Souderton girls grind out a win over Methacton
The victory wasn't the product of flashy plays or performances for the Souderton girls' basketball team. It wasn't the three-pointers, fancy ballhanding, or backdoor cuts.
The victory wasn't the product of flashy plays or performances for the Souderton girls' basketball team.
It wasn't the three-pointers, fancy ballhanding, or backdoor cuts.
It wasn't one player's rising to the challenge or putting her teammates on her back.
No, it wasn't like that, at all. Souderton is more of a grind-it-out team - an everybody-contributes, plays-her-part kind of squad.
And grind it out they did on Saturday night.
With the contest tied and just under six minutes to play, Souderton did all the little things well and went on to beat Methacton, 55-47.
There were Alana Cardona and Megan Walbrandt combining for six of their team's eight blocks. There was Megan Bealer grabbing eight rebounds and hitting big threes when her team needed it most. There was a 10-point fourth quarter performance from Kate Connolly and some strong defense, led by Tori Dowd.
"We had to buckle down on defense, get the momentum going," Dowd said. "I think that's exactly what we did. We all came together, the help defense was there. The defense really set the tone for the game."
In the end, it was a little bit of everything that helped Souderton (17-4) against the Warriors (16-5), but the beginning of the contest was rough, as Souderton went 1 for 16 from the floor.
"There was a lid on the basket," Cardona said. "It was that type of feeling."
The result was a 10-2 deficit.
"In the first quarter, we were getting the shots we wanted, they just weren't falling," Walbrandt said. "Us knowing they weren't falling, we had to put points on the board a different way. We started driving to the basket, kicking, and eventually our shots starting falling, which built our confidence and momentum."
With the score knotted at 40 with 5 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the game, that momentum and confidence were evident.
First a Bealer three. Then a Connolly bucket underneath.
A few blocks here. A few more rebounds there.
Cardona, Connolly, each for two. A turnover on the other end.
It wasn't just one performance, or one aspect of the game.
No, Souderton had overcome the slow start, and done the little things right.
Souderton 2 16 20 17 - 55
Methacton 10 11 15 11 - 47
S: Megan Walbrandt 13, Alana Cardona 12, Megan Bealer 12, Kate Connolly 10, Tori Dowd 5, Sami Falencki 3 M: Ryan DeOrio 15, Jill Zerbe 9, Sydney Thompson 8, Jackie Cerchio 7, Sydney Tornetta 6, Olivia Pennypacker 2