By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru
And Bob Heller
#1 Maroon 59, #4 Purple 44 – Top seeded Team Maroon (also known as Division II University of the Sciences) scored on their first four possessions and never looked back as they advanced to the championship game for the second consecutive year with a 59-44 win over fourth-seed Team Purple.
Senior Natalie Stella (Wilmington Christian School) and sophomore Micah Morgan ( Caravel Academy) led Maroon with 11 points apiece. St. Joseph’s University junior Chelsea Woods led the Purple squad with 20 points while St. Joe’s teammate Jaryn Garner (Germantown Academy)added 16. Woods’ 20-point performance marks the 11th time this season she has scored 20 or more points in a game.
A pair of three-point field goals followed by a pair of baseline jumpers from the left side staked Maroon to a 10-0 lead en route to a 17-8 first quarter margin and a 28-21 lead at halftime. Morgan opened the third quarter with a triple to push the lead back to ten before Purple closed the gap to 34-29 with an 8-3 run, with Woods scoring five of the eight points. Maroon countered with a 7-2 run over the final 1:30 of the period to boost their lead back to double digits 41-31 enter the final quarter.
Junior Molly Greenberg’s (St. Basil Academy) three-pointer triggered a 6-2 run to push Maroon’s lead to 14 51-37 with just 1:30 left. The Maroon squad was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line (Greenberg 4-4, junior Laura Trisch (Archbishop Wood HS) 2-2) in the final minute and junior Colleen Walsh (The Shipley School) closed out the scoring with a fast break layup with 7.5 seconds left to seal the win for Maroon.
In limiting Purple to just 44 points, Maroon has now held their opponents to 50 or fewer points in seven consecutive games and nine times overall (seven regular season and both playoff games).
Maroon will face #2 seed Team Gold in the championship game on Thursday. The game will feature the league’s top defensive team with Maroon holding opponents to 46.7 points per game through the first two playoff contests facing off against the league’s top offensive team in Team Gold, who is scoring 72.3 points per game.
#2 Gold 80, #3 Pink 61 – Second-seed Team Gold used a dominant third quarter to break open a close game with third-seed Team Pink to advance to Thursday’s championship game with an 80-61 victory.
St. Joseph’s University junior Adaisha Franklyn (Bayard Rustin HS) paced Team Gold and led all scorers with 27 points. Alex Smith, a 2014 graduate of Holy Cross University via The Peddie School added 19 points. Team Pink placed three players in double figures led by Gettysburg College sophomore Emma Dorshimer’s (Jenkintown HS) 15 points. Colgate University sophomore Mackenzie Carroll (Central Bucks West HS) and Salisbury University junior Lauren Rothfeld (Upper Dublin HS) added 14 and 11 points respectively.
Gold scored the final six points of the second quarter to retake the lead, 36-33 at the half. Neither team led by any more than five points throughout the first two quarters which also saw a total of eight lead changes and six ties.
Kutztown University graduate Ashley Wood (Spring-Ford HS) and Smith opened the third quarter with three-pointers to start a 12-5 run, enabling Gold to take a double-digit lead, 48-38. Gold would boost their lead to 13 by quarter’s end 54-41.
Wood opened the fourth quarter with a four-point play and Franklyn added a put back layup to give Gold a 19-point lead 60-41 in the first 1:12 of the fourth quarter. A little over three minutes later a Dorshimer layup closed Pink’s deficit to 16, 63-47, which would be as close as they would come the rest of the way.
The second seeded Gold team will now face the top seed Team Maroon in the championship game on Thursday, a game that will pit the league’s top offensive team (Gold, 72.3 points per game) against the league’s top defensive team (Maroon, allowing just 46.7 points per game).
Championship Game Rosters
#1 Team Maroon
1-Micah Morgan (5-7), USciences '19, Caravel
4-Molly Greenberg (5-6), USciences '18, St. Basil
5-Alyx McKiernan (5-4), USciences '19, Immac. Heart Acad,
10-Marissa Sylvester (5-8), USciences '19, Nazareth Acad.
12-Colleen Walsh (5-10), USciences '18, Shipley School
13-Haley Helms (5-7), USciences '18, Cardinal O'Hara
14 Mikaela Giulliani (6-1), USciences '20, North Penn
15 Brigit Coleman (5-7), USciences '20, Gwynedd Mercy Acad.
20-Hadiyah Tucker (5-11), USciences '19, Sanford School
22-Laura Trisch (5-10), USciences '18, Archbishop Wood
23-Natalie Stella (5-9), USciences '18, Wilmington Christian
25-Alex Thomas (5-9), USciences '20, St. Elizabeth
#2 Team Gold
1-Shira Newman (5-7), Millersville '13, Upper Dublin
2-Jazmin Horne (5-7), Saint Joseph's '17, Franklin
3-Tuga Goff (5-4), Rosemont, Upper Dublin
13-Danielle Derr (5-10), Bloomsburg '13, Upper Dublin
14-Ashley Wood (5-7), Kutztown '13, Spring-Ford
15-Nia Holland (5-7), Lafayette '19, Shipley School
22-Alex Smith (5-7), Holy Cross '14, Peddie School
23-Monica Newman (5-5), Millersville '10, Upper Dublin
33-Adaisha Franklyn (6-1), Saint Joseph's '18, Bayard Rustin
34-Mia Hopkins (5-9), Bloomsburg '17, Pittston Area High School
40-Michele McCaughern (5-11), La Salle '12
Coach: Keith Woods
Notes (Repeating from last week's previous report)
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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