City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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BERWYN — Points were at their most premium on Saturday at Conestoga as the Pioneers hosted Springfield (Delco.) in a Central League girls semifinal.

It’s no surprise that the two defensive-minded programs were both locked in, a trip to the championship game on the line, but when the halftime came and neither team had hit double figures, it was clear that every shot was going to be worth double, that whichever team could put together even the smallest of runs could create what seemed like a chasm as the minutes ticked away.

So when Conestoga junior Marisa Francione started the third with one 3-pointer, and then another…well, it felt like way more than six points. 

“Yeah, those two were huge, and I think she had a two later, baseline jumper [...] they were just massive shots,” Pioneers coach AJ Thompson said. “And that’s what you expect from one of your leaders like that, is for them to step up.”

Francione’s three third-quarter buckets were crucial indeed, providing what ultimately were the game-winning points in a 22-14 win over Springfield (Delco.).

To get past Springfield (Delco.) and set up a meeting with Haverford in the league championship, Conestoga’s girls dealt the Cougars a little taste of their own medicine. Ky McNichol’s squad is known for its defensive intensity, which her senior-laden group certainly brought on Saturday — but Conestoga was there step-for-step.

“They’re a very good defensive team and we definitely knew it was going to come down to who could execute their stuff better on offense because every possession mattered,” Francione said. “We had to match their grittiness and everything.”

Credit the low score to two defenses that didn’t back down, that were seemingly prepared for every cut, every screen, every pass; though both teams would certainly like a few open shots and a few turnovers back, it was far from an afternoon of poor shot selection and missed layups. Both ends of the floor, there was no such thing as a clean catch in space, almost no open shots, many possessions lasting a minute or longer as the Cougars and Pioneers searched and searched for a sliver of daylight, anything they could take advantage of.

Every drive ended with a contested shot, Conestoga sophomore forward Janie Preston coming up with a couple big rejections, while many others had layup attempts slapped away before going up, or ran into a wall of defenders and had to turn back.

The raw numbers were ugly: Conestoga turned it over almost as many times (15) as shots it took (20), those numbers even for most of the game; Springfield made just four shots all game.

Springfield (Delco.), which isn’t usually high-scoring but has a fairly efficient-if-patient offense, finished 4-of-36 from the floor, 1-of-20 from the 3-point arc, 5-of-13 from the foul line. 

“We just chose a really bad day to play our worst game of the season,” Springfield (Delco.) coach Ky McNichol said. “You can’t score 14 points and beat any team. Give Conestoga credit, they made shots when it counted in the third quarter and won the game.

“We got as many shots as we could want [...] we just didn’t knock ‘em down.”

Conestoga shut out Springfield in the first quarter (7-0), Springfield turned right back and blanked their hosts in the second to take an 8-7 lead into the half.

That’s when Francione stepped up, hitting a 3-pointer on Conestoga’s first third quarter possession to give them the lead, then another to suddenly make it a five-point game. 

“It was just, if it came to me, I was ready to shoot it,” the 5-foot-8 guard said. 

Springfield called timeout, but the damage was already done. Francione’s third bucket of the quarter was a long ‘2’ from the baseline, making it 15-8 at that point. Freshman guard Maggie Neary then gave the Pioneers some added momentum going into the fourth with a put-back bucket just ahead of the buzzer; it was the second put-back buzzer-beater of the game for Conestoga, which got one from sophomore Ruth Lanouette to end the first quarter.

It wasn’t lost on Thompson that the two first-year varsity contributors made big plays down the stretch, especially with starting junior Bella Valencia out with a sprained ankle.

“Both of them now, in a situation where it’s probably a little overwhelming for them, but they’re coming through for us, those two buckets were huge, they were massive, both two kids that just play hard and give you everything they have,” Thompson said. “Really proud that they were able to contribute and be a part of it.”

Freshman guard Ryann Jennings grabbed 11 rebounds along with two fourth-quarter foul shots, and Preston scored three points and grabbed four rebounds for Conestoga (19-4), which won for the fifth game in a row and 14th time in its last 15 games. 

Springfield (Delco.), which fell to 19-5 and will compete next in the second round of the District 1 6A tournament, just one win from qualifying for the state tournament. The Cougars were led by eight points from senior Kaitlyn Kearney, while Anabel Kreydt scored four points and grabbed 10 rebounds (four offensive).

