City of Basketball Love

Dan Arkans (@danarkans)
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WARRINGTON — With its District 1 Class 6A playoff hopes on the line, the Central Bucks South girls basketball team turned to its calling card of defense against Pennridge on Tuesday night.

The Titans' focus was to not let junior star guard Ella Brown or the Pennridge shooters have any room to operate.

So when Brown sank a 3-pointer to start the second quarter, CB South head coach Beth Mattern called timeout.

“I just reminded them of the game plan and how that didn’t fit it,” Mattern said. “Luckily, they responded. I am really proud of the effort they put out there. Now, we just need to finish the games off.”

What ensued was a pressing clinic as the Rams didn’t get their next basket until 1:25 was left in the third quarter, totaling 14 minutes, 15 seconds of play. By that time South had a 14-point lead and was well on its way to securing a playoff berth with a 54-47 victory.

Mia Klein led the Titans (12-9) with 19 points, while Yordana Samayoa and Ella Wheeler each finished with 10 points.

“I would say the biggest thing is a silly saying, one of our teammates says, ‘Bring the pain,’” Samayoa said. “It might be a little bit cheesy, but it’s about this intensity. We are always saying we have each other’s back. It’s a thing we say a lot, it’s important in the way we play. You can see we have each other’s back and we bring that intensity as much as we can.”

Despite a relatively high-scoring first half for the Titans led by Klein’s 14 points, CB South doesn’t move up to the 22nd-seed in the latest district rankings without the intensity and defense of Jules Tropea, who also scored nine points.

The lanky sophomore did everything but follow Pennridge’s Brown to the locker room in holding her to 19 challenging points. 

“She’s a good player,” Tropea said of Brown. “She’s a good shooter. She’s a good driver and had good takes. It was pretty tough defending her — I just had to focus, deny her.”

Still, Brown didn’t take over the game and managed just four points in the fateful fourth quarter, including none in the final 4:46.

“Jules had one job and that was to stop Ella Brown tonight,” Mattern said. “That’s a big ask. Whatever else happens, this is what we are trying to get from you tonight.”

The Titans’ defense was so dominant for two quarters that the only basket Pennridge made in the third was a putback from bench player Julia Reavy.

The only bucket in the second quarter was that 3-pointer from Brown. The defense was smothering as soon as the Rams inbounded the ball and never let up.

“As a group we put a large emphasis on defense,” Samayoa said. “We know it’s something we can control — our effort and communication. You can’t always control where the ball will fall, you can guarantee you are going to give your best effort on the other end of the floor.” 

Pennridge, though, didn’t exactly go quietly into the night. The Rams’ Ava Fantaskey went on a quick five-point run to finally get the lead down to 10 points with 3:49 remaining. 

Then it turned into a free-throw shooting contest, and things went a little awry. South was only 2-for-8 to start the frame, and a pair of 3-pointers from Emily DeHaven finally got Pennridge’s deficit to single digits at 49-42 with a little more than a minute to play.

“When it’s over you don’t ever feel good,” Pennridge coach Jason Rapp said. “I am proud of the way we finished. The last couple of games we had a good understanding of how it was going to end up. You wouldn’t know it from how they competed. Our bench was great tonight. It’s never fun to watch the seniors play their last game. I am not happy with the result, I am happy with the way they played.” 

Samayoa went 3-for-4 at the line and Wheeler added a pair of free throws, but CB South persevered and most likely clinched a berth in the District 1-6A playoffs.

“Last year our season got cut short,” Samayoa said. “We returned a bunch of girls. We work better as a group. Me being a senior it feels great, I just want to keep playing.”

By Quarter

Pennridge: 12 | 4 | 9 | 22 || 47

Central Bucks South: 20 | 9 | 10 | 15 || 54

Scoring

Pennridge: Brown 19, Reavy 2, Fantaskey 5, DeHaven 6, Huskin 7, Verbit 8.

Central Bucks South: Schmidt 0, Wheeler 10, Balkir 2; Jules Tropea 9, Samayoa 10, Klein 19, Gabby Tropea 4.