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, June 26, 2015

Philly Summer League: Saint Joseph's Chelsea Woods the Latest Hawk to Impact Action

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

HATBORO, Pa. –
For the last several years a Saint Joseph’s player among several Hawks stars has been in the group of various outstanding performers in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s NCAA Summer Basketball League here at Kelly Bolish Gym, one of the AAU Renegades in lower Bucks County not far from the northern city limits.

Several years ago it was Katie Kuester, now an assistant to Joe Logan at Loyola of Maryland in Baltimore, leading several teams to the summer title.

A year ago it was Natasha Cloud of the championship Gold squad who now is making an impressive debut as a WNBA rookie with the Washington Mystics after being chosen 15th overall in the second round.

Perhaps one night on this summer’s Philly schedule if the Mystics are home and off the former Cardinal O'Hara star out of Broomall might return to her old haunts.

Now in the early going with two weeks completed after Thursday night’s games, it looks like Saint Joseph’s sophomore Chelsea Woods might keep the Hawks streak alive here.

Woods, who had scored 28 points, each, the two previous nights, hit the high scoring performance of the summer Thursday with 31 points in Red’s 94-64 triumph over winless Kelly Green (0-3) as Red (2-2) with two straight victories made it to .500 and a seventh place tie in the 13-team action in which eight at the end of July will go to the playoffs.

She was also one of four players who hit the nightly 20-or-more points individual standard, which is the only stat the Guru can feature since points are the only statistic reported in the three nightly doubleheaders.

Each team gets one bye on the night with red-hot Neon Green (2-1) idle Thursday night and Pink serving its bye next Tuesday when the games resume.

In the same Red-Kelly Green contest, Mary Ellen McCollum, a 2014 graduate of Division II Holy Family in Northeast Philadelphia, scored 20 points for Kelly Green.

Alex Thomas, an incoming USciences freshman, scored 22 points in Purple’s 59-54 win over Sapphire Blue (1-2) to remain one of three unbeaten teams tied at the top along with Gold (4-0), which gained a 2-0 forfeit win over Ash (2-2), composed primarily of Millersville players, which failed to have enough personnel on hand when the tipoff deadline arrived.

Gold was a very strong favorite in its game Thursday so the result via forfeit might be academic.

Sarah Payonk, a junior on Division III Scranton, which dominates the Pink roster, was the fourth player to hit the 20-or-more standard scoring 21 to keep Pink (4-0) also unbeaten, courtesy of a lopsided 87-31 win over Royal Blue (0-4), dominated on the roster by Penn State-Abington players.

A narrow 56-54 victory was the first of the summer season for Forest Green (1-3), which upset Black (2-1), handing the Division II Philadelphia University group their first loss.

Besides Royal Blue (0-4) and Kelly Green (0-3), Team Orange (0-4), which fell to Maroon (2-2), the the primarily Division II West Chester squad, is also looking for its first victory.

Looking Ahead

One more team will get its first triumph of the season Tuesday since the 0-4 squads of Royal Blue and Orange will meet on Court 3 in one of the three 7 p.m. games.

Maroon (2-2) and Black (2-1) meet in the opening action of the night on Court 2 with the two squads under their winter affiliations at schools having met in the past.

With Red suddenly on a roll, an intriguing game on Court 3 in an 8:15 start looms with the matchup being with unbeaten Purple.

As teams begin to separate themselves some dates to take note among the top contenders in the early going are:

--Neon Green vs. Red on Court 3 in next Thursday's 7 p.m. start.
--Purple vs. Neon Green at 7 p.m. at Court 1 on July 7, with Black meeting Pink at the same date and time on Court 3.
--Purple vs. Pink on Court 2 at 7 p.m. on July 9 and Red meeting Gold on the same court immediately following at 8:15 p.m.
--Gold and Purple at 7 p.m. on Court 2 on July 16.
--Gold vs. Pink at 8:15 on Court 3 on July 21.

The Recap Skinny

With all the night’s highlighted mentioned, here’s the recap of the five games played, remembering that as mentioned Gold-Ash was a forfeit result after listed as a 7 p.m. start.

Under the bylaws as promulgated by longtime commissioner David B. Kessler, the 7 p.m. games allow a 15-minute grace because of traffic and distance for those directly coming straight from work or homes located a significant amount of time away from the venue located in Willow Grove Commons Business Park alongside the Pennsylvania Turnpike and near the intersection of Davisville and Byberry Roads.

Incidentally, there is no admission charge and there is a snack bar with cheap and tasty food such as hot dogs and hamburgers.

