Philly Summer League: Saint Joseph's/Penn Combo Gives Orange Upset of White

By Mel Greenberg

HATBORO, Pa. -- A 67-58 upset win by Team Orange over Team Whie, also known as the Division II West Chester squad marked a string of string of surprises and near-upsets in Tuesday night's action in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women's NCAA Summer Basketball League at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades in lower Bucks County.

Unbeaten Gold (8-0) opened a two-game lead over White but had to turn back a strong effort from Sky Blue before emerging with the 74-63 win.

Maroon had a chance to move into a second-place tie but was taken down by by Hunter Green, 68-57, which caught Maroon in a tie for third but gets the third seed for now because of the head-to-head win.

Navy Blue from the lower part of the standings surprised Black, also known as the Division II Philadelphia University squad, with a 45-36 win but didn't get any headway because Kelly Green upset Pink, closing out the Division II University of the Sciences of Philadelphia in the final minute.

Chelsea Woods, an incoming Saint Joseph's freshman, had 20 points for Navy Blue in the win over Black and was the only player in the three doubleheaders to hit the 20 points or better nightly performance milestone.

Woods had 21 points in a game earlier this summer.

The playoff race for the eight spots and seed positions remain tight though Gold can officially be tbe first to the postseason qualifying stop on Thursday with either a win or a loss by Black.

The 13 teams in the league have either four or three games remaining depending on who or who has not yet served a nightly bye.

The Guru Takes an Audible

And so wuth the Guru providing passenger service this week to longtime commissioner David Kessler, who is finishing his rehab from hip replacement surgery serveral weeks ago, the Guru opted to work on this report at what had been an all-night Fedex place in nearby Willow Grove rather than his normal headquarters across the river from Northeast Philadelpia in Cherry Hill, N.J.

However, upon arrival, it appeared the all-night status was no more, but not to worry.

Just across the parking lot in the little shopping mall was a place open all night with wifi, snacks, restroom, electric outlets and a few other commodities, so to put it in plain English, this report is coming to you and being finished in the middle of the night thanks to the ability for the Guru to run on Dunkin.

Of course, still to be determined as the clock ticks is whether the Guru wil drive all the way or take advantage of the MARC communter rail down in either Perryvlle or Abderdeen, Md., to get to the late morning WNBA game in the nation's capital between the Washington Mystics and Connecticut Sun as both teams resume the rest of their regular seasons following the break for Saturday's All-Star Game in Phoenix.

More Notables

Former Temple star Marilyn Stephens was back on the scene Tuesday night to watch her daughter Adashia Franklyn, who is Saint Joseph's bound this fall.

Also on the scene was former Immaculata All-American Theresa Grentz, who has been involved in Franklyn's training.

Grentz and her former Mighty Macs teammates are part of the Immaculata era 1972-74 that will be enshrined next month in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass.

The Mighty Macs are also heading for the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in November and just this past weekend the team was announced as a winner of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Trailblazer Award and will be cited besides the six inductees heading for inclusion in Knoxville, Tenn., on June 13 next year.

Grentz, who coached at Saint Joseph's, Rutgers and Illinois and has recently written a book and now runs her own clinics and training operation, has already been individually honored in Knoxville and at the Philly Hall as has her teammate Marianne Stanley, an assistant coach with the WNBA Washington team, and former Mighty Macs coach Catby Rush.

On the Mend

Besides the commissioner, also back from hip surgery Tuesday night was Tom Utescher of the Chestnut Hill Local who was operated upon a few weeks after Kessler.

Sewing the Seeds

OK, here is how the tiebreaks set up the seeds right now if the season ended today, which of course will not really happen until August 5.

Quarterfinals begin Augusut 7, followed by the semifinals on August 12, and title game on August 14.

Gold and Wbite continue as the top two seeds, wbile Hunter Green gets the third seed off Tuesday's win over Maroon, which created a tie between the two teams.

Black, Orange and Sky Blue are tied for fifth and the games among them are not all complete.

