The Guru Report: Philadelphia/Suburban League Opens With One Mild Upset and a Victory by the Defending Champions

By Bob Heller and Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

HATBORO, Pa. - It was like old times in format but not necessarily all the results Tuesday night as the 10-team Philly/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League opened play with five games at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.

The first night of action had the usual bustle and anticipation as the players of all the teams as they arrived stopping by to pick up their jerseys at the commissioner’s table manned by David Kessler, nearing completion of a third decade running the show, besides assistant Steve Michielli, your two authors, and Tom Utescher of the Chestnut Hill Local.

Except for the week of July fourth play with a nine-game regular season slate will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays with doubleheaders on Courts 1 and 2 at 6:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. and a single nightcap hour 7:45 p.m. on Court 3 through July 19.

Then four rounds of playoffs will follow with seeds 7-10 opening in a playoff round, followed by quarterfinals, semifinals, and on August 2, the champions.

Though still being affected with supply issues, nevertheless the concession stand was up and running.

Since your Guru dropping a preview on this blog Sunday night during a long layover in Chicago coming back from the weekend’s Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction in Knoxville, Tenn., some additional players have registered, including recent Drexel graduate Kate Connolly, joining recent Colgate grad Alexa Naessens of the Kelly Green draft squad and Sue Altman from Columbia squad graduating in 2005, as individuals with Division I experience.

Supposedly, former Bucknell/Oregon State star Ellie Mack, who was back in her stomping grounds last winter near her home in Paoli when Oregon State was at Villanova, has made an inquiry looking to play before heading to Europe in a few months. The Guru will have the newbies in the next report and then insert them on the roster page for future listings.

In one of the early games, Columbia Blue, also known as Holy Family, upset Black, also known as Jefferson, 59-53, a battle between two Division II squads who meet in the winter in the South Division of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).

Jefferson was unbeaten a year ago in the regular season summer slate until upset in the playoffs.

The other early competition had Kelly Green, also known as Draft Team 1, taking a 77-33 triumph over Royal Blue, also known as Division III Arcadia.

In the nightcaps, Heather Maroon, dominated with Division II graduates from USciences, eked out a low-scoring 44-36 win over Sun, the second draft squad. The USciences grad squad won the league a year ago. At the time there was also an undergrad Devils team from the same school but that classification is no more as the Southwest Philly-located squad has merged with D I Saint Joseph’s, which is located on City Ave. at 54th Street.

Jess Uber, a 2021 USciences grad out of North Penn High, on Tuesday night was the only player to reach the 20 points or more individually, helping Heather Maroon to its win over Sun.

The other two late games saw the Purple/D II West Chester squad take a 57-46 win over the Pink/D2 Kutztown squad, which revealed this week, will open in a preseason game at powerful and perennial Final Four participant UConn. And Red, also known as Division II Chestnut Hill University, tapped Orange, also known as D III Ursinus, 76-45.

Looking Ahead

On Thursday, Columbia Blue/Holy Family is taking on another CACC winter rival, playing the Heather Maroon/USciences Grads at 7:45 p.m. on Court 3. Each squad is 1-0. The two other late games, in one, Black/D1 Jefferson at 0-1 is slated to play the D II West Chester group of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, which has started 1-0.

The other nightcap affair has Royal Blue, the D III Arcadia team, meeting Orange or D III Ursinus. Both teams are 0-1, setting up an interesting clash in which the winner will join the others with either two or one victories.

One of the 6:30 p.m. contests has the two draft squads meeting, Sun at 0-1 clashing with Kelly Green at 1-0, while Red, also known as D2 Chestnut Hill (1-0) which made a long run in the playoffs and also had its best season in the CACC, meeting 0-1 Pink or D2 Kutztown on Court 2.

Recaps

Columbia Blue 59 Black 53

 

Columbia Blue (a.k.a. Holy Family University) earned the first win in the 2022 league openers, holding off a short-handed black (a.k.a. Thomas Jefferson University) in one the two early games.

Claire Dougherty and Carolyn Prevost led Columbia Blue with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Black, who suited just six players for the game, got 16 points apiece from Cassie Murphy and Haley Meinel while Tori Nigro chipped in 11 points.

Black scored the final eight points of the first quarter to take a 17-14 lead only to see Columbia Blue regain momentum with a 10-0 run to open the second quarter and take a 24-17 lead, a lead that black would threaten several times but never overcome. 

A three-point basket late in the second quarter gave the blue squad their biggest lead of the half at 30-22 before Murphy scored the final four points of half for black pulling the team within four 30-26.

