Womhoops Guru

Mel Greenberg covered college and professional women’s basketball for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he worked for 40 plus years. Greenberg pioneered national coverage of the game, including the original Top 25 women's college poll. His knowledge has earned him nicknames such as "The Guru" and "The Godfather," as well as induction into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Guru's Philly Summer League Report: St. Joe Players Star On Separate Teams

By Mel Greenberg

HATBORO, Pa. --
On a day that a Saint Joseph's fabled name of the past earned a supreme Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame honor, Hawks of more recent and current vintage poured indivdual points at a frenetic pace in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League as the playoff picture came into focus.

All-timer Debbie Black, whose career started near here in her native Warminster at Archbishoop Wood before enrolling at Saint Joseph's, was named as part of the 2012 Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame class that will be inducted November at the Sheraton Society Hill near Penn's Landing.

Black, who became an All-Star in the former American Basketball League and the WNBA, also played in the local summer competition when the league was run under the name of Philadelphia's Department of Recreation.

There are separate posts at this site, which will be apparent by the headlines, featuring Black's honor.

Meanwhile on winning and losing teams Thursday night, women with Saint Joseph's pedigrees lit up the scoreboard paced by senior Ashley Prim's league-best 30 points for a season high in a tough 88-77 loss for winless Gold (0-9) against Hunter Green (7-2) while incoming Hawks freshman on the same team scored 21 points.

Saint Joseph's senior Shelby Smith posted 24 points for third-place Hunter Green as part of the six-game, three doubleheader card at Kelly Bolish Gymnasium, home of the AAU Renegades in lower Bucks County.

At the top of the heap, recent Hawks graduate Katie Kuester scored 19 points for unbeaten Lime Green (9-0), the defending league champions, who topped the two-day old season high for a rout in the league by 10 points in a 92-41 blowout over ninth-place Purple (3-6).

Recent Villanova graduate Megan Pearson also scored 19 points for Lime Green, who reduced the magic number for the top seed in the playoffs to one with two games remaining next week in the regular season.

Dana Mitchell, a 2010 graduate of St. Bonaventure, which competes against Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 Conference, added 12 points to the Lime Green blowout, while Danielle Callahan, a senior at Boston University, scored 10 points.

Callahan's father Duke, a recent visitor to league play, is a referee in the NBA.

Marisa Repasch, a junior at Lehigh, scored 13 points for Purple, which is fighting for one of the last of the eight playoff spots in the 12-team league, while Ryan Fiascki, a sophomore at East Stroudsburg, scored 10 points.

The top four teams Lime Green, Black (8-1), Hunter Green, and Royal Blue (6-3) were all winners Thursday night and have clinched spots in the postseason which begins Tuesday, July 31, with quarterfinal action, and then moves on to the semifinals Thursday night, August 2.

The best of three finals will run Tuesday, August 7, through Thursday, August 9, if necessary.

Kelly Green (3-6), composed entirely of Division II University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, moved into a ninth-place tie with Purple, courtesy of an upset of Cardinal Red (5-4), which had to forfeit for lack of five players in time for the 7 p.m. start, and fell to sole possession of fifth place.

It was the first forfeit of the season.

"Actually, normally by now we would have seen five or six forfeits because of work or vacation conflicts besides the loss of players through illness or injury," said longtime commissioner David Kessler, whose email is deucedbk@comcast.net to make contact with him.

Incidentally, the late-night composition of the previous report caught the Guru somewhat asleep at the switch wrongly naming Devils 2017 targeted graduate Brianne Traub as Britany. She is under USP's work-study program.

Black, which suffered its first loss of the season Tuesday night in a head-to-head setback to Lime Green, got back on the winning track beating Orange, 62-49, as Alex Smith, a junior at Holy Cross, scored 19 points, Kutztown senior Ashley Wood, daughter of Team Black coach Keith Wood, scored 11 points, and Colgate junior Stephanie Schultz scored 10 points.

Orange (4-5), which fell into a three-way tie for sixth with Vegas Gold (4-5) and Ash Gray (4-5), is composed entirely of Division II Philadelphia University players. Victoria Arnao, an incoming Rams sophomore, scored 14 points, while sophomore Najah Jacobs scored six points, and sophomore Jaclyn Panichi scored five points.

