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.

Saturday, July 06, 2013

Philly Summer League: Scoring Fireworks Mark Pre-Holiday Action

By Mel Greenberg

HATBORO, Pa. --
The Philadelphia/Suburban NCAA Women's Basketball League featured its own brand of fireworks this July Fourth holiday week on Tuesday night with four of the six games featuring narrow results and a change at the top in the standings.

Furthermore, the relatively quiet attack 0n the basket by individuals to date in terms of the making the milestone 20 points or more performance in games at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of thee AAU Renegades in Willow Grove Industrial Commons, got real loud with seven exploding on offense, including two each with collegiate affiliations at Saint Joseph's, West Chester, Kutztown and one from University of The Sciences of Philadelphia.

White (4-0) took over sole possession of first place as the last unbeaten team of the 13 in the league with an easy 86 -49 win over Kelly Green (2-3), composed predominately of Division II Holy Family Players.

Coach Keith Wood's daughter Ashley, a recent Kutztown graduate, scored 21 points for Team White, Villanova junior Emily Leer scored 12, and Allison Hostetter, a 2012 graduate of Division II West Chester, scored 11 points.

Carly Hazinski, a sophomore at Mansfield University, scored 10 points, Tigers senior Maggie Serratelli and junior Mary Ellen McCollum each scored nine points, and Calypso Carty, an incoming freshman att Division III Utica who has been a Philly League score keeper and clock operator in the past, scored eight points.

Meanwhile, the master got the advantage of the newbie on the sidelines as Gold (4-1) moved into a three-way second-place tie by knocking off Hunter Green 68-61 as Saint Joseph's junior Natasha Cloud scored 14 points, Maureen Leahy of Bryant in Smithfield, R.I., scored 11 points, Madeline Ross, a recent Division III Swarthmore graduate, scored 10 points, a total matched by recent Harvard grad Elle Hagedorn, whose dad Ted is the Gold coach.

For the last two summers he had guided teams to the Philly League championship with unbeaten runs, fueled in large part by former Saint Joseph's star Katie Kuester, who is now on the other bench in a new player-coach role with Hunter Green (4-1).

That squad's opening four-game winning streak came to an end Tuesday night despite Saint Joseph's senior Erin Shields' 21 points, highlighted by five three-pointers, and eight points each from Kuester and Lauren Rothfeld, another former league clock operator and scorekeeper who is an incoming freshman at Division III Salisbury.

Meanwhile, Sky Blue (4-1), the predominate Division II West Cheester squad, became the other part of the second-place trio, with an easy 91-74 win over Royal Blue (1-3), as Gold Rams sophomore Brittany Sicinski had an other explosive night with 25 points and West Chester teammate Kendall Bonovy, a junior, torched the nets for 21 points, spurred by four three-pointers, marking a rare time in recent seasons two summer teammates hit for 20 or more points.

Jasmen Clark, a Gold Rams junior, scored 13 points, and Taylor Bryant, enrolled at Delaware last season, scored 12 points.

Kelsey Watson, an incoming freshman at Kutztown, scored 22 points and was 6-for-6 from the line, while Gabi Whitmer, a senior at Emory University, scored 19 points, helped by four three-pointers, a long-range feat matched by teammate Katie Bay, a Divvision III Washington College senior, who had 19 points. Hannah Rose Nussbaum, a sophomore at Franklin & Marshall, had 10 points.

In an overtime contest, Purple (3-1) took over sole possession of fifth -place with an 65-59 win over Navy Blue (2-3). Further details on this game, which had an unfortunate injury involved, can be found at the top of the other recaps items below.

Maroon (2-3), dominated by Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia, had a narrow 61-57 win over Red (1-3), marking the return of Camille McPherson, who had 20 points. Further details on this game are also in the recaps.

In another tight finish Black (2-3), doninated by Division II Philadelphia University, survived with a 60-59 win over Heather Grey (1-4), as Victoria Arnao, a Rams junior, scored 10 points, sophomore Alexandra Heck scored nine points, junior Monica Schacker scored eight, and sophomore Jacqueline McCarron scored seven points.

Former Swarthmore star Kathryn Stockbower scored 19 points for Heather Grey and Shannon Smith, a Division III Haverford junior scored 15 points.

