City of Basketball Love

CoBL Staff (@hooplove215)
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The inaugural CoBL Girls’ Winter Classic took over the courts at Jefferson University’s Gallagher Athletic Center on Sunday, with 14 games across two courts bringing together some of the best girls’ talent from the region.

Here’s a brief recap of all seven games from Court Two:

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Click HERE for Court 1 recaps
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Bishop Shanahan 34, Kennett 31 (OT)

Down a couple of guards, Bishop Shanahan was forced to play some inexperienced players Sunday. 

With Faith and Carmel Ambrose both out sick, players like freshman Abby Garrity and Fiona Duncheskie got extended runs. Shanahan struggled to get it going early and led by three 3-pointers from Greta Burns, Kennett led 21-19 at half.  

Blumenthal helped keep the Eagles steady, scoring a game-high 11 points. She helped Shanahan start the second half on a 5-0 run, giving the Eagles a lead they would keep until the final seconds of regulation. 

Shanahan led 30-26 with two minutes left, but a bucket from Mary Carroll cut the lead to two. After a free throw from Lauren Foster with 30 seconds remaining, Mia Mathews tied the game with a triple with under 10 seconds remaining. Mathews finished with nine points, knocking down two threes. In overtime, Shanahan shutout Kennett and three free throws (two from Abbey Wolfe and one from Duncheskie) were enough to come out with the victory. 

“Coming into the game, we needed a lot of the underclassmen to step up and they did a good job stepping up and being able to handle the ball against good pressure.” Blumenthal said.  — Zak Wolf 

By Quarter 
Bishop Shanahan:  9  | 10  |  9  |  3 | 3  ||  34
Kennett:  10  | 11  |  3  | 7 | 0  ||  31

Scoring
Bishop Shannahan: Sam Blumenthal 11, Abbey Wolfe 9, Lauren Foster 7, Fiona Duncheskie 7

Kennett: Mia Mathews 9, Great Burns 9, Mullin 7, Mary Caroll 3, Frazier 3, 

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Germantown Academy 44, Pennsbury 37

The Patriots (7-1) jumped out to a 13-4 lead after a quarter of play and never looked back in taking down. Senior Isabella Casey (Bucknell) and junior Jess Kolecki did a little bit of everything for GA.

Casey tallied a team-high 12 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and a block. Kolecki added 11 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals, spearheading a defensive effort that made things mighty difficult for the Falcons.

Pennsbury (5-2) senior Sofia Vitucci broke out after her team’s offensive struggles in the first and finished with a game-high 16 points. GA led 23-16 at half and added onto that lead, 35-23, with another strong defensive effort in the third.

Senior guard Daniella MacDonald finished with 11 points (three 3s) and helped the Falcons close the gap to single digits in the fourth but a veteran GA squad never faltered down the stretch. The Patriots and first-year head coach Lauren Power have now won six straight following their lone blemish to date — a 54-51 loss to Friends’ Central on Dec. 5.

“She just came in and said we’re going to be the toughest team in the league, and we’re going to play as hard as we can,” Casey said. “I think that’s what we’ve done so far.”

By Quarter 
Germantown Academy:  13  | 10  |  12  |  9 ||  44
Pennsbury:  4  | 12  |  7  | 14  ||  37

Scoring
Germantown Academy: Isabella Casey 12, Jess Kolecki 11, Jenna Aponik 7, Jess Aponik 6, Sam Wade 4, Gabby Bowes 4.

Pennsbury: Sofia Vitucci 16, Daniella MacDonald 11, Sammie Haws 5, Maggie Burns 4, Layla Matthias 1.

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Audenried 57, Shipley School 56

Audenried survived a late scare from Shipley after leading comfortably for most of the first half. After a back-and-forth start, a 10-1 run in the first quarter led by Shayla Smith helped the Rockets lead 17-10 after one. Smith continued to attack in the second quarter, finishing with 13 in the first half alone as Audenried led by double digits. 

