; P-Fantaskey, Yoder.