The Guru Report: Back-to-Back Final Four Nights to Determine Philadelphia/Suburban Women Summer League Champions

By Bob Heller and Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

HATBORO, Pa. - And then on Wednesday night in week nine, four were alive at the outset of the semifinals of the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League, but that number following the semifinal doubleheader tipping off all on Court 1 at 6:30 p.m. will be reduced to two at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.

That surviving duo will come right back Thursday night to determine the champion at 6:30 p.m. also on Court 1 making the eight-team league last-minute return to action a success.

Considering the half-hour earlier 6:30 p.m. start than in the past there were no forfeits, not counting two off-court no shows at the snack bar, and weather was not much of a problem in the just one-night Thursdays schedule, though heat is likely to be tossed in the window considering the forecast ahead.

Three of the semifinalists compete in the winter in the D2-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) while the fourth, the Pink/USciences Alumnae, the first school of those allowed to field entire affiliated units to enter alums, obviously also has CACC roots.

Game 1 has top seeded Black/Jefferson (8-0) meeting that Pink group (4-4), a six-seed upset winner in the quarterfinals over three-seed Kelly Green/D2-Kutztown marking the first time since the mid-June openers that any of the top three fell to any of the other five.

Jefferson, with its perfect record is a strong favorite to finish out, but the Rams have stumbled in playoff action in the past.

In their previous meeting on July 1, Black was a 60-47 winner and Bob will have that recap below.

Game 2 at 7:45 p.m. on Court 1 after the first finalist is determined will feature the second-seed Maroon/USciences Undergrads, who has been this far for a long stretch of seasons, meeting five-seed Orange/Chestnut Hill (4-4) which was a mild upset quarterfinal winner over four-seed Sky Blue/Holy Family (3-5).

Those two teams and Pink finished in a three-way tie, while the other five teams earned their five seeds outright. 

In the first meeting on July 22 Maroon topped Orange 58-52.

An all-USciences final would have a sweet storyline because this is the last season of the Devils undergrads with the school set to merge with D-1 Saint Joseph’s at the end of the 2022 Spring semester.

Though Maroon only lost to Black, the lopsided outcome was unusual the way these two teams go at it.

Of course an ultimate Orange win would be pure Cinderella.

So that said, here’s the setups with Bob’s look backs.

SEMIFINALS

Game 1 6:30 p.m.: 1-Black/Jefferson (8-0) vs. 6-Pink/USciences Alums (4-4), Court 1

Team Black (D2-Jefferson) - 10 Players

    

4   Bridget Arcidiacono 5’10  Arch. Wood/Jefferson ’22   

5   Emma Kuczynski 5’7  Tamaqua Area HS/Jefferson ’24     

10 Sabria Lytes 6’  Harry S. Truman HS/Jefferson ’21      

11 Maeve McCann 5’6   Bonner-Prendie/Jefferson ’23      

12 Haley Meinel 5’10  Central Bucks South/Jefferson ’22  

13 Cassie Murphy 6’  Notre Dame/Jefferson ’24     

14 Ryleigh Parsons 5’5   Arch Wood/Jefferson ’23     

15 Morgan Robinson 5’8  Kingsway Regional/Jefferson ’23    

20 Allie Warren 5’10  E. Brunswick/Jefferson ‘20         

21 Sam Yencha 5’11  Holy Redeemer HS/Jefferson ‘24  

Team Pink  (D2-USciences Alums) - 12 Players

 

4   Sarah Abbonizio  5’8   Episcopal Academy/USciences ’18   

5   Allie Crone  5’8     USciences 

10 Molly Greenberg  5’6   St. Basil Academy/USciences 

11 Melia Kolb  5’7  Jenkintown/USciences/Dickinson College ’23      

12 Natalie Kolb  5’7 Jenkintown/USciences/Franklin & Marshall  ’23   

13 Ashley Kremp  5’9 Jenkintown/USciences/Penn State ’22   

14 Jen Kremp  5’8  Jenkintown/USciences/Dickinson College ’22     

15 Shannon May  5’4  Archbishop Wood/USciences ’21   

20 Laura Trisch 5’10  Archbishop Wood/USciences ’18  

21 Irisa Ye 5’9  North Penn/USciences ’21   

22 Jordan Vitelli  5’6  Central Bucks South/USciences ’20 

23 Brigit Coleman 5’6  Gwynedd Mercy/USciences ’22    

1-Black (D2-Jefferson) 8-0

 

June 17: vs. Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family), W 73-49

