City of Basketball Love

Sean Barnard (@Sean_Barnard1)
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Few things in life are perfect. Under coach Dan Dougherty, the Plymouth Whitemarsh girls basketball team's record against rival Upper Moreland makes the list. 

“Listen, we don't want to lose to this team, like this is a rivalry,” Dougherty said after Thursday's 43-36 victory. “We're 21-0 against this team while I've been here, and we're not going to 21-1. Like this group, they're not going to be the team that loses that.”

The Colonials came in with 28 straight wins against the Golden Bears, including a 50-24 win last season as part of an undefeated campaign.

Thursday's victory was not as smooth sailing as some of the most recent matchups as Upper Moreland (13-2, 9-1 SOL Freedom) jumped out to an early lead.

It took a halftime adjustment and a dominant third-quarter performance from Plymouth Whitemarsh (14-2, 9-1 SOL Colonial) to secure the win and move to 22-0 in matchups against the Golden Bears under Dougherty.  The 14-6 run that occurred in the third quarter was the turning point in the game and paved the way for this victory to occur. 

“Starting the third quarter, we were able to make a slight adjustment at halftime to the way that we were wanting to press them,” Dougherty said. “I felt we had a couple scores, (forced) turnovers to start the third quarter and then once we did take the lead, I felt like the kids kind of stopped pressing. So I thought that momentum switch to start the third was a big difference.”

The ability to stay composed and adjust has become a theme on this Colonials team. Headlined by senior Abby Sharpe (Penn commit), the team has jumped out to its successful start to the year but is not taking any individual game lightly.

“It's a testament to our toughness and just our growth overall,” Sharpe said of the comeback win. “We're a pretty young team. We have two freshmen that are really playing, one coming off the bench. So being able to handle a game like that, especially the younger kids, and be able to come out and have that push from the beginning of the third quarter is a testament to our growth and just shows like where we're at now and where we could be in playoffs.”

Sharpe played a massive role in the victory, leading the team in scoring with 15 points. She did a terrific job attacking the basket and managed to get to the free-throw line eight times. Her final two free throws also were a result of a fifth foul picked up by Upper Moreland standout Holly Gohl, who exited the game with 12 points with 3:58 left to play. 

Sharpe struggled with her shooting to touch to start the game, going just 1-for-8 from the field in the first half. This did not stop her from turning things around after halftime. 

“Short term memory, that’s what I told myself,” Sharpe said. “You miss the one shot and you gotta believe the next one's going in. So just keep shooting and gotta keep the confidence up and keep being aggressive and they'll start to fall. So that's basically my mindset.”

The Penn commit notched 1,000 career points earlier this week in just her 93rd career high school game. She will not be the only member of the Colonials to achieve this massive accomplishment, as fellow senior Erin Daley needs just eight more points to reach it herself. Daley was vital to the victory by tallying 13 points and 11 rebounds as well as being active defensively and in calling out plays on the court. 

“It's the consistency,” Dougherty said of Daley. “She has been a consistent player since day one. She started every game since her freshman year on a state championship team, three-time league championship team. Like it's the consistency of always being a double-double machine out there. And now this year, it's kind of her chance to shine a little bit more. She's taking full advantage of it.”

Daley has had a chance to move back to her more natural role down low as a forward this season after playing a more perimeter-oriented game the past three years. With Lainey Allen and Jordyn Thomas manning the frontcourt for most of Daley’s high school career, her game was forced to become more versatile, expanding out to the perimeter, and it is all being put on display this season.

Plymouth Whitemarsh is off to a great start but still has its eyes on the bigger picture. Dougherty and the team said Thursday’s victory was a playoff-like win and one they believe will prepare them for the bigger stage.

“It's kind of been a while since we had a game like that,” Sharpe said. “So it was nice to kind of get that feeling again. I think it was a little ugly, but we were able to pull through in the end and come out with a win. An ugly win is still a win.”

The team-first mindset and maturity of the Colonials were evident in the free-throw disparity of this matchup. Plymouth Whitemarsh scored 22 of their 43 points at the charity stripe while allowing just seven opportunities to Upper Moreland. This was no accident or disparity in refereeing, but rather by design in the team’s game plan. 

“I'm a big believer in people like Geno Auriemma and Bill Belichick with football, the best teams for Gregg Popovich,” Dougherty said of his style. “They don't beat themselves by fouling. You make kids make shots. You don't foul and we preach that all the time.”

The Colonials also capitalized on their own free throw opportunities by connecting on 22 of their 28 attempts in the win. None were more important than the two knocked down by freshman Kenna Winland to help ice the game as Upper Moreland tried to fight back at the end. Dougherty joked the ball tends to always end up in her hands when practicing end-of-game situations. Hr also praised fellow freshman AJ Avery for connecting on seven of her eight attempts as well as helping put the halftime changes into effect. 

The Colonials will now set their sights on Scranton Prep (8-1) on Sunday at the Maggie Lucas Classic at Jefferson.

After that is a monster SOL Liberty matchup with Abington (13-2, 9-1) on Tuesday, which will likely decide the division. The Colonials have some tough tests to end the season but they control their own destiny and will be focused internally on improving. 

“We've got to pick up the tempo and pick up our pace and really just execute and do what we need to do,” Daley said. 

By Quarter:

PW: 8 | 8 | 14 | 13 || 43

UM: 8 | 11 | 6 | 11 || 36

Scoring: 

PW: Sharpe 15, Daley 13, Avery 7, Crumpton 4, Winland 2, Balcer 2

UM: Gohl 12, Hansen 10, Larocco 6, Wood 6, Lancit 2

Shooting: 

PW: 10-36 FGA (1-8 3PA), 22-28 FTA

UM: 14-36 FGA (6-22 3PA), 2-7 FTA