Shipley chipped away in the second half, hanging around due to strong 3-point shooting from Sanai Johnson. Johnson knocked down four 3-pointers off the bench, finishing with a team-high 14 points. Six points from Jonson in the third quarter had Shipley within two heading into the fourth. Junior Anna Pascale and eighth-grader Cidney Stanfield also provided the Gators with a boost. 

Shipley gained its first lead since the first quarter with 3:30 left in the fourth, going up 51-50. With just over a minute left Aniyah Cheeseboro knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game, putting Audenried up 55-54. With 20 seconds left No. 21 knocked down two free throws, knotting the game at 56, before Senaya Parker was fouled in the backcourt with seven seconds left. Parker split her two free throws, but it was enough for Audenried to survive. 

“We had to get out to the shooters on the wings,” Smith said. “We had to tighten up on that since our shots weren’t falling in the second half.” — Zak Wolf

By Quarter
Audenried: 17 | 14 | 14 | 12 || 57
Shipley: 10 | 11 | 19 | 16 || 56 

Scoring
Audenried: Shayla Smith 17, Nasiaah  Russell 10, Aniyah Howard 10, Aniyah Cheeseboro 7 Senaya Parker 5, Heaven Reese 5, Sakina Nelson 3

Shipley: Sanai Johnson 14, Anna Pascale 11, Rikai Willford 9, Mallory Farr 6, Halle Newsome 6, Cidney Stanfield 6, Ani Proper 4

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Perk Valley's Grace Galbavy, right, blocks a shot by Sanford's Aslyn Merrell. (Photo: Mark Jordan/CoBL)

Perkiomen Valley 39, Sanford School (Del.) 32

After winning a track meet against Penn Charter on Saturday night, the Vikings (5-0) took down Sanford in a rock fight Sunday afternoon to stay unbeaten.

Junior forward Quinn Boettinger (14 points) and junior wing Grace Galbavy (11 points) led the charge on both ends as they combined for 25 points and eight blocks. Galbavy added six steals and a number of deflections as well in a stifling defensive performance that held Sanford to just 10 points in the first half.

At the rate both teams were scoring, a 23-14 PV lead after three quarters felt like a tall mountain to climb for Sanford. Warriors junior forward Jada Snow got going in the final frame with seven of her team-high 13 points in the fourth quarter. 

Snow hit a three to cut the deficit to five with a minute and a half left but PV made sure there was no dramatic finish in its third win in three days.

“It’s great to win against good teams, obviously,” Galbavy said. “It’s going to prepare us for states and stuff like that, playing hard teams early so we won’t be stifled when we start. Everybody’s stepping up on the team, so I really have high hopes for us this season and if everybody keeps playing the way they do, and we get team wins, we’re going to be good.” — Owen McCue

By Quarter
Sanford School  3 | 7 | 4 | 18 || 32
Perkiomen Valley 4 | 11 | 8 | 16 || 39

Scoring
Sanford: Jada Snow 13, Tyler Edwards 8, Asia Adams 7, Layla Mahani 2, Adrianna Chambers 2.

Perkiomen Valley: Quinn Boettinger 14, Grace Galbavy 11, Bella Bacani 6, Grace Miley 4, Lena Stein 4.

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Springfield-Delco 40, Archbishop Ryan 28
Springfield Delco 40, Archbishop Ryan 28

The names aren’t familiar but the style is.

No matter who puts on a Springfield-Delco uniform, no matter what their main sport may be, no matter how much experience they may or may not have, they’re expected to compete. So far, that’s been the trend for this pride of Cougars.

New-look Springfield played tough on defense and spread the wealth on offense to pick up a 40-28 win over Archbishop Ryan.

“It’s what I have to remind myself all the time, that they have such little game experience,” Cougars coach Ky McNichol said. “As much as we have to coach them during games, we’re willing to do that to get them to take that next step.”

Springfield didn’t have a double-digit scorer, but did have five players with at least five points paced by freshman Megan Zane’s nine points and seven rebounds. Senior Corinn Guyton-Williams had eight off the bench and senior guard Cora Fattori tallied seven points.

The Cougars never trailed and kept the Ragdolls to just seven points in the first half. Ryan senior Delaney Finn posted 16 for the game-high in scoring.