Thursday’s Action

Red 94, Kelly Green 64:
Besides Woods’ performance, Red got 18 points from Natalya Lee, a Division II Kutztown player out of Rancocas Valley High across the Delaware River in southern New Jersey, 16 from Devin Gold, a recent Caldwell grad out of Council Rock North, and 12 from Lauren Gold, a Shippensburg junior out of Abington Friends.

Besides McCollum’s 20, Kaitlyn Kelly a DeSales junior out of Pennsbury High, scored 14 points for which most came off four 3-pointers by the Kelly Green player.

The commissioner keeps noting its tough to achieve more parity across the board because of players and Division II and Division III squads who express a desire to be together prior to the annual May draft to make up the rosters.

Forest Green 56, Black 54: Michala Clay, a Saint Joseph’s incoming freshman, scored 17 points in Forest Green’s first win, as did Erin Fenningham, a Holy Family senior. Katie O’Hare, a Holy Family freshman, scored nine points for the winners.

Mary Newell, a Philadelphia senior out of Villa Joseph Marie, scored 11 points for Black, while Jess Kaminski, a Rams player out of Archbishop Wood, and Tori Arnao, a recent Rams grad also out of Archbishop Wood, each scored 10 points.

Holy Family, Philadelphia U., and USciences have familiarity with each other since the three schools all compete in the southern division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference.

Maroon 77, Orange 56: Jiana Clark, scored 19 points for the primarily West Chester squad on which she is a senior as Maroon got back to .500 at 2-2.

Kendall Benovy, a senior on the Golden Rams out of Hershey High, scored 11 points, while Camden Boehner, a junior from Gettysburg Area High, and Dallas Ely, a recent West Chester grad, each scored 10 points.

Emma Dorshimer, a Gettysburg freshman, scored 14 points for Orange, which also got 11 from Lindsey Kelly, a Nazareth College senior from Central Bucks East, and 10 from Brianna Spector, an Oneonta State junior from Upper Dublin High.

Purple 59, Sapphire Blue 54: The USciences group let a 15-point lead shrivel to a mere single one before Sarah Abbonizio, listed for 2020 graduation out of Episcopal Academy, saved the day with foul shots at the finish to keep Purple unbeaten at the top in a three-way tie among the 4-0 unbeaten squads.

Sapphire Blue got 17 points from Michelle Boggs, a Division II East Stroudsburg senior out of Springside High, and 10 from Noelle Powell, a freshman at the school which dominates the summer roster of Sapphire Blue (1-2).

Pink 87, Royal Blue 31: Besides Payonk’s 21 for the predominantly Scrannon group, Julia Gantz, a Bloomsburg freshman out of Archbishop Carroll, scored 16 points to keep Pink unbeaten, while Sarah Engman, a Division III Widener senior, scored 14 points, and Jaclyn Gantz, a Scranton senior out of Hasverford High, scored 13 points.

Tyniqua Henderson, a Penn State-Abington senior out of Dobbins High, scored 12 points for Royal Blue while Elizabeth Jones, a junior at PSU-Abington out of St. Hubert’s, scored nine.

And that’s the report. As previously mentioned, next weekend’s July 4th holiday doesn’t impact the league schedule this summer so no extra night will be needed across the Tuesday and Thursday night dates to make up for any disruption.

When the impact has occurred, the commissioner usually let’s the previous day go dark or also doesn’t schedule when the holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday and then inserts a Wednesday night set of games on the three courts the following week.

Standings
Team W-L G.B. PF PA Pct.

(Thru Mon., June 29)

(Ties Listed Alphabetical For Now)

%-Gold 4-0 –- 228 184 1.000
Pink 4-0 –- 272 212 1.000
Purple 4-0 –- 243 172 1.000
Black 2-1 1.5 176 145 .667
Neon Green 2-1 1.5 212 166 .667
&-Ash 2-2 1.0 166 169 .500
Maroon 2-2 2.0 280 266 .500
Red 2-2 2.0 275 288 .500
Sapphire 1-2 2.5 165 173 .333
Forest Green 1-3 3.0 212 280 .250
Kelly 0-3 3.5 158 219 .000
Orange 0-4 4.0 206 257 .000
Royal Blue 0-4 4.0 213 307 .000

%-includes 1 forfeit 2-0 win
&-includes 1 forfeit 0-2 loss


Season Results
Thurs, June 25

Maroon 77, Orange 56
Purple 59, Sapphire Blue 54
Red 94, Kelly Green 64
Gold 2, Ash 0, forfeit
Pink 87, Royal Blue 31

