City of Basketball Love

By Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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WHITEMARSH — Abby Sharpe knows a thing or two about what it’s like to be perfect.

Last year, the Plymouth Whitemarsh guard was a key cog in the Colonials’ perfect season that ended with PIAA, District I and SOL tournament trophies and Tuesday, she and PW were trying to repeat in the SOL. Sharpe also knows a thing or two about not being perfect, the senior putting as much on herself as anyone for the team’s less than stellar results at the free throw line.

For a second straight game, Sharpe delivered the game-winning shot in overtime but only because the top-seeded Colonials found perfection in one of their flaws, going a spotless 23-of-23 at the foul line to outdo a superb effort from No. 2 seed Souderton 47-40.

“We won in our free throw game (Monday), we beat that first try, so I don’t know, maybe it just carried into today,” Sharpe, responsible for nine of those foul shots, said. “We practiced before the game, we realized how important free throws are in a game like this, a game this close. I don’t know, a switch flipped on and we were perfect.”

The Plymouth Whitemarsh girls basketball team poses together after winning the SOL Tournament championship over Souderton on Tuesday. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Sharpe finished with 22 points for a second straight game, scoring nine of the Colonials’ 11 overtime points with her power drive off the right wing with 2:09 left in extra time leading to the, and-one basket for a 41-38 lead on the free throw. After Souderton’s Casey Harter sank a three for a 34-32 lead with 4:59 remaining in regulation, the Penn-bound Sharpe took over on offense, netting the next nine for her team, finishing with the go-ahead drive in overtime.

It was entirely fitting that PW’s free throw line performance was the defining plot of the game, as that’s almost exclusively where the Colonials offense came from for two-and-a-third frames of play. The SOL Liberty champions were just 2-of-17 from the floor in the first half, finding it exceedingly difficult to score over the combination of height and long arms that compose Souderton’s defense.

“They’re probably the biggest team we’ve played, you could compare it to our team from last year, it kind of gives you perspective of what we had last year and lacking this year,” Sharpe said “I think we still did a good job attacking their bigs, we got Casey Harter into foul trouble so that was a big plus going into overtime.”

With Harter doing her very best to cover Sharpe and Erin Daley finding her takes to the basket thwarted by one, if not two, towering post players, PW’s only outlet came at the line. The Colonials took 10 foul shots in the first half, making all of them, but that was only enough to send them to break trailing 27-15 thanks to a late basket by Sharpe finding its way through the rim.

The offensive approach was certainly an issue, but the Colonials’ bigger concern was on the defensive end. PW coach Dan Dougherty took the blame, saying the team wasn’t ready enough at the start and Souderton certainly made the defending champions pay with crisp, tactical passing and some scorching shooting.

“It’s a testament to the kids because we, as coaches, really didn’t have them prepared for this game,” Dougherty said. “We watched the Neshaminy game from Saturday, saw Neshaminy played a pretty disciplined 3-2 zone and we tried to practice it but the first half, it was just super undisciplined.

“We were giving up corner threes and the best part of their three-point shooting is the corners. We said at halftime, ‘Let’s stick with the press because we can’t play a halfcourt game with this team, we have to speed them up.’”

Souderton engineered a 23-4 run bridging the first and second quarters prior to Sharpe’s half-ending score with the heavy lifting coming from two players not always known for their scoring. Junior Brooke Fenchel scored eight points in the span, including a pair of three pointers that exposed a gap in PW’s defense while senior Mikayla McGillian worked in with six points in the run.

While PW retreated to the back trying to figure out what to do next on both ends, Souderton was trying to prepare for any changes. The SOL Colonial champions haven’t been the highest scoring team this season and coach Lynn Carroll wasn’t sure if the first half shooting could keep that pace.

“We shot the ball incredibly well in the first half, and I was a little concerned we couldn’t sustain that but I thought our defense was good enough that it would be ok,” Carroll said. “They made more plays than we did down the stretch. Our kids worked really hard for 36 minutes and I’m proud of the effort.”

Souderton starts big inside with McGillian and Teya McConnaha and somehow gets bigger when 6-foot-2 sophomore Grace McDonough comes in, so Daley knew she had to find a way over that size. The PW senior spent a lot of the game feeling it too, her hand twice starting to bleed between free throws, a big collision sending her hard to the floor and at one point, her nose started bleeding.

While many would have taken that as a memo to stop, Daley ignores those messages.

“They had height, they had strength so I knew my game was going to be big inside, I was going to have to finish toward the rim instead of away and they’re aggressive, so I had to try my best to draw those fouls,” Daley, who finished with 13 points, said. “I lost my foul shot for a little but I think my repetitiveness (Monday), I found it there and regained my confidence. Every time I stepped up to the line, I did it with confidence.

“I felt like a punching bag for five minutes straight. My hands are really dry, so every time I hit the ground, it wouldn’t stop bleeding then my nose started bleeding. It was great though, I just pushed through.”

Daley matched Sharpe by going 9-for-9 at the foul line — she would have taken 10 free throws but due to blood, freshman Kenna Winland had to step in and finish one set in the third quarter. With the senior duo combining for 35 points, the rest of the Colonials again came up with enough to support them.

Freshman AJ Avery got a much-needed basket when she scored on a drive off the right side in the third quarter, snapping a total reliance on the foul line and a precursor to the drive Sharpe would score the winner on, Winland had a big hoop in the frame and senior Angelina Balcer gave seven big points. The guard knocked down two free throws late in the third for a 30-29 lead, then two more with 52.9 left in overtime in a one-and-one situation for a five-point lead.

Dougherty said Souderton reminds him of last year’s PW team — the core group of players having been together for three or four years and very confident in what they’re doing. He also pointed out that the Colonials were 0-for-3 at the line in overtime during Saturday’s OT win against Abington, so he was not expecting 23-for-23.

The Colonials’ effort at the foul line did not escape the opposing team either.

“Abby and Erin found a way to get it done,” Carroll said. “The first number, credit to them. The second number, we have to be more disciplined, we have to stop trying to block so many shots.

“It’s incredible, 23-for-23 at the foul line, it’s unheard of. In some ways, it’s the difference maker among lots of other factors.”

After Sharpe and Harter — the Northwestern recruit finished with 11 points — exchanged tough baskets to open overtime, the Colonials set up their offense. That’s when Sharpe made her move.

“I saw her cheating toward the screen and saw the open lane,” Sharpe said. “It was just a read in the moment. That was definitely a big play.”

Tuesday, Plymouth Whitemarsh was perfect at the foul line and on top of a tournament trophy, it bought another milestone for the Colonials’ seniors. In four years, their record is pretty close to perfect and lifting the SOL trophy marked their 100th win since joining the program.

“In the last four years, we’re 100-8, and being a senior and the fact I could be a part of that milestone, that achievement, I’m just really proud to be a part of it,” Sharpe said. “It just goes to show the toughness of this team and how bad we want it.”

By Quarter

PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 9 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 11 || 47

SOUDERTON 10 | 27 | 2 | 7 | 4 || 40

Scoring

PW: Abby Sharpe 22, Erin Daley 13, Angelina Balcer 7, Kenna Winland 3, AJ Avery 2

S: Casey Harter 11, Brooke Fenchel 8, Mikayla McGillian 7, Erin Bohmueller 5, Teya McConnaha 5, Grace McDonough 4