Jenkintown three-peats as BAL champion after holding off New Hope-Solebury

MORRISVILLE >> Late-game free throws aren’t for everybody.

Jenkintown junior Carly Mulvaney is part of that select group who wants to be on the line late in a game with a chance to deliver crucial points. In the midst of a frantic comeback bid by New Hope-Solebury on Saturday, Mulvaney brushed off any pressure to knock down some game-sealing free throws.

A fast start and clutch foul shots proved enough as the Drakes edged the Lions 47-37 at Morrisville to win their third straight BAL tournament title.

“I love shooting free throws at the end of games,” Mulvaney, who went 4-of-4 at the line late, said. “I always prepare myself that they’re going to go in before I shoot them and that helps me mentally before I get the ball.”

The teams met in the regular season, with Jenkintown scratching out an overtime win at home so the Drakes were ready for another challenging game. Coming off a double overtime win against Lower Moreland in the BAL semis on Thursday, Jenkintown also prioritized a strong start.

Thanks to Katie McGrath and Molly Walsh, it’s just what the Drakes got. New Hope-Solebury, which now heads to the District I 3A tournament, scored the first points of the game but Jenkintown responded with a 15-0 run as Walsh (six) and McGrath (nine) accounted for all the points.

“That first quarter was unbelievable,” longtime Drakes coach Jim Romano said. “Katie McGrath was on fire, she’s our only sophomore in the starting five and she set the tone. We do have a lot of firepower, Molly Walsh hit a couple big threes and everything was going our way.”

Jenkintown’s aggressive defense sparked the offense, creating some turnovers and yielding the kind of open shots and easy scores that a team can get rolling off of. Mulvaney got her first score late in the quarter and the Drakes held a 17-6 edge after eight minutes.

McGrath and Walsh continued to lead the wagon for Jenkintown and by the half had combined for 22 of the team’s 24 points. While New Hope-Solebury trailed 24-12, the Lions had started to force some turnovers and were giving the Drakes fits on the offensive glass.

“Last time we played them, we won in overtime and knew they would come out strong so we wanted to at least match or have more energy than them,” Mulvaney said. “A lot of our girls came out and made plays, we made a lot of shots early on which helped us control the game.”

McGrath scored all 13 of her points in the first half and Walsh had 10 of her 15 before intermission. Lauren Brockwell notched all five points in the second half while Mulvaney stepped in to lead Jenkintown to the finish with 12 of her 14 coming in the third and fourth quarters.

Mulvaney, who added four assists and three steals, needed to have a big half with the Lions surging back into the game. New Hope-Solebury closed within 29-20 on a three-point play by Regan Chrencik midway through the third but Jenkintown responded with an 8-2 run consisting of Mulvaney assisting threes from Brockwell and Walsh before hitting two at the line.

“We really work off each other, we have unselfish players and when we pass to each other and make shots, that’s when we get in the flow of things,” Mulvaney said. “Molly and I, we’ve been playing together since we started playing basketball and Lauren, we’ve also played together for so long. We only had two seniors last year, so we molded well and only continued it.”

Jenkintown doesn’t have any seniors this year but this is far from an inexperienced group of players.

“We don’t have a senior so the leadership is coming from the juniors, but they’re saavy and they’ve been through it,” Romano said. “As freshmen, they were on a state championship team and last year they had pretty good success going to the final four again. They’re playing like seniors.”

Chrencik led all scorers with 18 and she did all she could to try and will the Lions to a comeback. Rachel Saxton came on late offensively, finishing with 10 points while Sabrina Vlahovic chalked up 12 rebounds to go with her seven points.

After Mulvaney scored with 5:20 left in the game to go ahead 41-27, the Drakes didn’t score again for nearly four minutes. In that span, New Hope-Solebury was able to close within seven points, making it 41-34 on a Chrencik putback with two minutes to go.

“The pressure definitely got to us a little bit, they’re very quick,” Mulvaney said. “We once we settled down, Coach called a timeout and we all took a breath and re-composed ourselves. We knew we had to just take care of the ball and it would be our game.”

Jenkintown’s lead was still just seven after Kate Dougherty hit two free throws for the Lions with 1:06 left. The Lions fouled Mulvaney off the ensuing inbound, with the junior sinking both free throws and replicating the feat 40 seconds later after the Drakes got a stop on defense.

The Drakes, now with a third straight BAL trophy in their possession, will look to win their fifth straight District I A title. Top-seeded Jenkintown has a bye in the first round and will host its first district game next Saturday.

“Everyone played really well today and I hope our players continue to grow,” Mulvaney said. “We did everything we needed to do to get this win and I hope we use it as momentum for the future.”

JENKINTOWN 17 7 8 15 – 47

NEW HOPE-SOLEBURY 6 6 13 12 – 37

J: Katie McGrath 5 3-3 13, Lauren Brockwell 1 2-2 5, Carly Mulvaney 4 6-6 14, Molly Walsh 4 3-5 15. Totals: 14 14-16 47

NHS: Sabrina Vlahovic 2 3-4 7, Rachel Saxton 3 3-6 10, Kate Dougherty 0 2-2 2, Regan Chrencik 7 3-3 18, Juliana Covino 0 0-2 0. Totals: 12 11-17 37

3-pointers: J – Walsh 4, Brockwell; NHS – Saxton, Chrencik