Besides the points mentioned for Smith in Hunter Green's win over Gold, Sarah Fairbanks, an incoming Saint Joseph's freshman, added to the big night for Hawks players by scoring 16 points, while Lindsey Kelly, an incoming freshman at Nazareth College, and Maureen Leahy, an incoming freshman at Bryant, each scored 14 points.

Besides the points previously noted for Prim and Strode on Gold, Lauren Ruhl, a junior at Lebanon Valley, scored 10 points.

Royal Blue (6-3), composed entirely of Division II Holy Family, beat Vegas Gold, 62-47, to take sole possession of fourth place after being tied prior to Cardinal Red's forfeit loss.

Erin Mann, a Tigers senior, had a personal season high with 23 points, while junior Maggie Serratelli scored eight points as did senior Ana Cruz.

Holy Family competes against Philadephia University (Orange) and USP (Kelly Green) in the Central Collegiate Athletic Conference (CACC) in the winter while Vegas Gold (4-5) in the three-way tie for sixth, is composed of Division II West Chester, which is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, competing in the Eastern Division.

Sophomore Stephanie Keyes of the Golden Rams on Vegas Gold had 16 points, junior Paige Elliott scored 13 points, and senior Meghan Kerrigan scored 11.

In the other game of the night, Ash Gray (4-5) moved into the three-way tie for sixth beating 11th place Columbia Blue 66-58 as Lindsay Alexander, senior at Division II Chestnut Hill, another CACC member, scored 12 points, Grace Mirack, a sophomore at Division III Delaware Valley College, scored 11 points, Brenna Coll, also a DVC sophomore, scored 10, as did Da'Kiya Johnson, a transfer from Santa Monica College in California to Chestnut Hill. Christine Verelle, a sophomore at Dowling College, scored eight points.

Columbia Blue, which, like Gold, has already been eliminated from playoff qualification, got 17 points from Alex Wheatley, an incoming freshman at three-time defending Ivy League champion Princeton. Danielle Derr, a senior at Bloomsburg, scored 16 points while Alyssa Isler, a sophomore at Gettysburg, scored 9 points, and Taylor Bryant, a non-scholarship player heading to nationally-ranked Delaware, scored eight points.

Princeton also finished last season with a ranking in the Associated Press poll, first-ever in the 36-year history of the poll for an Ivy school.

Class designations refer to this fall when the players return to their respective schools for the 2012-13 season.

Under NCAA rules concerning sanctioned summer leagues, only two teammates from the same Division I school can play together, except incoming freshmen can be added to the limit.

However, entire Division II and Division III teams can play together. There are four such squads in the local competition, and all are Division II outfits as mentioned above in the report of Tuesday results.

Admission is free to the league competition, which occurs Tuesday and Thursday nights through the end of the month before the top eight finishers will battle in the playoffs that include one-and-done formats in the quarterfinals and semifinals and a best-of-three duel in the championship series.

The gym is located in the Willow Grove Industrial Commons business park at the end of Turnpike Drive, which begins at Davisville Road, about a mile below the Davisville &Byberry Roads intersection and also not far from the Route 611 exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Doubleheaders on game nights occur on three courts with the openers tipping off at 7 p.m. and the nightcaps, barring overtime, getting under way at 8:15 p.m.

There is also a concession stand with reasonably priced items and the offerings include hamburgers, hot dogs, sodas, juices, bottled water, Italian water ice, potato chips and other foods.

If you want to see all the rosters, there has been one small affiliation adjustment since then, in this blog site, go to last month's post and in early June you will see a Guru's guide to the league.

Looking Ahead
Here's the schedule for Tuesday night, with records, and next week's final regular season night on Thursday with records to be updated after Tuesday night's games.

On Tuesday, July 24, the action will get under way with 7 p.m. matchups having Orange (4-5) meeting Kelly Green (3-6) on Court 1, Ash Gray (4-5) meeting Purple (3-6) on Court 2, and Cardinal Red (5-4) meeting Columbia Blue (1-8) on Court 3.

All games are key in the Tuesday openers for all but already eliminated Columbia Blue in terms of making the playoffs.

The 815 p.m. contests will feature Lime Green (9-0) against Vegas Gold (4-5) on Court 1, Gold (0-9) against Black (8-1) on Court 2, and Royal Blue (6-3) against Hunter Green (7-2) on Court 3.

Lime Green needs one win to clinch the top seed but can fall to two losing both remaining games and Black winning both.

