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Upper Moreland tops New Hope as Chrencik gets 1000

02/10/2022, 10:45pm EST
By Rob Rose

Rob Rose (@RobRoseSports)

For the past three years, Upper Moreland’s EmmyFaith Wood and New Hope-Solebury’s Reagan Chrencik have been on opposite sides of the court competing for the same championship.

The Suburban One League Freedom division foes split the league title last season, both are among the top-10 scorers in the league as juniors this year and key players for teams with postseason plans.


EmmyFaith Wood (left) and Reagan Chrencik (right) will team up this offseason for Comets Basketball. (Photo: Rob Rose/CoBL)

However, within a month the league rivals will become teammates when they both join the Comets AAU squad, and showed on Thursday night what kind of combination they could be on the court.

Wood set a career high with 28 points, while Chrencik had 18 and eclipsed 1,000 points for her career on her home floor, but Upper Moreland left with the 53-45 win and season sweep in a year when they secured a solo SOL-Freedom title.

“It's definitely exciting and I know there's a lot already on that team that we're coming to,” Wood said. “We’re looking to be additions to that team and I think it’s going to be really fun and be a really good year.”

The pair also played for separate AAU teams prior to next season. Wood was with the Mid-Atlantic Magic, while Chrencik played for the Philadelphia Belles.

Chrencik didn’t know Wood would also be on the Comets with her until she showed up to a workout and saw her there. Having a familiar face made the transition easier and she added that she looks forward to playing on the same team for the first time after years of competing against each other.

The Lions’ leader became the eighth player in program history to reach the 1,000-point mark with seconds left in the first quarter. Chrencik needed seven points when the game started and once she reached the milestone she wasn’t sure what to do.

For a few seconds before the buzzer sounded and her teammates charged the court with signs in their hands while family and friends cheered in the crowd, Chrencik sprinted back on defense so she didn’t embarrass herself.

“I honestly didn't soak in it at the moment because I was pretty sure I was there, but I didn’t want to be the first one to celebrate,” Chrencik said. “When (the game) stopped, it was like, ‘What do I do now?’ It was definitely a lot of fun, but it's just now setting in.”

The layup that led to a brief stop in play was the lone moment the Lions had to cheer in the first quarter. Wood and the Bears made sure of that.

The Bears’ junior was unstoppable from the game’s start with 16 points in the opening eight minutes with four 3-pointers. Upper Moreland built a 16-point advantage and held New Hope-Solesbury without a point for the first four minutes and never let go of the lead.

With the win, Upper Moreland improved to 17-5 and second in the PIAA District 1 5A power rankings. They’ll be one of the favorites in the 12-team tournament, along with Central League squads Springfield (Delco.) and Marple Newtown plus Bishop Shanahan; a win in their first game will guarantee a states appearance, though with five district qualifiers, even a loss wouldn’t knock them out for good, a couple of play-back wins making it happen as well.

One classification lower, New Hope-Solebury dropped to 11-9 in No. 4 in the 4A power rankings. If that holds when the brackets come out Sunday — Pope John Paul II (11-8) was right behind at No. 5 — they’ll be the last time in the district field, one win away from a state berth and two from a district title. 

Before districts, Upper Moreland will face Abington in the SOL playoffs and get a chance to compete against the only girl in the league that averaged more points than Chrencik and also recently passed 1,000 points — Cire Worley.

Wood and her teammates wanted to leave with a road win over their rivals after she admitted the split league title last year wasn’t fun for them. While her goal was to secure the victory, Wood’s plan wasn’t to steal the show from her future teammate on her big night with her own career high.

“That was fun, but I definitely want to give her credit though,” Wood said. “It's amazing; junior year, 1,000 points, that's crazy. So, a lot of credit to her but it was fun. It was definitely fun.”

By Quarter
UM | 22 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 53
NH | 12 |  7 |  6 | 20 | 45

Scoring
UM: EmmyFaith Wood 28, Holly Gohl 8, Emma Hurley 6, Kiera Coyle 5, Mike Lancit 3, Kylie Gaul 10.

NH: Reagan Chrencik 18, Madi Fasti 10, Emma Ives 8, Emily Wilson 5, Isabella Elizondo 4.


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