Souderton girls overcome slow start to beat Haverford High

The Souderton girls' basketball team overcame a slow start Wednesday to beat Haverford High, 46-25, in the second round of the District 1 Class 6A playoffs.

Alana Cardona (17 points) and Kate Connolly (16) led the top-seeded Indians (23-2), who will play Council Rock North on Saturday. Megan Bealer scored all 10 of her points in the first half.

The win means Souderton will participate in states for the second straight season. Last year, the Indians were the last team from District 1 Class 6A to qualify for states. They made a good run before falling to North Allegheny in the semifinals.

"It's a relief," Souderton head coach Lynn Carroll said Wednesday. "This is the first time in my tenure here where we got [into states] this way. Every other year, we've had to battle through the playbacks."

The Indians entered the game fresh off a victory over Central Bucks South in the SOL Tournament championship game.

Lindsey Lane had 14 points for the Fords (16-9), who were coming off a 47-45 victory over Methacton. Erin Kelly added 6 points.

A defense-dominated first quarter ended with the Indians holding an 8-3 lead. Bealer and Cardona caught fire in the second quarter, combing for 15 of Souderton's 16 points to make it a 24-5 game at the half.

"When you give a good team a lead like that, it's going to be difficult to try and get back in the game," Haverford High head coach Lauren Pellicane said.

The Fords picked up the intensity to start the third quarter, but Connolly made consecutive three-pointers to swing the momentum back in Souderton's favor. Connolly ended with a three treys in the period, as the Indians took a 40-19 lead into the fourth quarter.

Souderton 46, Haverford High 25

Souderton 8 16 16 6 – 46

Haverford High 3 2 14 6 -25

S: Tori Dowd 1, Megan Bealer 10, Alana Cardona 17, Megan O'Donnell 2, Kate Connolly 16.

HH: Arden Guilfoil 1, Erin Doherty 4, Erin Kelly 6, Lindsey Lane 14.