Black needs one win to clinch second but can fall to three if Hunter Green wins both and Black loses both.

Hunter Green needs to beat Royal Blue to have shot at third but Royal Blue potentially gets third on a tie-break if they beat Hunter Green.

Cardinal Red needs to win one of their last two to avoid falling into a potential tiebreak elimination determination at the finish.

Playoff qualifers and seed positions, through tiebreakers, if necessary, will be locked into place following the final night on regular season competition on Thursday, July 26. Head-to-head will be the first tiebreaker.

At 7 p.m., Orange meets Hunter Green on Court 1, Gold meets Vegas Gold on Court 2, and Royal Blue meets Purple on Court 3.

The final doubleheader nightcaps at 8:15 p.m. offer Kelly Green meeting Columbia Blue on Court 1, Ash Gray meeting Lime Green on Court 2, and Cardinal Red meeting Black on Court 3.

STANDINGS (THRU MONDAY, JULY 23)
TEAM W-L PCT. GB PF PA
c-Lime Green 9-0 1.000 --- 680 430
c-Black 8-1 .889 1.0 626 470
c-Hunter Grn 7-2 .778 2.0 614 600
c-Royal Blue 6-3 .667 3.0 495 473
f-Cardinal Red 5-4 .556 4.0 591 488
Orange 4-5 .444 5.0 506 514
Ash Gray 4-5 .444 5.0 491 535
Vegas Gold 4-5 .444 5.0 552 599
f-Kelly Green 3-6 .333 6.0 438 497
Purple 3-6 .333 6.0 518 614
**-Col. Blue 1-8 .111 8.0 549 503
**-Gold 0-9 .000 9.0 427 634
c-Clinched playoff qualifier.
**-Eliminated from playoffs.
f-Kelly Green 2, Cardinal Red 0, forfeit.


Breaking Ties
Here's how seeds would occur if the playoffs were determined right at this moment.

The competition is making things clearer for now with one of the two tiebreaks determined by head to head.

1st Place: Lime Green -- record. No tiebreak.

2nd Place Black -- record. No tiebreak.

3rd Place: Hunter Green -- record. No tiebreak.

4th Place: Royal Blue -- record. No tiebreak.

5th Place Cardinal Red -- record. No tiebreak.

6th Place: Breaking tie among Vegas Gold, Orange, and Ash Gray. They are all 1-1 within group so first tiebreak goes to Orange for win over Royal Blue. Then Ash Gray is next off head-to-head win over Vegas Gold.

9th Place Breaking tie between Kelly Green and Purple goes to Kelly Green on head to head.

11th Place: Columbia Blue -- record. No tiebreak and eliminated through record.

12th Place: Gold -- record. No tiebreak and eliminated through record.

The grid several items down below gives you each team's win or loss along its schedule so you can see how the seed order was derived. It will be updated after each game night.

Average Scores To Date (9 Games Through Monday, July 23)

Lime Green (9-0) 75.5-47.7 Differential (approx. round nos.) 28 pts.
Black (8-1) 69.5-52.5 Differential 17 pts.
Hunter Green (7-2) 68.2-66.6 Differential 2.0 pts.
fl-Cardinal Red (5-4) 65.6-54.2 Differential 11.0 pts.
Vegas Gold (4-5) 61.3.1-66.5 Differental -5.0 pts.
Columbia Blue (1-8) 61.0-55.7 Differental 6.0 pts.
Purple (3-6) 57.5-68.2 Differental -11.0 pts.
Orange (4-5) 56.2-57.1 Differental -1.0 pts.
Royal Blue (6-3) 55.0-62.5 Differental --7.0 pts.
Ash Gray (4-5) 54.5-59.4 Differental -5.0 pts.
fw-Kelly Green (3-6) 48.6-55.2 Differental -7.0 pts.
Gold (0-9) 47.6-70.4 Differential -23.0 pts.
fw: includes 2-0 forfeit win; fl ; includes 0-2 forfeit loss.

