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SOL Playoffs: PW edges Abington in another epic battle; Souderton thwarts Neshaminy

02/12/2023, 1:15am EST
By Andrew Robinson

By Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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WHITEMARSH — In three meetings this season, the cumulative score between Plymouth Whitemarsh and Abington is 147-147.

They’re that close. Anyone wondering why needed only watch Saturday’s overtime thriller, the third meeting between the rivals this season playing out on a different path than the others but still ending with everything coming down to the last few seconds.

An inspired second half by Erin Daley and a determined game by Abby Sharpe was enough — barely — to send defending champion PW back to the SOL tournament final with a 45-44 OT win.

“Going into this game, we were very, very fired up and me especially, I really wanted this win,” Sharpe, who scored a game-high 22, said.


PW seniors Abby Sharpe, left, and Erin Daley pose together after Saturday's OT win over Abington. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

Sharpe scored the game-winner on a strong drive to the rim with 56 seconds left in overtime, a recurring trend on the night for the Penn recruit who refused to settle and went to get hers while putting the onus on Abington to stop her. It was a bit of a different story for Daley, who picked up two quick fouls in the first quarter and stayed rooted to the bench until after halftime.

Inspired, both by her own frustrations and by seeing Sharpe score 12 of PW’s 14 first half points to somehow keep them afloat despite trailing 23-14, Daley came on strong in the second half. The senior scored all 17 of her points after halftime, including 11 in the third quarter as PW cut the deficit to two going to the final frame of regulation.

“She rubs off on me a little bit with that want to score,” Daley said of Sharpe. “I see when she needs the help. I always know when she’s open, she always knows when I’m open. She read it, she knew what would be there for me and together, we were really able to execute.”

PW took its first lead of the game on an Angelina Balcer hoop with 2:20 to play in a riveting fourth quarter. Abington tied it on a big-time three from Cire Worley, who paced the Ghosts with 15 and got a stop with two seconds left when the defense forced Sharpe into an extremely tough shot.

Worley again gave Abington a lead in overtime, hitting two free throws for a 44-43 advantage that stood until Sharpe’s drive to the rim with a minute left. It still took a final defensive stand under the basket but the Colonials emerged with the chance to try and repeat as tournament champions.

“This was the final push,” Sharpe said. “We had to come out with the same energy we had at the end of the fourth. We knew it was going to be a dogfight, the game was going back and forth the whole fourth quarter, so keeping our composure and doing what we practice, that was our mindset.”

By Quarter

PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 6 | 8 | 13 | 12 | 6 || 45

ABINGTON 11 | 12 | 6 | 10 | 5 || 44

Scoring

PW: Abby Sharpe 22, Erin Daley 17, Kenna Winland 2, Angelina Balcer 2, Azzy Crumpton 2

A: Cire Worley 15, Jordyn Reynolds 8, Maya Johnson 7, Mikaiya Durham 6, Piper McGinley 3

(2)Souderton 34, (3) Neshaminy 32

To the surprise of nobody, this game played out methodically with two defensively-oriented teams trying to give up as few points as possible.

Neshaminy, which defeated Souderton last month in SOL crossover play, led 9-8 after a quarter but Souderton took a one-point lead to the break in a grind-it-out game. Casey Harter led Souderton with 13 while Reese Zemitis paced Neshaminy with 17, the junior forward battling for each point against the defense of the Northwestern-bound Harter.

After threes by Brooke Fenchel and Erin Bohmueller put Souderton up 29-22 in the fourth quarter, but the hosts scrambled to the finish as Neshaminy outscored them 10-5 down the stretch. Neshaminy closed to within 33-32 on a steal of an inbounds pass but Souderton successfully got the next one in and Teya McConnaha hit one of two at the line with 18 seconds left to seal up the win.

By Quarter

SOUDERTON 8 | 6 | 9 | 11 || 34

NESHAMINY 9 | 4 | 9 | 10 || 32

Scoring

S: Casey Harter 13, Mikayla McGillian 6, Teya McConnaha 5, Grace McDonough 4, Brooke Fenchel 3, Erin Bohmueller 3

N: Reese Zemitis 17, Taylor Gurysh 6, Lola Ibarrondo 4, Ava Irizarry 2, Aleah Cofield 2


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