City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADrobinson3)
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FORT WASHINGTON — For Bridget DiMartile, the message was essentially to just wait.

The Upper Dublin girls’ basketball coaching staff knew the freshman was going to contribute in some way this winter, they just needed some time. As the first player off the bench all year, DiMartile would flash some of what her coaches saw until, suddenly, there was no more time to wait.

DiMartile had quite the impactful performance Wednesday as No. 3 Upper Dublin downed No. 19 Penncrest 60-34 in the second round of the District 1 6A tournament.

“I’m just trying to help out my team as much as I can,” DiMartile said. “I’m not really worried about what I’m doing personally, it’s more what’s best for the team.”

Upper Dublin hosts sixth seed Spring-Ford in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 2:30 as the tail end of a doubleheader after the boys face Sun Valley in the 5A semis.

The freshman, a three-sport athlete, struggled with her shot around the rim on Wednesday but was masterful about everywhere else. She pulled down 15 rebounds, most of them against a future Division I athlete a few inches taller than year and three years older, dished out four assists, had four steals and blocked three shots while still scoring six points.

The last block led to DiMartile collecting her own rebound and pushing the ball down the floor for a fastbreak layup late in the fourth quarter. It was the exact kind of play Cardinals coach Morgan Funsten told DiMartile would come in time.

“Her instincts are incredible,” Funsten said. “She wasn’t able to play much in the fall league with us, we didn’t have her in the summer. In our meetings in November we told her ‘wait until you see what you turn into by the end of the season.’ I think everybody is seeing that, it’s from her coming every day and being exposed to the character of people in our program, the type of girls we have, that she can continue to flourish and improve.”

Athleticism runs in DiMartile’s family. She’s the fourth of five siblings who have all done a lot of winning in their respective athletic endeavors at Upper Dublin and beyond. Her brother Jake, now competing at Wisconsin and oldest sister Megan, now at Texas, were both outstanding swimmers.

Anna, currently a junior at UD, is a standout lacrosse player committed to Florida and will play alongside her younger sister this spring. Bridget started out as a swimmer too, but she soon found basketball to be more to her liking and now cycles between soccer, hoops and lacrosse with a steady supply of club lacrosse during the high school offseason.

“She is just a winner, just like the rest of her family and we are so fortunate she was the one in that family who finally chose to play basketball,” Funsten said. “She’s got great athletic instincts, she knows how to compete and she’s just a winner.”

“There’s definitely a lot of competition in my house,” DiMartile said. “It’s all in fun with all of them. With basketball, I took that path and decided I liked it more, branched off a little.”

In some ways, DiMartile’s matchup on Wednesday was a look at where she could go. Penncrest’s Kathryn Harding is a Temple lacrosse commit, the 6-foot-2 senior also a skilled post player in basketball who certainly got her attention from the UD staff in preparation.

She may have been giving up a couple inches in height, the 5-foot-11 DiMartile didn’t give an inch on the court and made it tough for the Lions to involve their featured forward. 

“She’s a big part of their offense and we had to stop her any way we could,” DiMartile said. “I think we just had to be a problem and stop them from getting the ball to her basically.

“I was just fronting her when she was on the low post and not letting her get the ball, pretty much. It was really cool going against her, she’s a great player.”

The Cardinals helped down low when needed, but with DiMartile doing most of the work, UD held Harding to just five points and got her in foul trouble on the other end of the floor.

“She was physical with a senior, how many freshmen can do that,” Funsten said. “Our seniors really set the tone, allow us to do what we do and allow the freshmen to just play to their strengths.”

Lacrosse takes up most of her time in terms of athletic pursuits, but the freshman said she enjoys the others just as much. She, like many lacrosse players who spent their winters on a hardwood court, has noticed there’s a carryover between the two sports on the defensive end.

“I think my defense and my confidence have improved, it was hard coming in at the beginning,” DiMartile said. “I don’t play AAU, it was just middle school and CYO, so it was more adapting to the level. I have found basketball and lacrosse are similar, it’s the same space once you get into your offense and defense.”

DiMartile wasn’t the only freshman to show out on Wednesday. Tamia Clark had a game-high 21 points and three steals as she continued to put together a terrific debut season and helped the Cardinals to their ninth state playoff berth in the last 10 years.

Clark was limited in practice last week, still shaking off an ankle injury that slowed her in the SOL tournament. The first-round bye benefitted the Cardinals in an especially important way, allowing them to re-adjust and re-assign roles in the wake of sophomore Megan Ngo’s season-ending knee injury.

“I think Megan is one of the best players in the state and I would stand by that,” Funsten said. “To lose her is devastating, we’re not going to pretend like everything is fine but we saw girls step up in the SOL tournament. We had good practices and tonight was girls stepping into new roles and I thought the tone was set by our seniors but those freshmen were unbelievable tonight.”

For DiMartile, the break meant a chance to truly settle in as a starter going forward.

“I just tried to stay positive,” DiMartile said. “It’s a tough spot sometimes, but my team has been super helpful keeping me confident and supporting me.”

Alex Bruce had nine to lead Penncrest, which will take on Downingtown East in a playback game this weekend.

Amy Ngo added 15 for Upper Dublin, which came out aggressive on defense and forced nine first quarter turnovers to jump out to a fast lead. Twins Nora and Brighid Brady, the other seniors, contributed nine and six points respectively on top of their usual determined defense.

Thanks in part to DiMartile’s efforts, Upper Dublin’s season will continue into the state tournament. That just means there’s more time for the freshman to see what else she can do, kind of like that block-to-layup she had late in Wednesday’s game.

“That was actually the first time,” DiMartile said. “I’ve had some blocks, but that was my first block and breakaway.”

Scoring
Upper Dublin: 14  |  14  |  13  |  19  ||  60
Penncrest:       4   |   8   |  10  |  12  ||  34

Scoring
UD: Tamia Clark 21, Amy Ngo 15, Nora Brady 9, Brighid Brady 6, Bridget DiMartile 6, Maeve Hogan 3

P: Alex Bruce 9, Emily Huggins 5, Makayla Johnson 5, Toni Conquest 4, Bailey Garrison 2, Lila Curci 2, Sheldon Viau 2

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District 1 6A Girls

Second Round (Wed., Feb. 21)
1) Perkiomen Valley 54, 16) Pennsbury 27
8) Central Bucks East 48, 9) Neshaminy 39
4) Haverford High 54, 13) Abington 30
5) North Penn 51, 12) Kennett 27
2) Conestoga 60, 18) Council Rock South 33
7) Garnet Valley 60, 1)) West Chester Henderson 31
3) Upper Dublin 60, 19) Penncrest 34
6) Spring-Ford 53, 11) Downingtown East 41

Quarterfinals (Fri-Sat, Feb. 23-24)
1) Perkiomen Valley vs. 8) Central Bucks East
4) Haverford High vs. 5) North Penn
2) Conestoga vs. 7) Garnet Valley
3) Upper Dublin vs. 6) Spring-Ford