“I said to them, great teams find a way to bounce back and we have a shot to make a playoff run now,” McNichol said. “We have a couple days off to regroup ourselves and we’re going to go out and battle and make the most of every game, because six seniors are going to be done in a couple weeks here, let’s go out and make the most of this.”

Conestoga hasn’t won the Central League since 2008, Thompson — in his fifth year as head coach — unsure if the Pioneers had made the championship game between then and when he took over. This was the first Central League playoff game for most of the roster, only their second-ever postseason experience after a first-round district loss a year ago .

“It’s just something that’s been building since I got here, just trying to take the program and get it to the echelon where maybe we have a chance to compete,” Thompson said. “I’m just happy for the girls to get a chance to feel the atmosphere, play for a championship and hopefully get a chance to celebrate and win a championship.”

They have a tough task ahead of them in Haverford High, which enters Monday night 23-0 on the season after dispatching Radnor 59-40 in the semifinals on Saturday night. 

Thompson and the Pioneers are encouraged by the fact that they took the Fords to overtime in a 36-33 loss at Conestoga last month, and only lost by two at Haverford in December. They’re going to need to come up with a bit more offense to combat the likes of Maine commit Caroline Dotsey, her sophomore sister Rian Dotsey, and the rest of the Fords, but a similar defensive effort wouldn’t hurt, either.

“[We know] that we can hang with them and everything, definitely,” Francione said. “Hopefully third time’s a charm, and we pull this third one out.”

By Quarter
Springfield:   0   |   8   |   2   |   4   ||  14
Conestoga:   7   |   0   |  10  |   5   ||  22

Shooting
Springfield: 4-36 FG (1-20 3PT), 5-14 FT
Conestoga: 7-20 FG (3-7 3PT), 5-8 FT

Scoring

Springfield: Kaitlyn Kearney 8, Anabel Kreydt 4, Lexi Aaron 1, Taylor Hunyet 1

Conestoga: Marisa Francione 11, Maggie Neary 4, Janie Preston 3, Ryann Jennings 2, Ruth Lanouette 2

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Haverford girls roll Radnor to make it back to title game

The regular-season champs and top seed, Haverford used a strong second quarter to pull away from Radnor, then held the Raptors at arms’ length in a 59-40 win in Saturday’s other semifinal. 

It was a 13-9 lead for the Fords (23-0) after one quarter, and Radnor briefly tied it early in the second, but then Lauren Pellicane’s group found itself. A 3-pointer by Caroline Dotsey with 6:15 left in the second started a 21-0 run that lasted until a minute before halftime; the Fords took a 35-15 lead into the break, and didn’t look back.

“We got a few stops, hit a couple shots, I think we forced a couple timeouts and we extended it up to 20 at some point,” Pellicane said. “A good second quarter for us after a slow start.”

Caroline Dotsey led Haverford with 16 points, Rian adding 12; senior forward Mollie Carpenter added 10 and the backcourt of Sky Newman and Aniya Eberhart added seven each.

“It was pretty balanced scoring across the board for us, our bench chipped in with a few points here and there,” Pellicane said. “We were really happy with that, we need that, when we have three scorers hit double figures, usually good things happen for us.”

The Fords knew they were going to have a tough draw no matter who they faced in the championship, whether it was ‘Stoga or Springfield, but the two close calls they had against the Pioneers have them on high alert going into Monday.

“We need to play a complete game, that’s what we talked about tonight,” she said. “We need to limit turnovers, we can’t turn the ball over 15-plus times and expect to win. We’re going to stay aggressive and try to play our game.”

By Quarter
Haverford:  13  |  22  |  13  |  11  ||  59
Radnor:       9   |   6   |  13  |  12  ||  40

Scoring
Haverford: Caroline Dotsey 16, Rian Dotsey 12, Mollie Carpenter 10, Aniya Eberhart 7, Sky Newman 7, Natalie Wright 5, Mallory WIneberg 2

Radnor: Mary Sareen 17, Meghan Dole 8, Kate Gallagher 7, Anna Reger 5, Caroline Monahan 1, Sarah Kelly 1, Riley D’Entremont 1

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