Bye: Neon Green (2-1)

Tues., June 23

Black 49, Orange 47
Neon Green 91, Forest Green 42
Purple 59, Ash 31
Red 89, Royal Blue 84
Gold 87, Maroon 84
Pink 54, Sapphire Blue 49

Bye: Kelly Green

Thurs, June 18

Gold 70, Royal Blue 57
Ash 74, Forest Green 67
Sapphire Blue 62, Orange 60
Neon Green 69, Maroon 60
Pink 67, Red 50
Purple 66, Kelly Green 40

Bye: Black

Tues, June 16

Maroon 59, Kelly Green 54
Gold 69, Orange 43
Black 73, Red 42
Pink 64, Neon Green 52
Purple 61, Forest Green 47
Ash 61, Royal Blue 41

Bye: Sapphire Blue

Looking Ahead
Tues., June 30


7 p.m.

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

8:15 p.m.

Sapphire Blue (1-2) vs. Forest Green (1-3), Court 1
Neon Green (2-1) vs. Ash (2-2) , Court 2
Purple (4-0) vs. Red (2-2), Court 3

Bye: Pink (4-0)

Thurs., July 2

7 p.m.

Pink vs. Forest Green, Court 1
Sapphire Blue vs. Ash, Court 2
Neon Green vs Red, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

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

Bye: Gold

Tues., July 7

7 p.m.

Purple vs. Neon Green, Court 1
Royal Blue v. Sapphire Blue, Court 2
Black vs. Pink, Court 3

8:15 p.m.

Red vs. Maroon, Court 1
Ash vs. Kelly Green, Court 2
Forest Green vs. Gold, Court 3

Bye: Orange

Scoring 20 Points or More

31-Chelsea Wood, Red (W) vs. Kelly Green (L) – June 25
30- Megan Quinn, Neon Green (W), vs. Forest Green (L) - June 23
30-Maureen Leahy, Neon Green (W), vs. Forest Green (L) –June 23
28- Chelsea Woods, Red (W), vs. vs. Royal Blue (L) – June 23
28-Chelsea Woods, Red (L), vs. Pink (W) – June 18
25-Tori Smick, Maroon (L) vs. Gold (W) – June 23
25-Ashley Wood, Gold (W) vs Orange (L) – June 16
25-Alex Louin, Neon Green (W) vs Maroon (L) – June 18
24-Sarah Fairbanks, Pink (W) vs Red (L) – June 18
24-Tyniqua Henderson, Royal Blue (L) vs. Gold (W) – June 18
23-Lauren Crisler, Gold (W) vs. Maroon (L) – June 23
22-Alex Thomas, Purple (W) vs. Sapphire Blue (L) – June 25
22-Micah Morgan, Purple (W), vs. Kelly Green (L) – June 18
21 – Sarah Payonk, Pink (W) vs. Royal Blue (L) – June 25
21-Natalya Lee, Red (W), vs. Royal Blue (L) – June 23
21-Alex Louin, Neon Green (W), vs. Forest Green (L) –June 23
21-Lauren Crisler, Gold (W) vs. Royal Blue – June 18
20-Mary Ellen McCollum, Kelly Green (L) vs, Red (L) – June 25
20-Margaret Melham, Red (W) vs. Royal Blue (L) – June 23
20-Brittany Sicinski, Maroon (L) vs. Gold (W) – June 23

Tie-Break Tracker

True Order Coming in a Few Weeks

Gold (4-0) vs. O (W), RB (W), vs. M (W), Ash (W-*F)
Pink (4-0) vs. NG (W), Red (W), SB (W), RB(W)
Purple (4-0) vs. FG (W), KG (W), A(W), SB(W)
Black (2-1) vs. Red (W), O (W), FG(L)
Neon Green (2-1) vs. Pink(L), M(W), FG (W)
Ash (2-2) vs. RB (W), FG (W), Purple (L), Gold (L-*F)
Maroon (2-2) vs. KG (W), NG (L), G(L).O(W)
Red (2-2) vs. Blk (L), Pink (L), RB(W),KG(W)
Sapphire Blue (1-2) O(W), Pink(L),Purp(L)
Forest Green (1-3) vs. Purp (L), Ash (L), NG(L),B(W)
Kelly Green (0-3) vs. M (L), Purp (L),Red(L)
Orange (0-4) vs. Gold (L), SB (L), B(L),M(L)
Royal Blue (0-4) vs. Ash (L), Gold (L), Red (L),Pink(L)

*-indicates forfeit result.

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