Upper Dublin clinches another SOL American title, beats PW

UPPER DUBLIN >>Plymouth Whitemarsh’s attempt to bushwhack conference-leading Upper Dublin Tuesday night was well planned and well executed – for one quarter.

Then the Cardinals found their stride and it was the Colonials’ turn to chase.

Allison Chernow led the way with 10 points and Ashley Barber and Josie Barrett each added eight as the Cardinals prevailed. 41-26, clinching at least a tie for their fourth straight Suburban One League American Conference crown in a game played in just over one hour’s time.

“We came out and tried to shorten the game against them,” said Colonials head coach Dan Dougherty. “We played zone and that worked well early, but we probably stayed in the zone too long.

“And we struggled against their defense all night.”

As for the Cardinals, they shook off a two-point first quarter and scored 19 in the second to take a 21-10 lead into halftime.

Chernow got the home team rolling in the period, scoring eight points, including a pair of treys.
And from that point, the Cardinals were not threatened.

“Allison hit those three straight shots in the second quarter, and that’s what we needed,” said Cardinals’ head coach Morgan Funsten. “She’s been that consistent all year.

“And it was nice to see the ball go in the basket in the second quarter.”

That 19-point quarter opened things up and left the Colonials reeling, although Dougherty said all was not negative.

“They did a good job of limiting Taylor,” Dougherty said of Colonials’ standout guard Taylor O’Brien, “but people like Lauren (Coscia) had 10 points and Ali (Diamond) did some good things.

“We’re a young team, and I felt we played evenly with the best team in the conference for three of four quarters, so we can take positives out of this.”

As the Cardinals, they’ll seek the conference kill shot, needing just one win in their final three conference starts to secure the outright title.

“We struggled early, which might have had something to do with not really being able to practice for a couple of days because of the weather,” Funsten said. “But we kind of found our rhythm in the second quarter.”