Springfield Delco scored the last four points of the opening half, then opened things up with a 7-0 lead out of the third quarter gates with Alyssa Estep either scoring or assisting on the three baskets. The Cougars defended well and also finished possessions, yielding minimal offensive rebounds while usually getting the defensive board off a Ryan miss.

By Quarter
Springfield (Delco.): 8 | 14 | 9 | 9 || 40
Archbishop Ryan:    2 | 5 | 8 | 13 || 28

Scoring
Springfield: Megan Zane 9, Corinne Guyton-Williams 8, Cora Fattori 7, Alyssa Estep 5, Grace Ellis 5, Molly Clifford 4, Kylee O’Donnell 2

Archbishop Ryan: Delaney Finn 16, Riley Lukach 5, Breelyn Gravaghan 4, Haley Davis 3

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Notre Dame 50, Nazareth Academy 26

Led by freshman guard Riley Davis’ game-high 16 points, Notre Dame moved to 5-1.

The Irish led from start to finish using solid defense and accurate shooting, while getting 13 points from senior wing Lizzie Halligan and nine points each from junior guard Chloe Knox and 6-3 freshman center Grace Nasr.

Nazareth, which fell to 2-3, was led by junior guard Reese Power’s nine.

Points in this game came at a premium early on for the Irish, who had a 13-7 lead after one and were up 18-12 at halftime. Neither team could find an offensive rhythm until the second half, when Notre Dame bolted on a 7-1 run to start the fourth quarter, opening up a 37-22 lead.

Davis did most of the damage scoring nine of her game-high 16 in the second half, six coming in the fourth quarter. Nazareth had problems coping with Notre Dame’s superior size, and it finally caught up.

Notre Dame held two 19-point leads late, 43-24 and 45-26.

“Riley is just going to get better and she’s just 14 years old,” Irish coach Terry Mancini said. “She’s very coachable, she’s team oriented and she knows where the ball is supposed to go. She can play three different positions and she can defend three different positions. As a coach, that’s nice to have.” — By Joseph Santoliquito

By Quarter
Notre Dame (5-1):  13  | 5  |  12  |  20 ||  50
Nazareth (2-3):  7  | 5  |  9  | 5 ||  26

Scoring
Notre Dame: Riley Davis 16, Lizzie Halligan 13, Chloe Knox 9, Grace Nasr 9, Katie Kelly 2, Sophia Hall 1.

Nazareth: Reese Power 9, Rileigh Donohoe 4, Abigail Rock 4, Alyssa Browning 4, Natalie D’Alfonso 2, Grace Giordano 2, Anna Kane 1. — Joseph Santoliquito

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Abington 60, West Catholic 45

Abington is still working on putting four strong quarters together, but the Ghosts had three that were enough in Sunday’s finale.

Paced by Maya Johnson attacking the rim, Abington downed West Catholic 60-45. Abington won the first quarter 20-9 and the second half 45-34, but a 14-6 Burrs edge in the second quarter made things interesting at halftime.

“We’ve been having  a rough second quarter a lot, just looking at our games, so still working on that,” Ghosts coach Allison Lawson said. “We’re trying to stay consistent through all four quarters.”

The Ghosts came out hot, hitting four three-point shots in a 20-point first quarter. Mikaiya Durham had two of them, the sophomore finishing with a team-best 18 points while Piper McGinley and Johnson both came on strong in the second half with 15 and 14 points respectively.

West Catholic got back in the game thanks to the efforts of Ciani Scott. The sophomore posted a game-best 20 points, with 11 in the second quarter alone as the Burrs were the more aggressive team and cut the lead to 26-23 at intermission.

Durham came out of halftime strong, scoring six straight Abington points, with McGinley adding a hoop to extend the lead to 34-23. Johnson then led the way by attacking gaps and getting to the rim or finding a teammate.

“We switched our defense up, they were attacking more and got us in foul trouble,” Lawson said. “We switched our defense up, talked more and that opened it up a bit on offense because we were getting steals and were able to attack the basket.” — Andrew Robinson