But for now within the group Black gets the fifth seed at 1-0, Orange is 1-1 and Sky Blue is 0-1 for the seventh seed.

There is a tie for the eighth seed cut-off for the playoffs.

Purple and Pink have yet to play each other but for now Purple gets slotted eighth because of its best quality win over Hunter Green.

Kelly Green and Navy Blue remain tied for 10th -- both teams won Tuesday -- so Kelly Green remains 10th in the tiebreaker move of having beaten Navy Blue in overtime.

Red, which had the bye Tuesday, is 12th and Royal Blue finishes out the standings still looking for a win.

In terms of getting to the eighth spot, Kelly Green and Navy are a half-game out while Red is 1.5 games out and Royal Blue must win its four remaining games, though that may not be enough.

At the bottom, the remainder of the regular season schedule is listed, given there are but four nights left. Playoff dates are also listed with the actual teams to be filled in when the seeds and final standings are determined.

Tuesday's Recaps

Orange 67 White 58 -- In the big upset, Saint Joseph's incoming freshman Amanda Fioravanti had 17 points for Orange (4-4), which got back to .500 in a three-way tie for fifth.

Penn senior Kara Bonenberger, a former Big Five rookie of the year who went to Northampton High, had 16 points and Division II Kutztown sophomore Kelsey Watson out of Methacton scored 10 points.

White (6-2), the West Chester squad, as mentioned, got 15 points, of which nine came from three treys, from junior Dallas Ely, Emily Torrance, a sophomore from Henderson High, scored 14 points, while Mariah Powell, a senior out of Rustin High for the Golden Rams, had 10 points and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line.

Navy Blue 45, Black 36 -- Chelsea Woods and her 10 points for Navy Blue (3-5) have aready been mentioned. Lauren Gold, a Shippesnburg sophomore from Abington Friends, scored 10 points, shooting 4-for-4 from the line and nailing a pair of three-pointers.

Philadelpia U. senior Najah Jacobs out of Central High scored 12 points for Black (4-4), while senior Jacqueline McCarron out of Lansdale Catholic scored nine points.

Gold 74, Sky Blue 63 -- Saint Joseph's senjor Natasha Cloud out of Cardinal O'Hara had 18 points for the unbeaten Gold (8-0) group, while Ashley Wood, the daughter of Gold coach Keith Wood and recent Division II Kutztown graduate out of Spring-Ford, scored 17 points.

Lauren Crisler, an American U. sopomore out of North Penn High, and Jasmine Elum, a 2012 Bethune-Cookman graduate out of Bodine High, each scored 11 points for the winners.

Alyssa Isler, a recent Division III Gettysburg graduate out of New Hope-Solebury, scored 12 points for Sky Blue (4-4) as did Avery Marz, an incoming Saint Joseph's freshman.

Jessica Pongonis, a Saint Joseph's sophomore; and Stephanie Schultz, a Colgate senior out of the Hill School, each added 11 points to the Sky Blue total.

Hunter Green 68, Maroon 57 -- Sarah Fairbanks, a Saint Joseph's junior out of Elizabethtown High, scored 15 points in a balanced attack for Hunter Green (6-3), which also got 14 points from Sarah Sherman, a Division III Juniata College sophomore out of Methacton High, 11 from Taylor Walker, an incoming Division II Holy Family freshman out of Delsea Regional High, and 10 points from Simone Jacques, a New York Univrsity sophomore out of Plymouth-Whitemarsh.

Maroon, which fell to 6-3, had 14 points from Taylor Bryant, a Penn player from Upper Dublin High, who nailed three 3-pointers, while Courtney Brown, an East Stroudsburg sophomore out of Council Rock South, scored 10 points.

Purple 72, Royal Blue 51 -- Four players scored in double figures for Purple (4-5), which stayed in the playoff hunt as Lia DiSciascio, a Division III Scranton senior out of Cardinal O'Hara collected 14 points, Lindsay Fluehr, another Scranton senior but out of Naxareth Academy, scored 11 points, while Samantha Stipa, an incoming Lafayette freshman out of Spring-Ford, scored 10 points, aa did Sarah Payonk, a Scranton sophomore out of Spring-Ford.