Top Individual Performers (20 or more pts)
(29 performances, 25 individuals to date)

Thurs., July 19: Ashley Prim, Gold, 30 pts., vs. Hunter Green.
Thurs., June 28: Taylor Bryant, Columbia Blue, 29 pts., vs. Lime Green.
Tues., July 17: Ashley Morris, Cardinal Red, 29 pts., vs. Gold.
Tues., June 26: Katie Kuester, Lime Green, 26 pts., vs. Orange.
Thurs., June 28: Erin Shields, Hunter Green, 25 pts., vs. Cardinal Red.
Thurs., July 19, Shelby Smith, Hunter Green 24 pts., vs. Gold.
Tues., June 19: Lakia Stewart, Card. Red, 23 pts. vs. Vegas Gold.
Tues., June 26: Marisa Repasch, Purple, 23 pts., vs. Kelly Green.
Tues., July 26: Erin Mann, Royal Blue, 23 pts., vs. Vegas Gold.
Tues., July 10: Alex Wheatley, Columbia Blue, 22 pts., vs. Royal Blue.
Thurs., June 21: Noelle Alicea, Gold, 21 pts. vs. Columbia Blue.
Tues., June 26: Emily Leer, Black, 21 pts., vs. Vegas Gold.
Thur., June 28: Ciara Andrews, Hunter Green, 21 pts., vs. Cardinal Red.
Thurs., July 5: Stephanie Keyes, Vegas Gold, 21 pts., vs. Ash Gray.
Tues., July 17: Paige Elliott, Vegas Gold, 21 pts., vs. Purple.
Tues., July 17: Marisa Repasch, Purple, 21 pts., vs. Vegas Gold.
Thurs., July 19: Jordan Strode, Gold, 21 pts., vs. Hunter Green.
Tues., June 19: Kendall Benovy, Vegas Gold, 20 pts., vs. Cardinal Red.
Tues., June 19: Jessica Sylvester, Kelly Green, 20 pts., vs. Hunter Green.
Thurs., June 21: Tiffany Johnson, Vegas Gold, 20 pts., vs. Hunter Green.
Tues., June 26: Alex Wheatley, Columbia Blue, 20 pts., vs. Hunter Green.
Tues., June 26: Ashley Morris, Cardinal Red, 20 pts., vs. Ash Gray.
Thurs., June 28: Trish Watson, Purple, 20 points, vs. Gold.
Thurs., July 5: Alexandra Yantzi, Gold, 20 points, vs. Kelly.
Thurs., July 5: Trish Watson, Purple, 20 points, vs. Columbia Blue.
Thurs., July 5: Taylor Bryant, Columbia Blue, 20 points, vs. Purple.
Thurs., July 12: Alyssa Islar, Columbia Blue, 20 points, vs. Vegas Gold.
Thurs., July 12: Kendall Burton, Purple, 20 points vs. Hunter Green.
Tues., July 17: Dana Mitchell, Lime Green, 20 points vs. Black.

Individual Highs and Lows
Highest total points top scorer on winning team: Ashley Morris, 29 pts. (Tues., July 17, Cardinal Red 94, Gold 53.)
Lowest total points top scorer on winning team: Kerry Kinek, 10 pts. (Tues., June 19: Black 66, Columbia Blue 59).
Highest total points top scorer on losing team: Ashley Prim, 30 pts. (Thurs., July 19: Hunter Green 88, Gold 77.)
Lowest total points top scorer on losing team: Lindsay Alexander, 6 pts. (Thurs., June 28: Royal Bue 52, Ash Gray 29).

Results To Date
Tues., July 24
Orange vs. Kelly Green
Lime Green vs. Vegas Gold
Ash Gray vs. Purple
Gold vs. Black
Cardinal Red vs. Columbia Blue
Royal Blue vs. Hunter Green

Thurs., July 19
Ash Gray 66, Columbia Blue 58
Hunter Green 88, Gold 77
Kelly Green 2, Cardinal Red 0, Forfeit
Black 62, Orange 49
Lime Green 92, Purple 41
Royal Blue 62, Vegas Gold 47

Tues., July 17
Lime Green 76, Black 57
Cardinal Red 94, God 53
Hunter Green 62, Ash Gray 47
Vegas Gold 68, Purple 50
Royal Blue 53, Kelly Green 44
Orange 69, Columbia Blue 68, ovt.

