#1 Maroon 51, #8 Royal Blue 38 - Top-seeded Team Maroon turned in another solid effort on both ends of the floor as they pulled away from #8 seed Royal Blue in the second half for a 51-38 win.
Team Maroon (also known as Division II University of the Sciences) was led by juniors Colleen Walsh (The Shipley School) and Laura Trisch (Archbishop Wood HS). Walsh and Trisch scored 16 and 10 points respectively. East Stroudsburg University senior Courtney Brown (Council Rock South HS) led Team Royal Blue with 17 points.
Maroon rallied from an eight point deficit late in the second half and then used an 18-4 spurt to close out the third quarter to take a 40-26 lead into the final ten minutes of action. Highlighting the run were consecutive three-point field goals by freshman Brigit Coleman (Gwynedd Mercy Academy), sophomore Marissa Sylvester (Nazareth Academy) and freshman Maddie Ritsick, breaking a 22-22 tie and giving Maroon a nine-point lead. Coleman followed with a layup to complete an 11-0 run to push the lead to double-digits where it would remain the rest of the way.
Two straight baskets by Micah Morgan (Caravel Academy) midway through the fourth quarter gave Maroon its biggest lead of the game at 47-31. Royal then cut the deficit down to 11, courtesy of a Brown three-pointer and layup from St. Joseph’s University senior Amanda Fiorvanti (Our Lady of Good Counsel). Maroon connected on 5-6 from the free throw line in the final 2:46 while limiting Royal to just one field goal to come away with the 13-point victory.
In the first half, Royal Blue held Maroon without a field goal for the first 7:35 of the game but could not break their defense, holding just a one-point advantage 10-9 after one quarter. A 9-2 run by Royal Blue opened up an eight point lead 19-11 before Maroon closed out the half on a 9-1 run to even the score at 20-20. Walsh led the Maroon surge, scoring seven points in the final 3:30.
#3 Pink 54, #6 Black 52 - SUNY Oneonta senior Brianna Spector (Upper Dublin HS) sank two free throws with 0.4 left on the clock to lead third-seed Team Pink to a 54-52 win over sixth seed Team Black to advance to Tuesday’s semi-finals.
Salisbury University senior Lauren Rothfeld (Upper Dublin HS) led Team Pink with 14 points.Emma Dorshimer, a Gettysburg College sophomore out of Jenkintown HS, added 12 points. Senior Kelsey Jones (Mount St. Joseph’s Academy) led Team Black (also known as Division II Philadelphia University) with four three pointers and 14 points. Junior Jess Kaminski (Archbishop Wood HS) and freshman Alynna Williams (Plymouth-Whitemarsh HS) added 10 points apiece.
Black had rallied from a seven point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to take a one point lead in the final minute. A 9-3 run reduced Pink’s lead to 50-49 with 4:50 left. Neither team added to their total until there was just 36 seconds remaining. At that point Williams sank two free throws to give Black the lead for the moment 51-50.
A baseline jumper from Rothfeld put Pink back on top 52-51. Kaminski went 1-2 from the line and the game was tied at 52-52 with 20 seconds left. Pink again answered with a layup from LeMoyne College junior CourtneyWebster (Central Bucks East HS) with 13.2 left to take a 54-52 lead.
Black again tied the score as Kaminski’s basket with 5.9 seconds left evened the game at 54-54. Pink had the ball knocked away but still maintained possession under their own basket with 1.4 seconds left. The inboundspass went to Spector and as she attempted to launch a three-point shot as game clock was set to expire, was hit on the arm and a three-shot foul was called. After missing the first free throw she sank the next two. Black could not get a shot off in the final 0.4 enabling Pink to advance.
It was also Spector that generated a 7-0 run in the third quarter that gave Pink their first lead since midway through the second quarter, turning a 38-36 deficit into a 43-38 lead. Spector had four of the seven points in the run while Dorshimer sank the go-ahead three-point field goal at the 2:09 mark.