Royal Blue (0-8), still winless, got 19 points from Adashia Franklyn, the incoming Saint Joseph's freshman who, as previously mentioned, is former Temple star Marilyn Stephen's daughter.

Hawks sophomore Ciara Andrews out of Cheltenham High, scored 11 points, and Stevens junior Megan Petuskey scored 10 points.

Kelly Green 45, Pink 37 -- The winners (3-5) stayed in the playoff hunt while Pink (4-5) got in danger of falling out.

The Villanova duo of incoming freshman Alex Louin out of Mount St. Joseph's and sophomore Megan Quinn out of Episcopal Academy each scored 11 point for Kelly Green.

No one scored in double figures for the Pink squad, which is also the University of the Sciences of Philadelphia team.

Brianne Traub, a sophomore, scored nine points, while Isabella Ross, a sophomore out of Central, scored seven points.

Individual Scoring Performances
(20 or more points)

35 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks, Hunt. Grn(W) vs. Orange, July 17
31 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs. Maroon, July 1
27 pts. -- Samantha Stipa, Purple (W) vs. H.G., June 26
26 pts. -- Mariah Powell, White (W) vs. Red, July 17
26 pts. -- Courtney Brown, Maroon (W) vs. R. Blue, July 2
25 pts. -- Meghan Gibson, Gold (W) vs. Navy Blue, July 17
24 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs Hunter Green, June 24
24 pts. -- Erin Fenningham, Hunt. Green (W) vs. N.B., July 1
24 pts. -- Alexis Smith, Gold (W) vs. Maroon, July 1
24 pts. -- Brianne Traub, Pink (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 10
23 pts. -- Lexi Scrivano, Kelly Green (L) vs. White, June 24
22 pts. -- Mariah Powell, White (W) vs. Kelly Green, June 24
22 pts. -- Alex Smith, Gold (W) vs. Orange, June 26
22 pts. -- Brianne Traub, Pink (L) vs. Sky Blue, July 1
21 pts. -- Alex Smith, Gold (W) vs. Hunter Green, June 24.
21 pts. -- Jasmine Elum, Gold (W) vs. Orange, June 26
21 pts. -- Chelsea Woods,Nav Blu (L-OT),vs.Kelly Grn, July 8
21 pts. -- Amanda Fioravanti, Orange (L) vs. Maroon,July 10
21 pts. -- Natalie Stella, Pink (W) vs. Royal Blue, July 10
21 pts. -- Sarah Fairbanks, Hunt Grn (L) vs. White, July 14
21 pts. -- Ciara Andrews, Royal Blue (L) vs. Gold, July 14
20 pts. -- Brittany Sicinski, White (W), vs. R.B., June 26
20 pts. -- Lauren Crisler, Gold (W), vs. White, July 10
20 pts. -- Natasha Cloud, Gold (W), vs. Royal Blue, July 14
29 pts. -- Chelsea Woods, Navy Blue (W), vs. Black, July 22

Running Tracker for Playoff Seeds and Tiebreakers
Placements now reflect seeds (in front of team name) if the season ended today, which it doesn't

1-Gold (8-0): H.G. (W), Orange (W), Maroon (W), Purple (W), White (W), R.B. (W), N.B.(W), S.B. (W)

2-White (6-2): K.G.(W), R.B. (W), Purple (W), S.B.(W), Gold (L), H.G.(W), Red (W), Orange (L)

3-Hunter Green (6-3) Gold (L), Purp. (L), N.B. (W), Pink (W), Red (W), vs. Black (W), White (L), Orange (W), Maroon (W)

4-Maroon (6-3): Red (W), K.G. (W-F), Gold (L), R.B. (W), S.B. (L), Orange (W), N.B. (W), Pink (W), H.G. (L)

5-Black (4-4): Pink (L), Red (L), Orange (W), K.G. (W-F), R.B. (W), H.G. (L), Purple (W), N.B. (L)

