Second half helps Hatboro-Horsham top Souderton for first SOL Continental win

HORSHAM >> The ball danced around the rim, skipping from front to back and hanging for a split second before dropping through with just .4 seconds left in the third quarter.

Beneath the basket, Erin Wingen exhaled in relief after her steal turned into a coast-to-coast layup and gave her team a spark as it headed into the final frame. Wingen kept it rolling as she helped the Hatboro-Horsham girls basketball team top Souderton 48-40 at home Thursday night.

Wingen had 13 points, 10 after halftime as the Hatters picked up their first SOL win of the season thanks to an inspired second half.

“It was a lift for us,” Hatters coach Kathie Sims said. “She was all over the place, her defense, her offense, everything, she was just on all night. She played smart and hard.”

Offense was at a premium in the first half for both benches. Souderton (5-9, 2-6 SOL Continental) shot just 2-of-8 from 3-point territory while the Hatters (5-9, 1-7 SOL) struggled to finish at the basket despite plenty of chances to do so. For much of the first quarter, the score sat at 3-3 after Julia Thornton and Megan Walbrandt trades makes from outside early in the frame.

The first quarter managed to finish on a bit of a flurry as the Indians took a 7-5 lead into the second thanks to a three-point play from Alana Cardona with 14.8 seconds left. Aside from the missed lay-ups, the Hatters’ major issue was their turnovers, giving the ball away 10 times before halftime.

“We’re coming out slow a lot and it hurts us, but our slow tonight wasn’t as slow as it’s been,” Sims said. “We were kind of even with them, so that was big and the second half, they came out and took it to them. They’re finally playing with some confidence and heart.”

Souderton just couldn’t seem to capitalize on the turnovers and coughed up the rock seven times of its own, with Hatboro-Horsham’s Bergen Sims swiping three passes in the first half. After a slow first 10 minutes, both teams perked up a bit over the final six minutes of the first half.

After Walbrandt hit a jumper on a Cardona feed, the Hatters came back with seven straight on a layup by Haley Seifert, a nice turnaround shot by Cassidy Quattro and a wing trey from Wingen to go up 15-11 with 1:47 left. Souderton countered with its own 7-0 spree, spurred by Krista Schneider.

The senior started things with a straight-away 3-pointer, then hit Cardona with a long pass for a layup and found Liz O’Hara for a baseline jumper with 15.5 seconds left to put Big Red up 18-15 at the intermission.

“The last time we played (Souderton), we were down four at halftime,” Sims said. “Then we went out and nothing worked. Tonight coming back out here, they knew they had to come out and play hard right off the bat.”

Hatboro-Horsham got things cleaned up during the break and came out with a strong third quarter that saw it cut down on turnovers and turn up the scoring. Bergen Sims was a spark with five points in the quarter as the Hatters scored 17 to surpass their first half total.

Thornton and Quattro scored three each while Wingen had four, half coming on her late lay-up as Hatboro-Horsham took a 32-29 lead. Wingen started the fourth quarter how she closed the fourth, curling into a short jumper early in the frame.

Souderton scrapped and came back to tie it 34-34 on a Sandone 3 and two foul shots by Schneider. The lead didn’t hold long as Wingen fed the ball in to Quattro, who turned and drove for the score with 5:04 left. The senior’s hoop was more than a go-ahead hoop as Hatboro-Horsham did not trail again in the game.

“They needed to believe they could,” Sims said.

Souderton’s 3-point shooting stayed cold in the second half, though Sandone did splash in pair of treys after halftime. After Quattro’s drive and score, Seifert hit a pair of foul shots and Wingen scored again to push the lead to 40-34.

Seifert didn’t get frustrated by some early misses and finished with six points and tied Quattro for the team lead with 11 rebounds. The two seniors combined for seven boards in the fourth quarter and Quattro had two in the final 40 seconds that helped the Hatters ice the game away.

“She had every single one of them at the end, she played great and she played hard,” Sims said. “Haley played hard, she played so hard and I feel bad because she was flying up and down the floor and missed a few layups. But you can’t forget the rest of the game and when she’s in there, we’re at our best.”

Sims had five steals and backcourt mate Thornton had two as they played a solid game after halftime in terms of taking care of the ball, scoring and passing. Souderton cut the lead down to 42-38 on a three-point play by Dowd, but Wingen hit two from the foul line and after rebounding a missed 3, Quattro did the same to extend the lead back to eight.

Cardona led Souderton with 15 points while Sandone dropped in six. Quattro paced the Hatters with 15, Wingen had 13 and Thornton scored seven. The win was not only Hatboro-Horsham’s first SOL victory of the year, but broke a 17-game losing streak in the conference.

“It’s gratifying because we’ve been trying to convince them they’re capable,” Sims said. “Tonight they proved it to themselves that they are very capable.”