skip navigation

Bensalem girls, boys both get off on the right foot

12/11/2021, 1:45am EST
By Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)

It's everywhere in the Bensalem girls' basketball program.

From the Owls' warm-up shirts to the top of their printed roster and even on their scouting reports, it has permeated every level of the team's structure. It may only be three simple words, but it is the basis of everything Bensalem is trying to accomplish this season.

"We Not Me."


Delaney Bell (left) and Amber Howard led Bensalem to an encouraging opening-night win over Upper Moreland. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

Within the program, there was a quiet optimism that the mixture of returning players and talented underclassmen would react the right way and yield a return to the District 1 playoffs. Friday, the Owls crossed the first mark off the list, downing Upper Moreland 32-28.

"It's a really special feeling, we've been waiting for this moment for so long," Owls senior Delaney Bell said. "We haven't won a home opener in a long time, so that feels great and hopefully it's the start of a great season."

Bensalem, led by current Del-Val standout Haley Keenan, qualified for Districts in 2019-20 but couldn't recapture that magic last winter in a 7-13 season. Second-year Owls coach Steve Johnson said it's already too long of a drought and he's pumped the "We Not Me" mantra since last season wrapped up.

If it's summed up in three words, it is enacted in many, many other ways.

"We started a trend, every basketball player, if they see each other in the hallway between class, they have to high-five each other," Johnson said. "All that stuff, it seems silly but it really matters when it comes to crunch time because there's a bond there and that bond can't be broken if you're constantly working to strengthen it every day."

The Owls also have an outstanding young player in sophomore Amber Howard. A 6-foot guard, Howard plays high-level summer ball with the Philly Belles and earned honorable mention All-SOL Patriot after averaging close to a double-double as a freshman but it's the way she's fit into the team mantra this year that drew praise from her coach on Friday.

On Friday, Howard made one of the biggest plays of the game by willingly giving up the ball. With Upper Moreland having clawed back within a basket, the Golden Bears sent a double team at Howard at the top of the arc.

Instead of taking it on herself, she passed to Maddie MacDougall who proceeded to hit a critical three that gave the Owls a 29-24 lead with 3:35 to play.

"It's something we've worked on, I was ready for it," Howard said. "She was open, I passed it and she made it."

We Not Me.

Bell is one of numerous Owls who also happen to play soccer for the school. She along with her younger sister Devon, a freshman, MacDougall, Sam Daut, Averi McCoy, Erin Devlin, Peyton Miller and Sydney McCoy were all part of a soccer team that had its best season in several years this fall.

However, they also fell a few spots short of district soccer playoff bid, only adding to the internal motivation this winter.

"We have so much talent on this team and I really think we can do something special," Bell said. "Coming up short in soccer, it just gives us more motivation to be a family, to win and execute and do it together."

Fittingly, Upper Moreland knows where Bensalem is coming from. The past two years, the Bears were the team with the young standouts and multi-sport athletes that could catch unwary opponents by surprise.

This year, coming off an SOL Freedom co-title and a District 1 5A playoff run, that's not a luxury Upper Moreland has anymore. The team's top players, junior EmmyFaith Wood and sophomore Holly Gohl, are known commodities and they're going to draw the bulk of defensive attention just like they did against the Owls.

Bears coach Matt Carroll wants to see more of an edge out of his team and hoped Friday's loss would show UM just can't show up and surprise anybody at this point.

"How we practice is why we lost that game," Carroll said. "We don't get after each other enough. We're too nice to each other, we're kind, we don't hit each other and we're not physical. (Bensalem) showed it, they really, really wanted to beat us and they showed the way they were engaged with each other and celebrated after the game.

"I think the loss is really going to help us get better."

League play proved to be a stumbling block last year, with the Owls going just 2-8 in SOL competition. Picking up wins in the gauntlet that is the home-and-away sets with their rivals in the Patriot, plus this year's crossover with the Colonial conference, won't be easy but would go a long way toward that coveted playoff spot in February.

The Owls won't have to wait long to measure up, with Patriot champ Pennsbury coming on Tuesday to open SOL play.

"There are going to be ups and downs but we have to keep that mentality of continuing to push each other," Johnson said. "That's where the mentality of 'We Not Me' comes in, if one girl's down, the next girl in picks her up. You have to be there for each other and if we can keep that 'We Not Me' identity within the team, that's what will help us when we start to struggle."

Howard said the belief from the coaching staff has inspired confidence within the team and they've embraced an underdog mentality.

"I want them to think we came out different than we did last year," Howard said. "We have a better team and a better program because we play together."

"We want to be a force to be reckoned with," Bell said.

We. Not Me.

~~~


Jeremy Rodriguez (above) and the Bensalem boys snapped a long losing streak to Abington in convincing fashion. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

Abington has beaten a lot of teams in the past decade, but there's no doubt one of the Ghosts' most frequent victims was Bensalem.

This is a new-look Ghosts team, but the front of the uniforms still say Abington and the Owls were looking at Friday's 77-71 victory in their home opener as a big one. Playing in front of their home fans for the first time since the 2019-20 season, the Owls gave the Bensalem faithful plenty to get excited about.

Guard Jeremy Rodriguez, a two-way catalyst in the Owls' opening-night outcry, chalked it up to months of preparation that started last March.

"You feel all the love, all the energy and when you feel that, you just want to play hard," Rodriguez, who scored 18, said. "We haven't beat them in, I think 10 years, and it will really help us down the road."

Bensalem led 37-30 at halftime but really got going in the third quarter thanks to its defense. With Rodriguez almost looking like a free safety picking off passes, the Owls used a 9-0 run predicated on turning the Ghosts over to go in front 53-37.

Rodriguez got it going, swooping in to steal a pass under the basket, outletting the ball and then hustling up the floor to cap the play with a trail 3-pointer. The 6-foot senior, who showed some tremendous body control while contorting his way to some tough baskets over a long Abington lineup, chalked it up to repetion and preparation.

"I would say it's instinct, Coach (Ron Morris) has us do these drills every day," Rodriguez said. "We're used to doing it so when it actually does happen, it's just muscle memory."

Abington fell behind by as many as 18 but did make a late run to get back within six. Coach Charles Grasty led last year's team through a slow start all the way to the District 1 6A title game and wasn't expecting this crew to have it all together at the start.

Cleaning up the turnovers was first on the to-do list but Grasty still has plenty of faith in the potential this team has.

"A lot of our guys weren't used to this type of speed, so this was a good one to learn from," Grasty said. "We're not down on them, we saw some positive things. It's a good game to open up with."

In a foul-heavy game, with 24 whistles in the first half alone, Morris extolled the depth of his team as a major factor in getting to the half with a lead. Antonio Morris was excellent off the bench for the Owls with Jake Wineberg and Tra Edwards also giving good minutes.

The starters were effective too, with Allen Myers putting up 16 and Aaron Sanders matching Rodriguez with 18.

It's one win and there's a grind of an SOL schedule starting on Tuesday, so the Owls aren't going to rest too much on it. However, it was a sign that all that time over the past nine months was worth it.

"Last season didn't end the way we would have liked, so we immediately started telling the guys we had unfinished business," Morris said. "We got right back in the gym and have been going all spring, all summer, all fall. It's a matter of finding what pieces to push in at the right time."


D-I Coverage:

Small-College News:

Tag(s): Home  Upper Moreland  Abington   SOL Patriot (B)  Bensalem  High School  Women's  Andrew Robinson