6-Orange (4-4): Gold (L), Black (L), Purple (W-F), Pink (W), Maroon (L), S.B. (W), H.G. (L), White (W)

7-Sky Blue: (4-4) R.B.(W), Pink (L), White (L), Maroon(W), Purple (W), Orange (L), K.G. (W), Gold (L)

8-Purple (4-5): N.B.(W), H.G.(W),White (L), Orange (L-F), Gold (L), S.B. (L), K.G. (W), Black (L), R.B. (W)

9-Pink (4-5): Black (W), N.B. (L), S.B. (W), H.G. (L), Orng (L ), R.B. (W), Red (W-OT), Maroon (L), K.G. (L)

10-Kelly Green (3-5): White (L), Maroon (L-F), Black (L-F), N.B. (W-OT), Red (W), Purple (L), S.B. (L), Pink (W)

11-Navy Blue (3-5): Purple (L), Pink (W),H.G.(L), Red (W), K.G. (L-OT), Maroon (L), Gold (L), Black (W)

12-Red (2-6) Maroon (L), Black (W), R.B.(W), N.B. (L), H.G. (L), KG (L), Pink (L-OT), Gold (L)

13-Royal Blue (0-8): S.B. (L), White (L), Red (L), Maroon (L), BLack (L), Pink (L), Gold (L), Purple (L)

Standings (Thru Monday, July 21)

Team, W-L, Pct., G.B., Pts., Opp Pts.

Gold, 8-0, 1.000, --, 630 489
White, 6-2, .750, 2.0, 592 431
Hunter Green, 6-3, .667, 2.5, 558 581
fw-Maroon, 6-3, .667, 2.5, 496 349
w-Black, 4-4, .500, 4.0, 356 343
Orange, 4-4, .500, 4.0, 407 443
Sky Blue, 4-4, .500, 4.0, 513 446
fl-Purple, 4-5, .444, 4.5, 460 452
Pink, 4-5, .444, 4.5, 467 479
fl(2)-Kelly Green, 3-5,.375, 5.0, 334 397
Navy Blue, 3-5, .375, 5.0, 481 498
Red, 2-6, .333, 6.0, 444 537
Royal Blue, 0-8, .000, 8.0, 428 624

fw -- includes forfeit win, fl -- includes forfeit loss

Past Results

Tuesday (July 22) Results

Purple 72, Royal Blue 51
Orange 67, White (D2-West Chester) 58
Navy Blue 45, Black (D2-Phila. U.) 36
Hunter Green 68, Maroon 57
Gold 74, Sky Blue 63
Kelly Green 43, Pink (D2-USP) 37
Bye: Red

Thursday (July 17) Results

White (D2-West Chester) 102, Eed 62
Black (D2-Phila. U.) 56, Purple 39
Hunter Green 78. Orange 62
Gold 83, Navy Blue 83-62
Maroon 55, Pink (D2-USP) 36
Sky Blue 70, Kelly Green 55
Bye: Royal Blue

Tueaday (July 14) Results

White (D2-West Chester) 89, Hunter Green 37
Gold 79, Royal Blue 64
Pink (D2-USP) 64, Red 59, ovt.
Purple 62, Kelly Green 59
Orange 73, Sky Blue 72
Maroon 68, Navy Blue 61

Black (D2-Phila. U.), Bye

Thursday (July 10) Results

Maroon 53, Orange 47
Sky Blue 59, Purple 36
Kelly Green 59, Red 45
Gold 69, White(D2-West Chester) 47
Hunter Green 51, Black (D2-Phila. U) 43
Pink (D2-USP) 70, Royal Blue 50

Tuesday (July 8) Results

Black (D2-Phila. U.) 58, Royal Blue 56
Kelly Green 74, Navy Blue 70, ovt.
Orange 50, Pink (D2-USP) 49
Sky Blue 52, Maroon 47
Hunter Green 75, Red 60
Gold 77, Purple 57