#4 Purple 73, #5 White 71 - St. Joseph’s University junior Chelsea Woods scored 31 points as fourth-seed Team Purple held off a late rally from Fifth-seed Team White to hang on for a 73-71 win to advance to the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Woods, who reached the 30-point plateau seven times during the regular season, sank six three-point field goals en route to her 33-point effort. Penn State Abington junior Symantha Marrero (Central HS) also drained six three-pointers and finished with 18 points. Kutztown University freshman Sierra Taylor (Camden Catholic HS) led Team White with 21 points, all in the first half. St. Joseph’s University sophomore Michaela Clay added 16 points.
White trailed by 13 early in the third quarter but outscored Purple 18-9 over the final seven minutes to pull within four 59-55 as the game entered the final quarter.
A 6-0 run to open the fourth quarter gave White their first lead since they opening minutes of the game, 61-59 with seven minutes remaining. Two ties and four lead changes followed over the next four minutes with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage.
A basket by KU sophomore Taylor Thames (North Penn HS) gave White a 69-67 lead with just under three-minutes remaining. Woods then scored five straight points for Purple, producing another lead change and a 72-69 lead. Thames had a chance to tie the game with a traditional thee point play after being fouled while making a layup with 1:50 left but could not convert the free throw, allowing Purple to maintain a one-point lead 72-71.
PSU-Abington senior Madison Kimball (Jenkintown HS) added a free throw with 25 seconds left, increasing the Purple lead to two 73-71. White had four shots in the final 15 seconds in an attempt to tie the game but fell short as Purple hung on for the win.
#2 Gold 61, #7 Sky Blue 54 - St. Joseph’s University junior Adaisha Franklyn led three players in double figures as second-seed Team Gold held off a fourth quarter rally from seventh-seed Team Sky Blue to earn a 61-54 win and advance to the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Franklyn, (Bayard Rustin HS) led Gold with 21 points. Holy Cross graduate Alex Smith (The Peddie School) added 11 and former Spring-Ford HS and Kutztown University graduate Ashley Wood added ten. Recent St. Joseph’s graduate Ciara Andrews (Cheltenham HS) paced Sky Blue with 22 points (10-12 FT line).
Team Gold built a double-digit lead early in the game, scoring 12 straight points at the end of the first quarter and start of the second to take an 18-6 lead. St. Joseph’s freshman Avery Marz (Wilson HS) drained a three-pointer late in the second quarter, cutting the gap to nine, before Gold scored the final three points of the half to lead 25-13 at the break.
Sky Blue cut the lead to seven, 31-24 in the opening minutes of the third quarter before Gold produced a 12-2 uprising to take their biggest lead of the game at 43-26. Franklin and Wood each scored six points during the run. Sky Blue closed out the quarter with a 10-3 effort to cut the gap to ten 46-36.
A 6-2 run to open the fourth quarter built Gold’s lead back to 14, 52-38, when Sky Blue went on another run, this one a 13-2 effort, cutting the lead to three, 54-51 with 1:42 remaining. Two free throws from Millersville University graduate Shira Newman (Upper Dublin HS) and a single free throw from Wood pushed the lead back to five 57-52 with a minute to go. A layup from Marz cut the deficit back to three 57-54 with 47.3 remaining. Gold then scored the final four points on two free throws apiece from St. Joseph’s senior Jazmin Horne (Franklin HS) and Wood to come away with the seven point 61-54 win.
Notes
The Guru would like second the thank you shoutouts by longtime commissioner David Kessler, but first a thank you goes to the commissioner himself for all the organizing and administration he excutes to maintain a smooth operation.
Hand-in-hand a thank you to deputy commissioner Steve Michielli, as well as thanks to Tim McGrath and his game officials.
As for the AAU host Renegades, thanks for a great snack bar and overall hosting from Steve Flynn, who will be coaching Team Pink Tuesday night, and Meg Baum.
Media-wise the Guru thanks to Bob Heller, who has helped fatten the overnight report with recaps and also handling the lede opening when the Guru was out of pocket. Thanks to Tom Utescher for providing photos and look at the moment for the Guru photo newcomer Melissa Willhouse, who hopes to be on the scene for the playoffs and shot Wednesday's USA Olympic Team doubleheader at Delaware Wednesday night and whose photo gallery is right next to this post.
Final Regular Season Standings
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