The Guru Report: Narrow Wins Complete First Week as Heather Maroon and Kelly Green Head to Top of Philly Summer League Standings

By Bob Heller and Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

HATBORO, Pa. — It was the kind of night on Thursday that brings a smile to Commissioner David Kessler as three games were decided by one point and the fourth by two in overtime in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.

A fifth was postponed between the Black/D2 Jefferson squad and Purple/D2 West Chester squad due to a shortage of Jefferson players known in advance but both teams were agreeable to take a postponement to July 14, the next-to-last regular night of the season. 

The teams will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Court 3 and then each will head to their regularly slated contests at 7:45, Team Black playing the Sun/Draft Team 2 on Court 1 while Team Purple will meet Team Kelly Green/Draft Team 1 on Court 2.

As for the games played, defending champion Heather Maroon, the D2 USciences graduate squad edged Columbia Blue, the D2 Holy Family squad, 61-59, in overtime. The schools had been winter rivals in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference South Division (CACC) but are no more following the folding of the USciences undergrad with the merger into D1 Saint Joseph’s that goes into effect shortly.

In the other three games, the two Division III schools in the league met with the Orange/Ursinus bunch edging the Royal Blue/Arcadia squad 61-60.

The two draft squads played — teams that aren’t dominated by one school on the roster — and the Kelly Green/Draft Team 1 bunch edged the Sun/Draft Team 2 group, 51-50, while Team Pink/D2 Kutztown edged Team Red/Chestnut Hill 52-51.

Thus, standings-wise Kelly Green and Heather Maroon are tied at 2-0 followed a half-game behind by the idle Purple squad in third. A four-way tie for fourth exists at 1-1 among Columbia Blue, Orange, Pink, and Red (technically though it turns by alphabetical listing Pink breaks any tied with Red off Thursday’s head-to-head win).

Idle Black, off its opening night loss, is in eighth, while an 0-2 start sends Royal Blue and Sun into a ninth-place tie.

When the playoffs begin on Thursday, July 21, the seventh seed will play the 10th seed while the eighth seed will play the ninth seed, winners advancing to the quarterfinals on July 26.

Looking Ahead

On Tuesday night, your Guru will be handling the report by remote, having to be up in Connecticut for Title IX activities at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame followed by another event the following night down at the Mohegan Sun near New London prior to a WNBA game between the Connecticut pro team and the New York Liberty, but Bob will be on the scene down here to file the nitty gritty off the five scheduled games.

The 50th anniversary of the date when the actual federal legislation was passed is June 23 next Thursday.

In the early Tuesday action at 6:30 p.m., Pink/D2 Kutztown (1-1) will face Royal Blue/D3 Arcadia on Court 1, while the marquee match of the night will have Black/D2 Jefferson facing the Heather Maroon/D2 USciences graduates on Court 2, renewing the two schools’ rivalry in the CACC South Division.

The nightcap matchups at 7:45 p.m. feature the Purple/D2 West Chester team (1-0) against the Red/D2 Chestnut Hill team on Court 1, perhaps one of the highlight meetings, while the the Kelly Green/Draft Team 1 (2-0) will face Columbia Blue/D2 Holy Family (1-1) on Court 2.  Over on Court 3, Orange/D3 Ursinus (1-1) faces the Sun/Draft Team 2 group (0-2).

Notes

Three additional players have signed up to the league since we posted the preview on Monday. 

Drexel grad Kate Connolly, a 6-1 Souderton High grad, has been added to the Heather Maroon/USciences grads team, Katie McGrath, who played at Jenkintown High and is a Muhlenberg freshman, will be with Kelly Green, and beginning next Thursday, Ellie McGrath, a Conestoga High grad who played at Bucknell and Oregon State, will join Orange/Ursinus, motivated to prepare for playing professionally abroad this winter.

We have no idea who shot the photos but on the instagram site of Paghoops, which stands for Pennsylvania Girls Hoops, are a bunch of photos from Tuesday’s opening night so perhaps this will be ongoing coverage if you want to follow them.

Public address announcer John McBride, a friend of the league, says the site promotes female players and their teams through the Keystone State.

Thirdly, but we’ll hold this one till later in the season, there could be exciting news attached to playoff coverage.

Meanwhile, no one hit the individual milestone mark of 20 points or more in any of the contests, leaving Jess Huber’s 20 points on opening night Tuesday the sole achievement in the early part of the schedule.