June 24: vs. Red (D3-Arcadia 0-1), W 78-44

July 1: vs. Pink (D2-USciences Alumnae 1-1), W 60-47

July 8: vs. Maroon (D2-USciences Undergrads 3-0), W 65-26

July 15: vs. Orange (D2-Chestnut Hill 2-2), W 45-38

July 22: vs. Kelly (D2-Kutztown 4-1), W-54-43

July 29: vs. Royal (D3-Ursinus 1-5) , 74-53

Aug. 5: vs. 8-Red (D3-Arcadia 0-7), Qtr. W 94-34

Aug. 12: vs. 6-Pink (D2-USciences Alums 4-4), S 6:30 p.m, Court 1

6-Pink (D2-USciences Alumnae) 4-4

 

 June 17: vs. Royal (D3-Ursinus), W 64-55

June 24: vs. Maroon (D2-Usciences 1-0), L 32-38

July 1: vs. Black (D2-Jefferson 2-0), L 47-60

July 8: vs. Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family 1-2), W 51-48

July 15: vs. Kelly (D2-Kutztown 3-1), L 52-56

July 22: vs. Red (D3-Arcadia 0-5), W 50-31

July 29: vs. Orange (D2-Chestnut Hill 2-4), L 47-50

Aug. 5: vs. 3-Kelly (D2-Kutztown 5-2), Qtr.-W 45-33

Aug. 12: vs. 1-Black (D2-Jefferson 8-0), S 6:30 p.m., Court 1

Black 60 Pink 47

 

Black (Jefferson University) also remained unbeaten with a hard-fought 60-47 win over Pink (USciences alums).

Pink was missing two of their best players in Irisa Ye and Sarah Abbonizio but contained the high scoring black squad for three quarters, holding them to just 39 points through the first 30 minutes of action before Black outscored Pink 21-10 in the final quarter to secure the win.

Jordan Vitelli was the lone Pink player in double figures with 21 points while Laura Trisch and Jen Kremp added nine apiece.  Haley Meinel led black with 18 points while Emma Kuczynski joined her in double figures with 12 points.

Black scored 12 straight points in the first quarter to jump of to a 15-3 lead before Vitelli led Pink on a 7-2 charge to close the gap to 17-10 by quarters end. 

 Black again built the lead to double figures, 28-18 following a Kuczynski basket.  

Pink however was able to cut the lead in half by the break following a Vitelli layup and a Trisch three-point field goal, 28-23.

The lead oscillated between five and seven points until Vitelli exploded for ten points in the final five minutes, pulling Pink within two on two occasions, the last at 39-37 heading into the final quarter.

Three straight baskets to start the fourth quarter led to a 14-2 run by black as they opened their biggest lead of the game a 54-39.  Meinel had eight of those 14 points.  Pink would pull no closer than nine the rest on the way as Black remained perfect with the 13-point win.

Game 2 7:45 p.m. 2-Maroon/USciences Undergrads (7-1) vs. 5-Orange/Chestnut Hill (4-4), Court 1

Team Maroon (D2-USciences Undergrads) - 12 Players

 

4   Dayna Balasa   5’8  Upper Dublin/USciences ’25   

5   Isla Brennan 5’7 Middletown HS South/USciences ’23 

10 Juliana Gura 5’10 St. Basil’s Academy/USciences ’22   

11 Taylor Hamm 6’  Perkiomen Valley/USciences ’22 

12 Jessica Huber 5’9 North Penn/USciences ’21   

13 Harlem Jennings 5’7   Arch. Carroll/USciences ’24

14 Bria Johnson 5’8   Montgomery HS/USciences    

15 Shayla Johnson 6’2 USciences ’25   

20 Kendall Keyes 5’6  Lenape/USciences ’22    

21 Anna McTamney 5’10  Plymouth Whitemarsh/USciences ’25    

22 Kerry Patterson 5’8  Card O’Hara HS/USciences ’23    

23 Allison Waters 5’9   Manasquan/USciences  ’25’

Team Orange (D-2 Chestnut Hill) - 15 Players

     

