Radnor keeps its cool, rallies for win over Ridley

RIDLEY TWP. — Some of Radnor’s biggest wins in the first month of the 2022-23 season were punctuated by good foul shooting.

“It’s been our saving grace all season,” coach Rob Baxter said following his team’s 56-50 victory at Ridley Thursday night. “We do make our foul shots. We don’t make many during practice, but we do tend to make them down the stretch when we need to. … We have won at least two or three games because of our good foul shooting ”

Radnor rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second half thanks in large part to its clutch shooting from the charity stripe Thursday. The Raptors were 19 of 25 overall and made 11 freebies during a 25-point surge in the fourth quarter.

“They didn’t panic,” Baxter said, “and I think that’s the biggest thing. They were calm and did what they needed to do to get the win.”

Radnor was down 30-21 in the third period when the fouls started to mount. Ridley had no more fouls to give with about four minutes left in the third stanza. The Raptors chipped away at their deficit and eventually grabbed the lead in the final seconds when senior guard Mary Sareen stole a pass and scored an easy layup to give her team a 31-30 advantage.

Ridley senior guard Adria Kitzinger, who tallied a team-high 15 points, swished a 3-point field goal early in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 33. Radnor then ratcheted up its defense and scored the next seven points to take a 40-33 lead, which it did not relinquish.

“We got sped up and just stopped doing what we were successful doing,” Ridley coach Roe Falcone said. “You saw some of what I thought were too many one-way fouls. It was 7-1 at one point. But you have to make adjustments. If they’re calling it, then we need to clean it up and do a better job.”

Radnor (9-3) is playing well despite the loss of senior forward Paige Yurchak, who is sidelined with an injury. Her absence has allowed other players to gain valuable minutes, notably freshman guard Anna Reger, who has taken Yurchak’s spot in the starting lineup.

“You can tell we have really come together as a team, especially with Paige being out,” said guard Caroline Monhan, who produced 11 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals. “We just found a way to win today and it was really nice.”

Sareen has been the focal point for the Raptors, a steady two-way guard and strong on-the-ball defender. When Radnor went to a man defense, Sareen was glued to Ridley’s best ball handlers – Peyton Berger, Kyla Carney and Kitzinger. Ridley shot the ball well in the first half, but connected on just 9 of 30 attempts from the floor after intermission.

“We find a way to win. Sometimes it’s not pretty, but we win and it’s always a team effort,” said Sareen, who scored a game-high 17 points to go with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. “It’s never one player. Every game we play it’s multiple players in double digits. We have multiple players stepping up to knock down free throws at the end of the game. It doesn’t matter who they foul, we have confidence that we’re going to still come out on top. So, it’s definitely a team effort and it’s been that way all year.”

Reger tallied eight points in the final quarter for the Raptors. Kate Gallagher chipped in eight points, while Meg Dole and Riley D’Entremont each netted six.

Carney drilled three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points for the Green Raiders (3-7). Abbi Hinchey provided 11 points and five assists, while Berger added eight points and nine rebounds

In other Central League action:.

Garnet Valley 50, Penncrest 19 >> Haylie Adamski had a huge game for the Jaguars. The sophomore guard compiled 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals. Kylie Muholland added a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and three assists. Savannah Saunders had eight points in the victory.

Emily Huggins paced the Lions with six points.

Haverford 68, Strath Haven 50 >> Caroline Dotsey scored 18 of her game-high 24 points in the first half to lead the Fords to their 10th straight win to start the season.

Rian Dotsey netted 16 of her 19 points after halftime for Haverford, which improved to 6-0 in the Central. Mollie Carpenter added nine points.

Freshman Chloe Hunold led the way for the Panthers with 15 points. Olivia Voshell contributed eight points.

Springfield 48, Upper Darby 12 >> Kaitlyn Kearney went off for 24 points as the Cougars routed the Royals.