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District 1 6A: No. 11 Pennsbury back in semifinals with win over No. 19 Upper Dublin

02/25/2023, 10:45pm EST
By Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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FAIRLESS HILLS – Even with a rotating cast of contributors this season, Pennsbury has been able to count on two things very consistently.

First is that Sofia Vitucci is going to get her points and the junior guard is usually going to get the most important ones every game. The second is that Layla Matthias is going to do everything else, from rebounding to passing to defending.

Saturday afternoon, Vitucci got her points - including the game’s most important - and Matthias did everything else as No. 11 Pennsbury pulled away a 32-27 overtime win over No. 19 Upper Dublin in the District 1 6A quarterfinals.

“She’s kind of the X-factor,” Vitucci said of Matthias. “The stuff she does, we don’t win games without her rebounding, without her passing, her deflections and steals. She’s highly valued on our team.”

Matthias did not score a point on Saturday and there was absolutely no way the Falcons would have won the game without her. The junior, who serves as Pennsbury’s size-by-default, had three massive steals between the end of regulation and start of overtime that led to the game-tying free throw and two scores by Vitucci to open the extra period.


Pennsbury forward Layla Matthias had a huge impact on Saturday's win without scoring a point. (Photo: Andrew Robinson/CoBL)

The junior forward tallied eight rebounds, three assists and four steals, her length and anticipation key factors in preventing Upper Dublin from getting the ball inside and back out. In a game where every possession mattered and each mistake felt magnified, Matthias was a one-player positive play generator.

“It’s kind of been like that for the past couple of years,” Matthias said. “With our coaches, they’re so complimentary of that fact, that I can dominate a game without scoring a point and I love the support our coaches give.”

Upper Dublin turned the ball over on its opening possession — Matthias had a hand in that helping Oliveah Gilchrist rip the ball away — but made its first shot on a three by junior Amy Ngo. That first possession tipped the Falcons off and Upper Dublin didn’t make any of its next 11 shots and fell behind 10-3 early in the second.

UD rallied to tie up 10-10 but went to half down 12-10 on a late score by Vitucci, who finished with 17 total and had nine before halftime. The junior guard went cold in the second half, though a lot of credit for that goes to the defense of Upper Dublin’s Nora Brady and was held without a point until overtime.

It didn’t deter Vitucci, who had a couple potential go-ahead looks go off the mark late in the fourth, and when the ball came to her in overtime, she didn’t hesitate.

“I’m never not going to shoot if I have an open shot,” Vitucci said. “The last plays are out of my head, missing shots is in the past so I’m going to move forward and take the shots I can make.”

With their leading scorer off, the Falcons needed help elsewhere. They got it from freshman Emily Panero’s four points in the third, the pair of threes Danielle Sherman hit off the bench and the tough basket Daniella MacDonald converted inside for a 21-18 lead in the third.

“We’ve been in countless games like this, we just keep our tempo and play the way we play,” Matthias said. “We practice situations all the time, 20 minutes of being down with three minutes left. Practice makes perfect.”

UD tied the game at 21-21 on a Brady three going to the fourth, then after a couple drawn-out possessions, the Cardinals struck for a 24-21 lead on freshman Megan Ngo’s left-wing three with 3:27 to play. The Cardinals defended extremely well most of the game, but it was the following 20 seconds after that make that hurt them.

Vitucci found Neveah Dash going to the rim, the senior scoring to make it a one-play game.

“One thing we always preach is getting a stop after we score and with the way the game was so low-scoring, any score was a huge score,” UD coach Morgan Funsten said. “We make that three and we needed a stop afterward. They got a score right away, about (20) seconds, which was incredible in a game like this that they were able to score so quickly.”

Pennsbury took an immediate timeout, knowing it would still require a defensive play of their own to get the ball back from a Cardinals team that would try to run off as much clock as possible.

With about 40 seconds left, Vitucci came over on a double to help Matthias. Upper Dublin got the pass off, but with Vitucci diving across the floor, Matthias was able to get there, wrap her arms around the ball and rip it away for a steal.

She found Vitucci, who had gotten up and was taking off down the floor, who in turn bounced to Dash and the senior was fouled going to the rim. Dash split the bill at the line but that was enough to tie the score 24-24 with 29 seconds left.

“A light switch goes on and all I see is the ball,” Matthias said. “It’s like, I don’t really care about a foul, let’s just get the ball.”

Pennsbury got another stop with a second left, Vitucci forcing Amy Ngo to drive into a wall of arms that included hers, Matthias’ and Maggie Burns to force overtime.

After the teams traded misses to open overtime, Matthias went at it again. She ripped steals on back-to-back possessions, with Vitucci scoring at the other end both times, the first on a well-contested midrange jumper and the second on a slicing drive to the rim again over a defender’s outstretched hand.

“Individually, after being in a drought for so long, just making one shot it was like ‘ok, I’m back in it,”” Vitucci said. “We did it again, kind of distanced ourselves from them and they had to start to foul us and chase us, so we were in the position we wanted to be in and that’s what let us win the game.”

The win sends Pennsbury to its third District I semifinal in the last four years. The Falcons will face a tall task in No. 2 Haverford, the Fords’ sizable frontcourt a looming challenge for the undersized SOL outfit.

But Pennsbury’s been overlooked before and to them, it’s just that — a challenge.

“The chemistry on our team is undeniable, I know that I will get it, I know Sof will make those shots, I know Neveah will go to the rim,” Matthias said. “You have to trust your teammates and I 100 percent do.”

By Quarter

PENNSBURY 8 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 8 || 32

UPPER DUBLIN 3 | 7 | 11 | 3 | 3 || 27

Scoring
P: Sofia Vitucci 17, Danielle Sherman 6, Emily Panero 4, Neveah Dash 3, Daniella MacDonald 2

UD: Amy Ngo 10, Colleen Besachio 8, Megan Ngo 5, Nora Brady 3, Alaina Sanders 1


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