4   Trinity Brittingham 5’8  St. George’s Technical HS/Chestnut Hill ’23    

5   Kaitlyn C. Carter 5’11 Penn Charter/Chestnut Hill ’24   

10 Emily Chmiel 6’2  CB East/Chestnut Hill ’25      

11 Lauren Crim 5’5  Lansdale Catholic/Chestnut Hill ’23      

12 Maura Conroy 5’5  Gwynedd Mercy/Chestnut Hill ’22      

13 Kayla Dougherty 5’6  Williamstown HS/Chestnut Hill ’24     

14 Brianna Hewlett 5’9  North Penn HS/Chestnut Hill ’22      

15 Lindsey Lane 5’11  Haverford/Chestnut Hill ’23       

20 Rachael Millan 5’8  Lower Moreland/Chestnut Hill ’22      

21 Morgan Orloski 5’5  Bethlehem Catholic/Chestnut Hill ’22     

22 Brianna Rider 5’11  St. Timothy’s School/Chestnut Hill ’25      

23 Cassie Sebold 5’5  Arch. Wood/Chestnut Hill ’22        

24 Abigail Spratt 5’6  Central Bucks W./Chestnut Hill ’22    

25 Morgan Sterner 5’6  Northampton Area HS/Chestnut Hill ’25     

30 Amber Washington 5’1  St. George’s Technical HS/Chestnut Hill ‘23   

2-Maroon (D2-USciences Undergrads) 7-1

 

June 17: vs. Red (D3-Arcadia), W 73-32

June 24: vs. Pink (USciences Alumnae 1-0 ), W 38-32

July 1: vs. Kelly (D2-Kutztown 2-0), W 63-60

July 8: vs. Black (D2-Jefferson 3-0), L 26-65

July 15: vs. Royal (D3-Ursinus 1-3), W 61-50

July 22: vs. Orange (D2-Chestnut Hill 2-3), W 58-52

July 29: vs. Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family 3-3), W 68-39

Aug. 5: vs. Royal (D3-Ursinus 1-6), Qtr.-W 48-29

Aug. 12 vs. Orange D2-Chestnut Hill 4-4), S 7:45 p.m., Court 1

5-Orange (D2-Chestnut Hill) 4-4

 

June 17: vs. Kelly (D2-Kutztown), L 42-80

June 24: vs. Royal (D3-Ursinus 0-1), W 53-44

July 1: vs. Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family 0-2), L 51-60

July 8: vs. Red (D3-Arcadia 0-3), W 50-45

July 15: vs. Black (D2-Jefferson 4-0), L 38-45

July 22: vs. Maroon (D2-USciences Undergrads 4-1), L 52-58

July 29: vs. Pink (D2-USciences Alumnae 3-3), W 50-47

Aug. 5: vs. 4-Sky Blue (D2-Holy Family 3-4), Qtr. W 72-64

Aug. 11 vs. Maroon (D2-USciences Undergrads 7-1), S-7:45 p.m., Court 1

Maroon 58   Orange 62

Team Maroon (USciences) kept pace with Black, rallying from a double-digit second half deficit to defeat Team Orange (Chestnut Hill College) 58-52.

Maroon improves to 5-1 and clinches the #2 seed for the upcoming league playoffs.  Orange falls to 2-4 and is tied for fifth place with Team Sky Blue.

Incoming USciences freshman Dayna Balasa led all scorers with 17 points (five three-pointers) while Jess Huber, a USciences senior chipped in 15 (11 in the second half). Lauren Crim led Orange with 12 points.

Orange scored the first seven points of the game before a Balasa three-ball put Maroon on the board. 

 Following a Morgan Sterner basket, Maroon closed out the quarter with an 8-3 run to pull within one 12-11.

Crim opened the second quarter with a three-pointer and Orange added another bucket to take a 17-11 lead.  

Juliana Gura added two straight baskets and Anna McTamney scored another to tie the game at 17-17.  

Orange countered with an 11-3 uprising to take a 28-20 lead before another Balasa three-ball and a Taylor Hamm layup cut the Orange lead to 28-25 at halftime.

A 9-0 run by Orange to start the third quarter gave the Chestnut Hill squad their biggest lead 37-25, forcing the USciences squad to call a timeout.  

Kerry Patterson gave Maroon their first points at the 4:55 mark starting a 12-6 run, highlighted by a pair of Balasa ‘threes’ and a basket as time was expiring, cutting Orange’s lead to six 43-37 heading into the final quarter.

Isla Brennan scored Maroon’s first eight points of the fourth quarter as Maroon pulled within two 47-45. 

 Following a free throw by Emily Chmiel, Huber scored two straight baskets to give Maroon their first lead of the game 49-48 with 4:21 remaining. 

A basket from Hamm and a three-pointer from Huber completed a 9-0 run and increased the Maroon lead to six 54-48.  Orange could only close within four on two occasions in the final three minutes. 

 Maroon held the ball for the final 1:30 (there’s no shot clock) and hung on for the 58-52 win.