Now, here’s Bob with the details of all those close games, followed by the updated results/season schedule by days and teams, and the playoff tracker.

Recaps

Pink 52 Red 51

Pink (a.k.a. Kutztown University) held off a furious second half rally by Red (a.k.a. Chestnut Hill College) to eke out a 52-51 win in one of the two early games Thursday night.

Casey Remolde led the Pink squad with 14 points while Annie Whalen added 11 and Noelle Baxter ten. 

Emily Chmiel’s 16 points led the Red squad. Bri Hewlett chipped in nine points.

Pink led by 15 midway through the third quarter when Red began a rally that brought them all the way back into the game and a lead with under a minute left. Hewlett scored seven points as part of an 11-0 Red run to cut the score to 40-36 before a Remolde three-ball broke the run as the quarter ended.

Chmiel opened the fourth quarter with a layup and a traditional three point play to pull Red within two 43-41. 

Bella Arcuri followed with a three -pointer before Chmiel and Lindsey Lane added buckets to cut Pink’s lead to one 46-45. 

The two teams exchanged baskets until Chmiel put Red back on for the first time since early in the second quarter 51-50. 

Following a timeout, Pink’s Abby Goodrich scored with 29.8 seconds left to give Pink a 52-51 lead. Pink held off one last attempt from Red to hang on for the win.

Kelly Green 51 Sun 50

The winner’s Dana Bandurick sank a free throw in the final 30 seconds of place and Kelly Green remained undefeated with their second win of the young season, defeating Sun 51-50.

Bandurick and Anna Hansen led Green with 12 points apiece while Samantha Brusha and Susan Altman had 13 and 12 points respectively for the Sun squad.

Both Teams battled to a 23-23 tie through the first two quarters and Sun scored the first ten points of the third quarter to open a 33-23 lead. Green rallied with a 9-3 to pull within four 36-32 before Sun closed out the quarter with three free throws to lead 39-32 heading into the final ten minutes of action.

Green slowly chipped away at Sun’s lead in the fourth quarter. 

Rachel Saxton cut the lead to four 45-41 with 3:16 remaining in regulation before Sydney Blum added a three point basket and followed with a two pointer to give Green a 46-45 lead with just under two minutes left to play.

Brusha’s two free throws put Sun back on top 47-46 before Alexa Naessons and Annie Aspesi hit back to back baskets to give Green a 50-47 lead. 

Altman then sank a three-ball with 48 seconds left to tie the game before Bandurick hit the game winning free throw and Green held off one last attempt by the Sun squad.

Orange 61 Royal Blue 60

Orange (a.k.a. Ursinus college) chipped away at a double digit deficit to rally and defeat Royal Blue (a.k.a. Arcadia University) 61-60 in the first of the two nightcaps.

Ten different players scored for the Orange squad, led by Sarah Dilello’s 13 points. Molly Aromando added ten points while Natalie Mehl chipped in nine. 

Scarlett Glasser-Nehls led eight different scorers for Royal with 16 points and Emily Schall and Delaney Bell had nine points apiece.

Royal had jumped out to a 33-22 lead late in the second quarter before Orange began to chip away with baskets by Dilello and Aromando to end the half and cut the lead to 33-26.

Orange opened thew third quarter with three points to pull within four 33-29 but Royal countered with five straight points, including an Ally Zolty three-ball to push their lead to nine 38-29. 

Royal’s lead was cut to three before they built the margin back up to double digits with an 8-1 run heading into the fourth quarter.

Two three-pointers from Mehl to open the fourth quarter brought Orange right back into the contest 53-49. 

Charlotte DiLello followed with a layup to make the score 53-51.

 Zolty’s basket and Bell’s free throw pushed royal’s lead back to five 56-51 before an 8-0 run gave Orange their first lead since the opening minutes of the game 59-56 with about 90 seconds left. 

Aromando pulled Royal within one 59-58 and then added two free throws with 20 seconds left as Royal regained the lead 60-59. 

Orange’s Erin Doherty followed with the game-winner nine seconds later to seal the 61-60 victory.

Heather Maroon 61 Columbia Blue 59  Overtime

In a battle between first night winners, Heather Maroon (USciences alums) and Columbia Blue (Holy Family) need overtime to decide their contest with Heather Maroon prevailing 61-59 to remain undefeated for the first week of action.

Former USciences greats Jess Huber and Irisa Ye led the Maroon squad with 15 and 12 points, respectively. 

