City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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BENSALEM >> It wasn’t the start Council Rock South envisioned.

However, even as a deficit in the second quarter continued to balloon, the Golden Hawks never showed any signs of panic. CR South is aiming to be different this year and falling apart just because things weren’t going well in the first half of its first game of the season wasn’t going to do that.

Instead, the Hawks stayed calm, stayed with what they’re good at and just took over after halftime to beat Bensalem 55-36 on the road Friday.

“We started working well together,” sophomore Liliana Metrick said. “We looked for each other, helped each other up and did it together.”

In Blair Klumpp’s tenure as the head coach at CR South, it’s been Neshaminy or Pennsbury at the top of the division and everyone else battling it out below them. The sixth-year head coach isn’t making any bold proclamations, but the Golden Hawks are trying to stick a wing in to the upper tier of the SOL Patriot and see what they can do.

Halfway through the second quarter, that seemed more like a wishful thought than a prospect with any firm standing behind it. CR South came out cold on offense and static on defense, watching host Bensalem close the first quarter with back-to-back baskets for a lead that billowed up to 23-8 with 2:33 remaining in the opening half.

“I didn’t think we were focused and our energy wasn’t there in the first half,” South sophomore point guard Kathryn O’Kane said. “We were a completely different team in the second half.

“We were too quiet in the first half, we weren’t talking on defense and that changed in the second half.”

On paper, the Hawks are a young team although they have a strong foundation in senior Karissa Smedley, a recent Georgian Court signee. O’Kane, Metrick, and Fiona Reckner - all starters - are sophomores while the first three players off the bench in Lily Bross, Katie Purpura and Cam Gregory are all juniors and senior Jess Mangoni is getting her first proper varsity time after battling injuries the last two years.

If he was strictly going off the paper, Klumpp might have been more concerned when his team fell behind 15 points and had yet to even score in the second quarter. Instead, he saw his players weren’t getting rattled and almost on cue, got hot to end the first half.

“It’s a luxury and something we’re really trying to get them to buy into since our preseason started,” Klumpp said. “Our depth is probably our biggest strength at this point. We’re really competitive, our practices, we had a great practice yesterday so I was a little surprised by how slowly we started.

“I don’t know if it’s a nerves thing for some of them or getting acclimated to playing with different lineup combinations but I think we have eight girls who can start for us at any point and I think our depth played a part tonight.”

O’Kane spent her fall as the offensive fulcrum for the Hawks’ soccer team as a central attacking midfielder, so once she settled herself down, the guard started showing that passing vision on her way to six assists. She had two critical helpers in the 11-0 run that ended the half, hitting Reckner for a three to start things rolling then finding Metrick just before the horn to cut the gap to 25-16 at half.

“The first half, we were doing well in transition and that starts with me, personally, I was forcing a lot,” O’Kane said. “We settled down and that’s when we started finding way better open shots.”

The second half started much better for South than the first. Smedley stole the ball on Bensalem’s first possession of the third, taking it strong for a score, then O’Kane found Metrick for a pair of threes bookending a layup by Gregory with the second trey giving South a brief 29-27 lead.

Klumpp said he and his assistants have actually been working with Metrick to be more selfish with her shot selection but was proud of the way the sophomore guard put the ball up with confidence on Friday.

“My teammates build me up, which is really helpful, and I take the open shots,” Metrick said. “If it’s not there, I pass when needed.”

“She knows the confidence we have in her to take and make those shots,” Klumpp said. “We preach to her that we’ll let you know when it’s not a good one, so stay confident in what you do.”

Amber Howard led Bensalem with 17, but the junior guard found it much tougher going in the second half with Reckner charged up defensively and the Hawks communicating and helping much better than they did prior to intermission. Kylie Smith, who had 10 points, put the Owls back in front on a three with 4:26 left in the third but that would be the home team’s last field goal of the night.

Bross, a member of the soccer team’s midfield with O’Kane, brought a spark on the defensive end as well with her constant ball pressure. The junior hit a three after Reckner had given CR South the lead back for good, then had another big play with a steal and bounce pass to Metrick for a layup.

“They’re both really tough kids, they play the point of attack really well and we gave them a little bit of a run together tonight, which we’ve been trying to do,” Klumpp said. “We think it can be advantageous for us, they’re quick and aggressive on the ball so we think they’ll be able to turn people over.”

CR South put the game away with a dominant fourth. Smedley, also a soccer transfer where she was an all-SOL goalkeeper, had a fantastic finish over a good challenge by Howard a minute into the fourth that put the Hawks up 14 points.

Six different players scored in the quarter and defensively, the Hawks didn’t give up a field goal and held the Owls to just six points with all coming at the foul line.

Last season, the Hawks saw their season end on a buzzer-beater at CB West in the first round of the District 1 6A playoffs. So while Friday’s comeback was a nice early step, Metrick noted several times there a lot of tough games coming up and if these Hawks want to show things are different, they’re going to need some signature wins as they go along.

“We’re more focused as a team, I think, and our chemistry is really strong right now,” O’Kane said. “I think a game like this shows we can play in our league and we can beat anyone in our league.”

By Quarter

COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 8 | 11| 20 | 16 || 55

BENSALEM 9 | 16 | 5 | 6 || 36

Scorers

CRS: Liliana Metrick 17, Fiona Reckner 10, Cam Gregory 8, Karissa Smedley 7, Jess Mangoni 4, Kathryn O’Kane 4, Lily Bross 3, Katie Purpura 2

B: Amber Howard 17, Kylie Smith 9, Mikayla Donahue 4, Devon Bell 3, Talia DiMichele 3