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Souderton grinds out win over Pennsbury with timely shooting, defense

01/11/2023, 1:15am EST
By Jared Leveson

Jared Leveson (@jared_leveson)
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FAIRLESS HILLS — Three and ‘D’ was Souderton’s formula for success. . 

Erin Bohmueller and Teya McConnaha made it rain from three while Casey Harter led a stout defensive unit that shut down Pennsbury’s offense in the second half, propelling Souderton to a 25-18 win Tuesday night. 

“We knew if we defended we were gonna give ourselves a really good shot at winning the game,” Souderton head coach Lynn Carroll said after the win. “We don’t usually get that many three-point looks, but it seems to be that their game plan was to force us to beat them from the outside.”

 “We weren’t able to get the ball inside. We had no choice but to hit some from the outside and we did.” 

Souderton (12-1, 7-0) is filled with experience and it showed when Pennsbury’s offense got out to a hot start and the Falcons’ (9-4, 4-2) defense shut down Harter (4 pts), forcing her into difficult shots and frustrating the Northwestern commit all night. 


Souderton's Teya McConnaha, left, and Erin Bohmueller played roles in their team's win over Pennsbury on Tuesday. (Photo: Jared Leveson/CoBL)

“Casey was regularly dropping 20-plus points a night,” Carroll said about her stalwart guard. “If I’m coaching against her, I’m not letting her beat me and that’s what a lot of teams are rightfully trying to do.”  

Fellow seniors Bohmueller and McConnaha answered the bell when their best scoring option got contained and their team needed points. 

McConnaha finished with seven points, and Bohmueller finished with 12 points, shooting 4-for-5 from beyond the arc and making three consecutive 3-point field goal attempts in the second quarter. 

“Other kids are stepping up, and tonight it happened to be Erin and Teya’s shooting from the perimeter,” Carroll said.

“Once a year I shoot the ball that well,” Bohmueller added. “I hadn’t been shooting well recently so it felt good to put some points up.” 

Bohmueller and McConnaha rarely missed Tuesday night and the game swung in Souderton’s favor when the pair scored on back-to-back possessions late in the third quarter. 

“That's been one of my key things this year,” McConnaha said about her 3-point shooting. “(I’ve) been working on it all the time in practice, making sure I can make those shots that I need to in the game.” 

McConnaha wore a protective face mask after breaking her nose on New Year's Eve. She had reconstructive surgery last Friday and kept taking the mask off during stoppages of play in her first game back. 

“I turned to go to the basket and a girl pretty much bit my nose,” McConnaha said about her injury suffered at the Tampa Bay Christmas Invitational. “I have a cut on my nose and she broke it.” 

“I felt like I couldn’t see. I just needed to take a little bit to get used to it.”

The 5-foot-10 forward did a little bit of everything (seven rebounds, two offensive rebounds, one block) while struggling with the uncomfortable mask.

However, the mask did not affect McConnaha’s view of the rim. Her biggest three of the game came in the third quarter with 1:15 left that gave Souderton a 17-16 lead. 

The following possession, a double-dribble violation for Pennsbury gave the ball right back to Souderton. Harter broke through Pennsbury’s press and found Bohmueller drifting towards the left-corner in-front of Souderton’s bench. 

The 5-foot-10 wing caught the pass in her shooting pocket and rose up with four seconds remaining — splash. 

“I'm feeling good there,” Bohmueller said. “Honestly, at that point (I’m) worrying about defense because I know my shot is falling.”

Netting clutch threes is not new for the senior who’s deciding whether to play Division II ball or play club basketball at a larger university next fall.  

“I have been a shooter all my life,” Bohmueller said.

“Erin is one of the best shooter’s I’ve seen in a long time,” McConnaha added. 

Bohmueller and McConnaha’s shooting gave Souderton the lead, but it was the defensive effort led by Harter that brought home the SOL division crossover win. 

Souderton kept Pennsbury’s top scorers like Sofia Vitucci, Nevaeh Dash, and Layla Matthias well below their season scoring averages, and allowed five points and one made field goal during the second half.

Harter (two blocks and one steal) made up for a sluggish night offensively by shutting down Vitucci who scored six points on 3-of-10 shooting.  

“She is a lockdown defender,” Bohmueller said of Harter. “Easily one of the best defenders in the state and it feels so good to know that we have that person on the team.”

“Oh my god,” McConnaha added. “I can't even express how fantastic she is. I am so thankful to have her on this team because I know I can't guard her (Vitucci).”

Pennsbury’s offense tried taking advantage of the PIAA’s no shot clock rule. They moved the ball patiently, worked for the best shot, and tested Souderton’s defensive patience all night. Pennsbury Head coach Frank Sciolla planned on dictating the pace of the game, and slowly finding the smallest weakness to exploit. 

But the defense didn’t budge. The Falcons got denied again and again.

“It was more a matter of communication,” Bohmueller said about dealing with Pennsbury’s patient offense. “We were already talking a lot but we knew since our defensive possessions were gonna be very long that we had to keep communicating and stay focused.” 

“Man going to Tampa and having a shot clock,” McConnaha added. “I miss it.”  

“They (Pennsbury) just keep passing the ball around for like two minutes straight and it gets tiring because you’re playing hard defense (for so long). It's always hard to keep focus but you just keep working.”

Souderton’s work paid off as Pennsbury scored two points on 1-of-7 shooting in the fourth quarter. Their only basket came off a left-handed Vitucci lay-up with 5:23 left to play. They also recorded six blocks throughout the game and caused four turnovers in the second half.  

Souderton cruised through their last two games against Harry S. Truman (0-9, 0-6) and Bensalem (5-6, 2-5), scoring a combined 98 points. However, Tuesday night’s gritty win on the road, against a skilled Pennsbury side, when you’re Big Ten recruit only scores four points, further justifies Souderton’s strong start. 

Their discipline and ability to adapt and persevere when things do not go as originally planned is impressive. But when you pair all of that with last season’s ealy playoff exit (first round of states) still fresh in their minds and the chemistry that’s been developing since grade school, this year’s Souderton side is a scary group. 

“There are times with this group that I will say do you guys want to do this or this,” Carroll said about her experienced squad. “I trust them so much and their decision making that there are times where it feels like they don’t need me because they are veteran players at this point.” 

“We’re going all out right now,” McConnaha added. “It’s gonna be sad for our last game, but hopefully that's not until April when we’re at states.”

By Quarter

Souderton:  3 | 9 | 7 | 5 || 25

Pennsbury: 8 | 5 | 3 | 3 || 18

Scoring

Souderton: Bohmueller 12, McConnaha 7, Harter 4, McDonough 2

Pennsbury: Dash 6, Vitucci 6, MacDonald 3, Ruta 3


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