Wednesday (July 2) Results

Hunter Green 51, Pink 47
Maroon 98, Royal Blue 48
White (D2-West Chester) 59, Sky Blue 48
Navy Blue 78, Red 52
Black 2, Kelly Green 0, forfeit
Orange 2, Purple 0, forfeit

Tuesday (July 1) Results

Hunter Green 69, Navy Blue 59
White (West Chester) 54, Purple 45
Gold 85, Maroon 68
Black (Phila. U.) 54, Orange 38
Pink (USP) 59, Sky Blue 56
Red 70, Royal Blue 57

Thursday (June 26) Results

Red 55, Black 54
White 84, Royal Blue 59
Gold 79, Orange 68
Purple 80, Hunter Green 50
Navy Blue 62, Pink 46
Maroon 2, Kelly Green 0 (forfeit)
Bye: Sky Blue

Tuesday (June 24) Results

Purple 69, Navy Blue 44
Maroon 48, Red 42
Sky Blue 93, Royal Blue 43
White (West Chester) 99, Kelly Green 44
Pink (USP) 59, Black (Phila. U.) 53
Gold 84, Hunter Green 59
Bye: Orange

Looking Ahead

Maroon (6-3) will be looking to stay in the upper part of the standings and Black (4-4) will be looking for an upset to move higher when the two meet at 7 p.m. on Court 2 on Thursday night.

Likewise the same situation on Court 1 at 8:15 for Hunter Green (6-3) and Sky Blue (4-4) as the opponents have the same records as the ones mentioned for the 7 p.m. game.

Orange, the third of the teams at 4-4, will bw trying to avoid being the first victim of the summer of Royal Blue (0-8) when the two meet at 7 p.m. on Court 3.

Gold (8-0) can clinch a playoff berth by staying unbeaten with a win over Kelly Green (3-5) or if Black loses because right now Gols can not lose more than four games the rest of the way and it already has tie-breaking head-to-head wins over Orange and Sky Blue if either ran the table with wins and Gold went winless over its final four gamea.

Upcoming Schedule

Thursday, July 24

7 p.m.

Kelly Green (3-5) vs. Gold (8-0), Court 1
Maroon (6-3) vs. Black (4-4), Court 2
Orange (4-4) vs. Royal Blue (0-8), Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Sky Blue (4-4) vs. Hunter Green (6-3), Court 1
Navy Blue (3-5) vs. White (6-2), Court 2
Purple (4-5) vs. Red (2-6), Court 3
Bye: Pink

Tuesday, July 29

7 p.m.

Red vs. Orange, Court 1
White vs. Maroon, Court 2
Hunter Green vs. Kelly Green, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Royal Blue vs. Navy Blue, Court 1
Black vs. Sky Blue, Court Court 2
Gold vs. Pink, Court 3

Bye: Purple

Thursday, July 31

7 p.m.

Gold vs. Black, Court 1
Kelly Green vs. Royal Blue, Court 2
Maroon vs. Purple, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Pink vs. White, Court 1
Sky Blue vs. Red, Court 2
Navy Blue vs. Orange, Court 3

Bye: Hunter Green

Tuesday, August 5

7 p.m.

Sky Blue vs. Navy Blue, Court 1
Purple vs. Pink, Court 2
Hunter Green vs. Royal Blue, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Orange vs. Kelly Green, Court 1
Red vs. Gold, Court 2
Black vs. White, Court 3

Bye: Maroon

Regular Season Ends

Playoff Schedule

Quarterfinals

Thursday, August 7

7 p.m.
8th aeed vs. 1st seed, Court 1
6th seed vs. 3rd seed, Court 2

8:15 p.m.

7th seed vs. 2nd seed, Court 1
5rh seed vs. 4th seed, Court 2

Semifinals

Tuesday, Aug. 12

7 p.m.

Highest surviving seed vs. lowest surviving seed, Court 1

8:15 p.m.

Remaining quarterfinals survivors, Court 1

Championship

Thursday, Aug. 14

Semifinal survivors, Court 1

That's it for this report.

-- Mel


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