Columbia blue placed three players in double figures led by Jessica Riepe’s 12 points. Monee Moore added 11 while Anujin Dashdorj chipped in ten. 

Huber forced the overtime with a game-tying three-ball with 1:40 left in regulation as neither team scored in the final 100 seconds of play. 

Former Chestnut Hill College star Cassie Sebold gave Maroon their first lead since the second quarter, 56-54 to open the overtime. 

Riepe countered with a three-point basket to put Blue back on top 57-56. Allie Crone (Cornell ’10)   put Maroon back on top for good with a three-ball with 13 seconds left and Huber added two free throws with six ticks left on the clock. Moore’s basket at the buzzer made the final score a bit closer at 61-59.

Blue had held a double digit lead in the opening quarter before Maroon cut the gap to five 19-14 heading into the second period. 

Throughout much of the next two periods, the two teams were no more than two possessions apart with neither team leading by more than five until the final moments of the third quarter when an Ava Morrow basket gave Blue a 48-42 lead heading into the final quarter.

Dashdorj had given Blue a 51-42 lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter before a 7-0 run by Maroon closed the gap to two 51-49. Riepe’s three-point basket with 2:19 left in regulation pushed the lead to 54-49 before Maroon rallied to tie the game and send it into the overtime.

Standings

 

(Thru Thursday, June 16th)

 

Team        W  L  PCT.   GB    PF  PA

 

Heather Maroon  2 0 1.000. — 105 95

Kelly Green  2 0 1.000.  — 128 83

Purple  1 0 1.000. 0.5 57 46

Columbia Blue  1 1 .500. 1 118 114

Pink  1 1  .500. 1  98 108  

Red  1 1  .500. 1 127 97

Orange  1 1  .500. 1 106 136 

Black  0 1 .000. 1.5 53 59  

Royal Blue  0 2 .000. 2 93 138

Sun  0 2 .000.  2 86 95

 

Players Scoring 20 or More Points

 

20 -Jess Huber, Heather Maroon, W, vs. Sun, June 14

Phila/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League 

Running Results/Advance Schedule

 

Thursday, June 16

Kelly Green 51, Sun 50

Pink 52, Red 51

Orange 61, Royal Blue 50

Heather Maroon 61, Columbia Blue 59 ovt.

Purple vs. Black, postponed to July 14

 

Tuesday, June 14

Columbia Blue 59, Black 53

Kelly Green 77, Royal Blue 33

Red 76, Orange 45

Heather Maroon 44, Sun 36

Purple 56, Pink 45

 

Looking Ahead

 

Tuesday, June 21

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

Court 1: Pink (1-1) vs. Royal Blue (0-2)

Court 2: Heather Maroon (2-0) vs. Black (0-1)

Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

Court 1: Purple (1-0) vs. Red (1-1)

Court 2: Kelly Green (2-0) vs. Columbia Blue (1-1)

Court 3: Orange (1-1) vs. Sun (0-2)

 

Thursday, June 23

 

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Columbia Blue vs. Orange

Court 2: Heather Maroon vs. Kelly Green

 

Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Sun vs. Pink

Court 2: Black vs. Red

Court 3: Royal Blue vs. Purple

 

Tuesday, June 28

 

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Orange vs. Heather Maroon

Court 2: Sun vs. Purple

 Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Pink vs. Columbia Blue

Court 2: Red vs. Royal Blue

Court 3: Kelly Green vs. Black

 

Thursday, June 30

 

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Sun vs. Red

Court 2: Columbia Blue vs. Purple

Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Royal Blue vs. Black

Court 2: Heather Maroon vs. Pink

Court 3: Kelly Green vs. Orange

 

Tuesday, July 5 

No Games - Holiday Break

Thursday, July 7

No Games - Holiday Break

Tuesday, July 12

 

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Purple vs. Heather Maroon

Court 2: Black vs. Orange

 

Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Pink vs. Kelly Green

Court 2: Red vs. Columbia Blue

Court 3: Sun vs. Royal Blue

Thursday, July 14

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

Court 1: Orange vs. Pink

Court 2: Columbia Blue vs. Royal Blue

Court 3: Purple vs. Black - makeup from 6-16.

Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

Court 1: Sun vs. Black

Court 2: Kelly Green vs. Purple

Court 3: Heather Maroon vs. Red

Tuesday, July 19

 

Regular Season Ends

 

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Red vs. Kelly Green

Court 2: Pink vs. Black

 

Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Royal Blue vs. Heather Maroon

Court 2:  Purple vs. Orange

Court 3: Columbia Blue vs. Sun

Playoffs

Thursday, July 21

Round 1 Play-In 

Court 1

6:30 p.m. 7th seed vs. 10th Seed

7:45 p.m. 8th seed vs. 9th seed

Tuesday, July 26th

 

Playoffs Quarterfinals

 

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Lowest seed survivor vs. 1st seed

Court 2: 6th seed vs. 3rd seed

 

Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

Court 1: Highest seed survivor vs. 2nd seed

Court 2: 5th seed vs. 4th seed

 

Thursday, July 28th

 

Playoffs Semifinals

 

Early Game (6:30 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Highest Quarterfinal Survivor vs. Lowest Quarterfinal Survivor

 

Late Game (7:45 p.m.)

 

Court 1: Remaining Surviving Seeds

 

Tuesday, August 2

 

Playoff Championship

 

Tipoff: 7 p.m.

 

Court 1 : Semifinal Winners

 

Playoff Seed Tracker (Alphabetical Tie-Breaks Till Midseason)

 

Heather Maroon/D2-USciences Grads (2-0) vs. Sun-W; vs. CB-W; vs. Blk-G3 vs. KG-G4; vs. Or-G5; vs. Pk-G6 vs. Pur-G7; vs. Red-G8 vs. RB-G9

 

Kelly Green/Draft-1 (2-0) vs. RB-W: vs. Sun-W; vs. CB-G3; vs. H.M.-G4; vs. Blk-G5; vs. Or-G6; vs. Pk-G7; vs. Pur-G8; vs. Red-G9

Purple/D2-West Chester (1-0) vs. Pk-W; vs. Blk-Ppd; vs. Red-G3; vs. RB-G4; vs. Sun-G5; vs. CB-G6; vs. HM-G7; vs. KG-G8; vs. Or-G9

Columbia Blue/D2-Holy Family (1-1) vs. Blk-W; vs. HM-L; vs. KG-G3; vs. Or-G4; vs. Pk-G5; vs. Pur-G6; vs. Red-G7; vs. RB-G8; vs. Sun-G9

 Orange/D3-Ursinus (1-1) vs. Red-L; vs. RB-W; vs. Sun-G3; vs CB-G4; vs. HM-G5; vs. KG-G6; vs. Blk-G7; vs. Pk-G8; vs. Pur-G9

 

Pink/D2-Kutztown (1-1) vs. Pur-L; vs. Red-W; vs. RB-G3; vs. Sun-G4; vs. CB-G5; vs. HM-G6; vs. KG-G7; vs. Or-G8; vs. Blk-G9

Red/D2-Chestnut Hill (1-1) vs. Or-L; vs. Pk-L; vs. Pur-G3; vs. Blk-G4;vs. RB-G5; vs. Sun-G6; vs. CB-G7; vs; HM-G8; vs. KG-G9

 Black/D2-Jefferson (0-1) vs. CB-L; vs. Pur-Ppd.; vs. HM-G3; vs. Red-G4; vs. KG-G5; vs. RB-G6; vs. Or-G7; vs. Sun-G8; vs. Pk-G9 

Royal Blue/D3-Arcadia (0-2) vs. KG-L; Or-L; vs. Pk-G3; vs. Pur-G4; vs. Red-G5; vs. Blk-G6; vs. Sun-G7; vs. CB-G8; vs. HM-G9

Sun/Draft-2 (0-2) vs. HM-L; vs. KG-L; vs. Or-G3; vs. Pk-G4; vs. Pur-G5; vs. Red-G6; vs. RB-G7; vs. Blk-G8; vs. CB-G9

Codes: Blk-Black; CB-Columbia Blue; HM-Heather Maroon; KG-Kelly Green; Or-Orange; Pk-Pink; Pur-Purple; Red-Red; RB-Royal Blue; Sun-Sun; D2-NCAA II; D3-NCAA III

G1 G2 etc. Game numbers which after played will switch to a W-win or L-loss for quick who-beat-who calculation in tie-breaks.

