City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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HARRITON — After Carolina Dotsey swished through her first of two foul shots, she stepped up for the second, ready to put Haverford up three with 27 seconds left in Monday’s Central League championship game against Conestoga at Harriton.

Haverford’s senior forward — calm, cool and collected, barely touched the net on her first shot. It looked like the same for her second shot as she released it from her hand … until it hit the front of the rim.

The door for Conestoga’s attempt opened even wider with the clank of the front iron. It was slammed shut about a second later — the time it took for Dotsey’s little sister Rian to collect the miss and put it right back up.

Caroline was the game’s MVP, scoring a game-high 23 points. Her little sister added six points, including arguably the two biggest of the game, to help seal a 41-37 win and the Fords’ first Central League title since 2012.

“I was really bummed when I missed that, but seeing her miss that rebound and put it back up I was so confident she was gonna make that shot,” Caroline said. “It was so exciting.”

The Haverford girls basketball team poses with its Central League championship trophy on Monday, following a win over Conestoga. (Photo: Owen McCue/CoBL)

Monday night’s clutch board is certainly not the first time Rian rebounded for her older sister. It’s a safe bet that it was the most important one (unless you’d consider something like saving a ball from rolling into the street or a puddle to avoid ruining a driveway game).

A Central League title had been on the Fords’ mind since a semifinal loss to Garnet Valley on their home floor last February as the top seed. It’s a loss that weighed heavy on this Fords group led by captains Caroline and Mollie Carpenter in the front court and seniro Sky Newman in the backcourt, for about a year.

“Having the pain that kind of came with losing that game last year, keeping that in the back of our heads, it really motivated us to push through in this one,” Caroline said.

Along with its hopes of breaking a decade-long title drought, Haverford (23-0) also carried a perfect record into Monday’s championship contest. Standing in the way of both was a Conestoga (19-5) team that took the Fords to the brink in both matchups this season — a 43-41 overtime win on Dec. 13 and a 36-33 win on Jan. 28.

Early on, the Fords had those in attendance wondering how exactly the Pioneers stayed so close in those games.After Rian scored the first basket, Caroline went to work, totaling nine points in the first eight minutes to spot her team a 15-6 lead. As she poured in basket after basket, inside and outside, Conestoga had no answer. 

“Definitely after playing against each other in the driveway for all those years, it’s nice to finally play together on a team and get far together,” Rian said of her sister.

Haverford junior guard Aniya Eberhart, who was second behind Caroline with seven points, canned a triple to expand Haverford’s lead to 12 a minute into the second quarter. The Fords felt in control of the game until Conestoga freshman Maggie Neary canned a triple with 2:40 left in the half. 

The Pioneers whittled the lead down to four, 24-20, on a pair of free throws by freshman Ryan Jennings before halftime. They were within three in the final minute of the third quarter before Eberhart canned another triple to make it 34-28 entering the fourth.

Conestoga kept hanging around until Neary scored five straight — a tough drive to the hoop and a three — to make it a one-point game, 35-34, with two minutes to go. Neary and Jennings both had 10 and junior guard Marisa Francione had eight for Conestoga, which earned the 10th seed in the district and will host 23rd-seeded in the first round Friday. 

Wins over the Blue Demons and Springfield-Delco in the second round could potentially set up a Central League title game rematch and fourth installment of the season series in the district quarters.

“They’re a good team,” Caroline said. “They match up with us well. They’re aggressive. I think just having that aggression as a team makes it a difficult game.”

After Neary’s big three, the game remained a one-possession contest until Rian’s bucket in the final half minute. Caroline, who had her team’s only other points of the quarter until that clutch play, made it 38-35 with a minute and a half to go. Conestoga sophomore forward Janie Preston had a tying three hit every part of the rim and miss, but the Pioneers forced a turnover and Francione free throws pulled them within one with 41.7 ticks to play.

Conestoga likely should have fouled anyone else besides Caroline, but they got the miss they needed. Rian just made a play for the board 

“It was amazing,” Haverford coach Lauren Pellicane said. “Obviously, Caroline’s our best free throw shooter. That’s who we wanted on the line. She put us up (two) and then she missed that front rim, but that’s where our size comes in. It was a huge rebound by Rian and that put us into a two-possession game, which was the difference at the end.”

Rian wasn’t expecting a miss either, but the 6-foot sophomore wing knows you have to always be ready. She actually rebounded one her older sisters misses before dribbling out the clock in Haverford's first overtime win over Conestoga earlier this season.

“It was definitely staying prepared,” Rian said. “I thought the whole team was prepared all the way through, just prepared for anything.”

Monday marked Haverford’s first Central League title since taking down Upper Darby in two overtimes 11 years ago. The Fords enter the District 1 tournament as the No. 2 seed and the title of ‘Central League Champion.’

“We’re so excited. This is huge for us,” Caroline said. “I know, specifically this group of seniors has really looked forward to this since Day 1. This team has looked forward to this since the first day of preseason. We’ve had this on our minds, we put the work in, and we finally got here. It’s super exciting for us.”

Like Monday night, Caroline will likely be the one putting the Fords on her tall shoulders. She’ll have the ball in her hands when the game matters most. There's a reason she was the one to cut down the last piece of net during Monday's celebration

But it’s always nice to know she has someone she trusts to pick her up when needed like Monday night.

”Just being able to play with (Rian)  in high school and succeeding on a team with her in a starting role with me is super exciting,” Caroline said.

By Quarter
Conestoga  6   |  14  |   8   |   9   ||  37
Haverford  15  |   9   |  10  |   7   ||  41

Scoring
Conestoga: Ryan Jennings 10, Maggie Neary 10, Marisa Francione 8, Ruth Lanouette 6, Katrina Valencia 2, Janie Preston 1.

Haverford: Carolin Dotsey 23, Aniya Eberhart 7, Rian Dotsey 6, Sky Newman 3, Natalie Wright 1, Mollie Carpenter 1.