Thurs., July 12
Royal Blue 67, Cardinal Red 56
Orange 52, Gold 49
Lime Green 74, Kelly Green 36
Hunter Green 61, Purple 60
Vegas Gold 68, Columbia Blue 59
Black 77, Ash Gray 52

Tuesday, July 10
Black 85, Hunter Green 57
Orange 67, Ash Gray 46
Royal Blue 60, Columbia Blue 59
Cardinal Red 81, Purple 57
Lime Green 67, Gold 31
Vegas Gold 66, Kelly Green 55

Thurs., July 5
Ash Gray 71, Vegas Gold 61
Black 80, Royal Blue 53
Purple 78, Columbia Blue 64
Cardinal Red 69, Orange 53
Kelly Green 60, Gold 52
Lime Green 62, Hunter Green 46

Tues., July 3
No Games Schedule

Thurs., June 28
Purple 82, Gold 47
Black 60, Kelly Green 44
Hunter Green 76, Cardinal Red 72
Lime Green 75, Columbia Blue 62
Royal Blue 52, Ash Gray 29
Vegas Gold 69, Orange 53

Tues., June 26
Hunter Green 74, Columbia Blue 63
Black 84, Vegas Gold 47
Cardinal Red 73, Ash Gray 47
Royal Blue 65, Gold 32
Lime Green 87, Orange 58
Kelly Green 85, Purple 59

Thurs., June 21
Ash Gray 64, Kelly Green 46
Lime Green 75, Cardinal Red 62
Black 55, Purple 33
Columbia Blue 57, Gold 47
Hunter Green 81, Vegas Gold 68
Orange 54, Royal Blue 46

Tues., June 19
Hunter Green 69, Kelly Green 66
Purple 58, Orange 51
Lime Green 72, Royal Blue 37
Cardinal Red 84, Vegas Gold 58
Black 66, Columbia Blue 59
Ash Gray 69, Gold 39

Teams Highs And Lows
Highest winning total points: Lime Green 92, Purple 41 -- 7/19.
Lowest winning total points : Royal Blue 52, Ash Gray 29 -- 6/28;
Orange 52, Gold 49 -- 7/12
Highest losing total points: Hunter Green 88, Gold 77 -- 7/19
Lowest losing total points: Royal Blue 52, Ash Gray 29 -- 6/28
Highest differential (51 pts.): Cardinal Red 94, Gold 53 -- 7/17
Lowest differential (1 point): Royal Blue 60, Columbia blue 59 -- 7/10;
Hunter Green 61, Purple 60 -- 7/12.
Orange 69, Columbia Blue 68, ovt. -- 7/17.

Grid Of Teams Against League

LG (9-0) vs. RB (W), CR (W), O (W), CB (W), HG (W), Gd (W), KG (W), B(W), P(W).
Bk (8-1) vs. CB (W), P (W), VG (W), KG (W), RB (W), HG (W), AG (W), LG(L), O(W).
HG (7-2) vs. KG (W), VG (W), CB (W), CR (W), LG (L), Bk (L), P (W), AG(W), G(W),
RB (5-3) vs. LG (L), O (L), Gd (W), AG (W), Blk (L), CB (W), *CR (W), KG(W), VG(W).
C R (5-4) vs. VG (W), LG (L), AG (W), HG (L). O (W), P (W), *RB (L), G(W), KG(L).
Or (4-5) vs. P (L), RB (W), LG (L), *VG (L), CR(L), AG (W), G(W), CB(W). B(L).
AG (4-5) vs. Gd (W), KG (W), CR (L), RB (L), VG (W), Or (L), BK (L), H(L), CB(W).
VG (4-5) vs. CR (L), HG (L), Bk (L), *O (W), AG (L), KG (W), CB (W), P(W), RB(L).
KG (3-6) vs. H.G. (L), AG (L), P (W), Bk (L), Gd (W), VG (L), LG (L), RB(L), CR(W).
P (3-6) vs. O (W), Bk (L), KG (L), Gld (W), CB (W), CR (L), HG (L),VG(L), LG(L)
C B (1-8) vs. Bk (L), Gd (W), HG (L), LG (L), P (L), RB (L), VG (L), O(L), (AG).
Gld (0-9) vs. AG (L), CB (L), RB (L), P (L), KG (L), LG (L), O (L), CR(L), HG(L).

Schools Competing As Whole Units

Kelly Green -- University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Orange -- Philadelphia University
Royal Blue -- Holy Family
Vegas Gold -- West Chester

That's it.

-- Me






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1 Comments:

Blogger miami lakes kia said...

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Kia Kendall

8:17 AM  

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