 

 Team By Team Regular Season Schedules/Results

Site/Time Codes:EC1- Early 6:30 p.m. Court 1;  LC1 - Late 7:45 p.m. Court 1; and thus EC2, LC2; LC3

Dates: Week 1 - G1-June 14; G2- June 16

Week 2 - G3-June 21; G4 - June 23

Week 3 - G5-June 28; G6 - June 30

Week 4 - G7-July 12; G8-July 14

Week 5 -G9- July 19

 

Black/D2-Jefferson (0-1)

June 14: vs. Columbia Blue, L - 53-59

June 16: vs. Purple, ppd. to July 14, EC3

Jun 21: vs. Heather Maroon, EC2

June 23: vs. Red, LC2

June 28: vs. Kelly Green, LC3

June 30: vs. Royal Blue, LC1

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Orange, EC2

July 14: vs. Purple, EC3, ppd., from June 16

July 14: vs. Sun, LC1

July 19: vs. Pink, EC2

 

Columbia Blue/D2-Holy Family (1-1)

June 14: vs. Black, W - 59-53

June 16: vs. Heather Maroon, L - 59-61 ovt.

Jun 21: vs. Kelly Green, LC2

June 23:  vs. Orange, EC1

June 28: vs. Pink, LC1

June 30: vs. Purple, EC2

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Red, LC2

July 14: vs. Royal Blue, EC2

July 19: vs. Sun, LC3

 

Heather Maroon/USciences Grads (2-0)

June 14: vs. Sun, W - 44-36

June 16: vs. Columbia Blue, W - 61-59, ovt.

Jun 21: vs. Black, EC2

June 23: vs. Kelly Green, EC2

June 28: vs. Orange, EC1

June 30: vs. Pink, LC2

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Purple, EC1

July 14: vs. Red, LC3

July 19: vs. Royal Blue, LC1

 

Kelly Green/Draft Team-1 (2-0)

June 14: vs. Royal Blue, W - 77-33

June 16: vs. Sun, W - 51-50

Jun 21: vs. Columbia Blue, LC2

June 23: vs. Heather Maroon, EC2

June 28: vs. Black, LC3

June 30: vs. Orange, LC3

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Pink, LC1

July 14: vs. Purple, LC2

July 19: vs. Red, EC1

Orange/D3 - Ursinus (1-1)

June 14: vs. Red, L - 45-76

June 16: vs. Royal Blue, W - 61-60

Jun 21: vs. Sun, LC3

June 23: vs. Columbia Blue, EC1

June 28: vs. Heather Maroon, EC1

June 30: vs. Kelly Green LC3

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Black, EC2

July 14: vs. Pink, EC1

July 19: vs. Purple, LC2

 

Pink/D2-Kutztown (1-1)

June 14: vs. Purple, L - 46-57

June 16: vs. Red, W - 52-51

Jun 21: vs. Royal Blue, EC1

June 23: vs. Sun, LC1

June 28: vs. Columbia Blue, LC1

June 30: vs. Heather Maroon, LC2

July 5: Dark: 

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Kelly Green, LC1

July 14: vs. Orange, EC1

July 19: vs. Black, EC2

 

Purple/D2-West Chester (1-0)

June 14: vs. Pink, W - 57-46

June 16: vs. Black, LC1, ppd. to July 14, EC3

Jun 21: vs. Red, LC1

June 23: vs. Royal Blue, LC3

June 28: vs. Sun, EC2

June 30: vs. Columbia Blue, EC2

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Heather Maroon, EC1

July 14: vs. Black, EC3, ppd., from June 16

July 14: vs. Kelly Green, LC2

July 19: vs. Orange, LC2

Red/D2-Chestnut Hill (1-1)

June 14: vs. Orange, W - 76-45

June 16: vs. Pink, L - 51-52

Jun 21: vs. Purple, LC1

June 23: vs. Black, LC2

June 28: vs. Royal Blue, LC2

June 30: vs. Sun, EC1

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Columbia Blue, LC2

July 14: vs. Heather Maroon, LC3

July 19: vs. Kelly Green, EC1

Royal Blue/D3-Arcadia (0-2)

June 14: vs. Kelly Green, L - 33-77

June 16: vs. Orange,  L - 60-61

Jun 21: vs. Pink, EC1

June 23: vs. Purple, LC3

June 28: vs. Red, LC2

June 30: vs. Black, LC1

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Sun, LC3

July 14: vs. Columbia Blue, EC2 

July 19: vs. Heather Maroon, LC1

Sun/Draft Team-2 (0-2)

June 14: vs. Heather Maroon, L - 36-44

June 16: vs. Kelly Green, L 50-51

Jun 21: vs. Orange, LC3

June 23: vs. Pink, LC1

June 28: vs. Purple, EC2

June 30: vs. Red, EC1

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Royal Blue, LC3

July 14: vs. Black, LC1

July 19: vs.  Columbia Blue, LC3