Though listed in other places here to recap the 20-points or more stars, three in duo tandem in terms of their schools: Saint Joseph's: Erin Shields (21), Ciara Andrews (21); West Chester: Brittany Sicinski (25), Kendall Benovy (21); Kutztown U.: Ashley Wood (21), Kelsey Watson (22); USP: Camille McPherson (20).

Looking Ahead

It will be back-to-back-to-back with three straight nights of competition in the week ahead as a Wednesday date is inserted to make up for the lost Thursday night of action because of the July 4th holiday.

Though White has taken over sole possession of first place by a half-game, two of the three pursuers right behind coach Keith Wood's bunch will be going head-to-head.

A Gold-White showdown on Court 3 at 7 p.m. highlights Tuesday's action in game between the last unbeaten squad in White and one of the three tied for second.

Sky Blue, the other team in the three-way second-place deadlock has a challenge from Purple at 8:15 p.m. on Court 1 Tuesday while Hunter Green must deal with Purple on Court 2 at 8:15 p.m. on Thursday.

Here is the entire slate with records for Tuesday's action but no eye to July 4, obviously because games are not scheduled.

Tuesday, July 9

7 p.m.Maroon (2-3) vs. Orange (0-4), Court 1
Red (1-3) vs. Kelly Green (2-3), Court 2
Gold (4-1) vs. White (4-0), Court 3

8:15 p.m.Sky Blue (4-1) vs. Purple (3-1), Court 1
Royal Blue (1-3) vs. Heather Grey (1-4), Court 2
Hunter Green (4-1) vs. Black (2-3), Court 3
Bye: Navy Blue (2-3)

Wednesday, July 10

7 p.m.Hunter Green vs. White, Court 1
Heather Grey vs. Red, Court 2
Kelly Green vs. Purple, Court 3

8:15 p.m. Gold vs. Royal Blue, Court 1
Kelly Green vs. Purple, Court 2
Maroon vs. Navy Blue, Court 3
Bye: Black

Thursday, July 11

7 p.m. Maroon vs. Kelly Green, Court 1
Orange vs. Gold, Court 2
Red vs. Black, Court 3

8:15 p.m.Navy vs. Heather Grey, Court 1
Hunter Green vs. Purple, Court 2
White vs. Royal Blue, Court 3
Bye: Sky Blue

Tuesday Overall Recaps With More Detail

Purple 65, Navy 59 (O.T.): Aubrey Howland, a graduate of Archbishop Wood, who is currently an incoming junior at Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., was making a major contribution to Purple's win over Navy when she sustained an injury to her finger and was rushed to the emergency room.

Commissioner Kessler was going to check on her condition but the Guru had been out of pocket, of sorts, during the week so there hasn't been a chance to communicate but the Guru will have an update as soon as available.

On the other hand, Purple's Liz Sharlow, a sophomore at Lehigh, came back from an early season injury requiring stiches to tie teammate Christine Christine Verrelle, a junior at Division III Dowling College on Long Island, with 13 pointsd each in the win.

Navy Blue got the 21 points from Saint Joseph's sophomore Ciara Andrews previously mentiioned, while Geena Gomez, a future Andrews teammate as a Hawks incoming freshman, scored 14 points, and Amina Affini, a Lehigh sophomore, scored 12 points.

Maroon 61, Red 57: University of the Sciences of Philadelphia freshman Camille McPherson also came back from a similar situation as Purple's Sharlow, and scored 20 points to lead the Maroon squad, composed primarily of Division II USP players, with 20 points in a narrow 61-57 win over Red, while Devils six-year major Brianne Traub scored 14 points, and Kaitlin Cole, a recent Holy Cross graduate, scored 10 points.

Emily Homan, a Lafayette junior, scored 11 points for Red, while Jamie Insel, a senior at Division 2 Assumption College in Worcester, Mass.,, scored 10 points, and Scranton junior Stephanie Keyes scored eight points.

Quick Notes

Kelly Green's Calypso Carty, an incoming freshman at Division III Utica, in upstate New York, and Hunter Green's Lauren Rothfield, an incoming freshman at Division III Salisbury on Maryland' s Eastern Shore near the Chesapeake Bay, both worked the clock and scorebook at the tables for the league last summer.

This time around the standings are in their natural tiebreaking state with one exception, for now.

