Plymouth Whitemarsh finds winning plays late against determined Haverford in District 1-6A quarterfinals
WHITEMARSH >> Plymouth Whitemarsh’s players knew it was in them and it was time to prove it.
For the first time all season, the undefeated and top-seeded Colonials girls basketball team entered a fourth quarter trailing in a game. No. 9 Haverford had made everything extremely difficult, the Fords bringing the right mix of toughness and physicality that had put PW in a position it hasn’t faced much of this year and potentially on the brink of title-derailing loss.
They hadn’t had to show it prior to Saturday, but there is a winning mindset in each and every Colonial player.
Thanks to that mentality, PW dug in, rallied back and took control in the fourth to stave off their toughest test of the season with a 36-28 win over the Fords to clinch a spot in the District 1-6A semifinals.
“Playing Haverford and teams like Haverford, it pushes us to be better than we are,” PW senior Jordyn Thomas said. “I think it helps us understand if we make a mistake here or a mistake there, we can get that back on defense or get it back on offense. It showed us we are this kind of team and we can make it as far as we want to.”
There’s a bit of history between Haverford and Plymouth Whitemarsh. The programs have met a few times in recent postseasons and played earlier this year in a December event in Delaware when a couple other teams had to pull out due to health protocols.
PW won that game and though neither team was at full strength, it did give Fords coach Lauren Pellicane a blueprint of what wouldn’t work against the SOL champions. Back in December, PW had used its size to great effect, feasting on lob passes in to its post players so if Haverford wanted a chance to spring the upset, it was going to have to neutralize that interior presence.
Both teams are good defensively, but the effort each put forth on Saturday was a on a different level. Haverford was determined not to have the breakdowns that PW has excelled at creating and capitalizing on this season by just running its offense until someone gets lost in the defensive shuffle.
“We did a much better job defensively on the bigs, we worked and stressed our placement defensively over the past couple days and I just thought it was an unbelievable effort by our entire squad,” Pellicane said. “There’s a reason they’re 27-0. They run their offense better than maybe any team I’ve seen this year and have multiple weapons. We tried to take a couple of their options out and we know if you do that, others can step up but we were going to take our chances.”
The game wasn’t played a high pace, but speed was a factor. PW coach Dan Dougherty noted the Fords are usually a more methodical team but on Saturday, they looked to push the ball up the floor quickly which limited the Colonials’ ability to pressure them full-court. Point guard Maddie Williams kept her team moving and Caroline Dotsey battled inside on both ends in the first half.
While it was low-scoring, the game was back-and-forth until PW’s fourth-quarter push. The Colonials, behind a terrific start by Thomas, led 13-9 after a quarter but trailed twice in the second and only had a lead at the half thanks to a tremendous defensive play by Lainey Allen leading to a Kaitlyn Flanagan score for a 17-16 lead.
“I thought the differences in the game were, in the fourth quarter, our ability to pressure in the half-court, we held Dotsey scoreless in the second half, we were eight-for-eight from the foul line and I didn’t think our defensive rebounding was good enough in the first half,” Dougherty said. “Haverford does not usually sprint the ball up the floor and they got four or six easy points that way, they varied their press break a little bit, which our girls struggled with too.
“I think we’re in a little bit of an offensive funk, but when that happens, you lean on the little things.”
PW managed just four points – all from Thomas – in the third quarter as Haverford’s physicality seemed to bother the Colonials. Junior Abby Sharpe in particular had a rough go of it, taking a lot of contact on every take to the rim without any whistles for her efforts but she would get her payback in a big way during the fourth quarter.
A three by Williams had put Haverford up 22-19 and the visitors led 24-21 at the start of the final quarter. Thomas found Sharpe inside for a basket to make it a one-point game and a few possessions later, in the first of many of those little things, Erin Daley forced a tie up that gave the ball back to PW.
Another little thing the Plymouth Whitemarsh coaches harp on is taking shots the players are comfortable with. For Sharpe, that’s a spot-up 3-pointer off a drive and kick, which is exactly what she did when Flanagan drove and found her in the corner for the go-ahead bucket with four minutes to go.
“As we’re getting further into this tournament, teams are going be better and more physical and I noticed they were being more physical on me but I just looked at it as they were also leaving my teammates open,” Sharpe said. “That shot, that’s a shot we practice every day and I felt confident taking it. To be able to give us that lead in the fourth, it felt really good.”
PW still needed to put the game away and got a pivotal stop with 1:40 on the clock when the defense forced an errant pass that Thomas was able to intercept still clinging to the three-point lead. The senior, a Jefferson recruit, then added another little thing to the ledge by setting a crunching screen that got Daley a free lane to the rim for a layup that put the Colonials ahead by four.
The defense got another stop then it was money time at the line as the hosts didn’t miss on any of their free throw attempts in the final 45 seconds.
“Every timeout, every time on the court we can get together as a group, we come together, focus and bring everyone back to one,” Thomas said. “We talk about, let’s forget what just happened and let’s go get the next. It’s important to see that as a team, we bring each other together and focus on just that one thing at a time.”
The Fords had their path to a district title cut off, but they are firmly in the state tournament and will play to determine their seed starting Wednesday at No. 5 Abington. They were a few shots and a few minutes short of toppling the top seed in the district, but saw they had what it takes to stand with a team of PW’s level.
“We told the kids they’re guaranteed at least three more games after today and our kids have earned that right,” Pellicane said. “We’re going to compete, no matter if we’re on the road or who we come up against. We did a great job buying into the game plan and executing it and we’ll try to get right back to doing that.”
PW will face No. 4 Pennsbury, a 50-48 winner over No. 5 Abington, in the semifinals on Wednesday. With the Falcons coming in at full strength, the Colonials will probably need to do a few more of the little things if they want to find a way into the district title game next weekend.
“I think that’s what makes us such a good team and why I think we can go far in this, it’s not one person scoring 25 points a game,” Sharpe said. “We have a really balanced team and that’s what ultimately persists, yeah, you can double this one person but it’s just going to leave the next person wide open.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh 36, Haverford 28
Plymouth Whitemarsh 13 4 4 15 – 36
Haverford 9 7 8 4 – 28
Plymouth Whitemarsh: Kaitlyn Flanagan 1 2-2 4, Erin Daley 1 4-4 6, Abby Sharpe 2 0-0 5, Lainey Allen 2 0-4 4, Jordyn Thomas 4 5-5 14, Fiona Gooneratne1 0-0 3. Totals: 11 11-15 36.
Haverford: Maddie Williams 2 0-0 5, McKenna Walsh 1 0-0 3, Caroline Dotsey 4 0-0 9, Emma Rowland 1 0-0 2, Mollie Carpenter 1 0-0 2, Aniya Eberhart 2 2-2 7. Totals: 11 2-2 28.
3-pointers: PW – Sharpe, Thomas, Gooneratne; H – Williams, Walsh, Dotsey, Eberhart.