In the three-way for second among Gold, Hunter Green, and Sky Blue, the Gold at 2-0 gets second seed, while Hunter Green is ahead of Sky Blue, both 0-1 in the group, is the exception since the two have yet to meet.

Technically, Sky Blue is 3-0 vs. 2-0 Hunter Green vs. next best teams (the tie for sixth), neither has met Purple, but at this stage, we'll live it alone.

Purple is alone in fifth.

In the four-way for sixth place, among the group, Kelly Green is 1-0, followed by Navy Blue at 1-1, followed by Maroon with no record either way to be 0-0, and theen Black is 0-1.

In the next two-way, Royal has a better win than Red, beating Navy Blue, since Royal Blue and Red haven't played head--to-head.

The running grid is now in proper order to look at tiebreakers for seeding and making the eight-team field with that one exception that will resolve itself as hopefully down the road the other spots will also be resolved without much angst from the commissioner and the Guru, his standings consulting officer.

Also, special thanks to Tom Utescher for providing pictures that will enable this report to switch over to being housed in PhilahoopsW but not just yet.

The Guru will tweet @womhoopsguru when photos have gone in play.

Standings

Team, Won-Loss, Pct., GB, Pts., Opp. Points

1-White, 4-0, 1.000, ---, 257, 175
2-Gold, 4-1, .800, 0.5, 292, 253
2-Hunter Green, 4-1, .800, 0.5, 344, 314
2-Sky Blue, 4-1, .800, 0.5 , 342, 288
5-Purple, 3-1, .750, 1.0, 228, 213
6-Kelly Green, 2-3, .400, 2.5 , 308, 325
6-Navy Blue, 2-3, .400, 2.5, 269, 298
6-Maroon, 2-3, 400, 2.5, 259, 288
6-Black, 2-3, .400, 2.5, 273, 287
10-Royal Blue, 1-3, .250, 3.0, 212, 251
10-Red, 1-3, .250, 3.0, 231, 225
12-Heather Grey, 1-4, .200, 3.5 , 268, 290
13-Orange, 0-4, .000, 4.0, 169, 252

Running Grid
This becomes the tracking tie-breaker and seeding guide in a few weeks for the eight-team playoffs, which will begin after the regular season ends July 30.

1-White vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly Green (W)
2-Gold vs. Purple (W), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B. (W), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (W)
2-Hunt. G. vs. Red (W), vs. Orange (W), Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L).
2-Sky B. vs. Maroon (W), vs. Kelly G (W), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (W)
5-Purple vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (W-OT), vs. R.B (W), vs. N.B. (W-OT)
6-Kelly G. vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B, (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L)
6-N.B. vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (W), vs. Black (W), vs. R.B. (L), vs. Purple (L-OT)
6-Maroon vs. Sky B. (L), vs. Heath. Grey (W), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (W)
6-Black vs. R.B. (W), vs. Purple (L-OT), vs. N.B. (L), vs. Sky B (L), Heath. Grey (W)
11-R.B. vs. Black (L), vs. Purple (L), vs. N.B. (W), vs. Sky B. (L)
11-Red vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L)
12-Heath. Grey vs. Orange (W), vs. Maroon (L), vs. Kelly G. (L), vs. Gold (L), vs. Black (L)
13-Orange vs. Heath. Grey (L), vs. Hunt G. (L), vs. White (L), vs. Red (L).

Top Individual Peformances (20 or points)

27 Pts.: Kathryn Stockbower, Heather Grey (W) vs. Orange, June 18
26 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Black, June 27
25 Pts.: Brittany Sicinski, Sky Blue (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 2
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
25 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (W) vs. Orange, June 20
23 Pts.: Katie Kuester, Hunter Green (W) vs. Red, June 18
22 Pts.: Alyssa Bonenberger, Royal (L) vs. Purple, June 25
22 Pts.: Kelsey Watson, Royal (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 2
21 Pts.: Kendall Benovy, Sky Blue (W), vs. Black, July 2
21 Pts: Ashley Wood, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, July 2
21 Pts.: Erin Shields, Hunter Green (L) vs. Gold, July 2
21 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (L-OT)., vs. Purple, July 2
20 Pts.: Ciara Andrews, Navy Blue (W) vs. Black, June 25
20 Pts.: Camille McPherson, Maroon (W) vs. Red, July 2

Till next report

-- Mel


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