Meinel opened the third quarter with a three-point basket to bring black within one 30-29 before another 10-0 run by Blue pushed their lead to double-digits 40-29. 

Four different players scored for blue over the course of the run. 

Black countered with an 8-0 spurt to close out the quarter. Murphy scored the final six points of the period to close the gap to 40-37.

A three-ball from Lindsey Tretter and a traditional three-point play from Skyler Searfoss gave Blue a 46-37 lead in the opening minutes of the final period. 

Black closed the gap to six, 48-42 before another mini run by Blue (7-0) again produced a double digit lead with just 2:44 remaining. 

Blue led 59-46 in the final minute as black outscored their regular season foe 7-0 to close out the game to make the final score 59-53.

 

Kelly Green 77 Royal Blue 33

In the most lopsided game of the night, Kelly Green defeated Royal Blue (a.k.a. Arcadia University) 77-33.

Dana Bandurick led Kelly Green with 16 points while Melia Kolb chipped in 12 points. Scarlett Glasser-Nehls and Kylie Meredith led Royal Blue with nine and eight points,respectively.

Green opened the game with a 10-1 spurt and never looked back, taking a 21-6 lead after one period, and expanding it to 40-10 by halftime. 

Blue opened the third quarter with a 12-8 run to cut the lead to 26, 48-22. 

Green closed out the quarter with an 8-2 spurt to push the lead back to 56-24 and then closed out the game with a 21-9 fourth quarter with seven different players putting points on the board to finish the game with the widest victory margin of the night at 77-33.

 

Red 76 Orange 45

Red (a.k.a. Chestnut Hill college) placed four players in double figures as they opened their summer league season with a 76-45 win over Orange (a.k.a. Ursinus College).

Emily Chmiel led Red with 17 points. Lauren Crim and Bri Hewlett added 14 points apiece while Sara Tamoun chipped in ten. 

Molly Aronando, Erin Doherty, and Kelly Grant led orange with nine points apiece.

Orange scored the first four points of the game before Hewlett sank a pair of baskets to tie the game and Lindsey Lane followed with a basket to give Red a 6-4 lead. 

Red closed out the quarter with a 16-9 spurt to lead 22-13.

The leaders then opened the second quarter with an 8-0 run to be in front 30-13. 

A basket late in the quarter put Red up by 20, 36-16. 

Orange closed out the quarter with a 9-2 run with baskets by four different players to close the gap to 38-25 at the half.

The third quarter belong to Red, opening the period with a 16-2 run, distributing the scoring among five players to take a 54-27 lead. 

From there, Red continued to cruise, expanding the lead to 30 points 71-41 in the fourth quarter before settling in for the 76-45 win.

 

Heather Maroon 44 Sun 36

Heather Maroon rallied in the second half to earn a 44-36 win over Sun. 

The majority of the Heather Maroon squad is comprised of USciences Alumni. The grad squad captured the league championship last season.

Jess Huber scored 20 of Maroon’s 44 points, becoming the only player to score 20 or more points on the evening. 

Allie Crone added six points. Sue Altman, a 2005 graduate from Columbia University, led the sun squad with eight points. 

Samantha Brusha chipped in six.

Altman had six of Sun’s 14 first quarter points as they held a 14-11 lead after the first quarter. 

Brusha and Altman had a basket apiece as Sun opened a 22-16 lead with 2:42 left before Maroon scored the final four points of the quarter to trail 22-20 at halftime.

Huber’s two free throws at the 6:34 mark of the third quarter gave Maroon their first lead of the game at 26-24. 

Sun rallied to tie the game at 30-30 at the 4:28 mark and added another basket to lead 32-30. 

Maroon closed out the quarter with an 8-0 to lead 38-32 heading into the final period. 

Neither team produced much offense in the fourth quarter as they combined for ten total points with Huber scoring four of them as Maroon hung on to win 44-36.

 

Purple 57 Pink 46

A fourth quarter rally by Purple (a.k.a. West Chester University) turned a two point game into a double digit advantage as they defeated Pink (a.k.a. Kutztown University) 57-46 in the final game of the evening.

The two squads are also in-season rivals as both sit in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division.

 

Leah Johnson led three players in double figures for Purple with 14 points. Courtney Warley added 11 points while Briana Seltzer chipped in ten. Casey Remolde has 12 points to pace the Pink squad while Leila Hurley added ten.

Remolde, Hurley and Noelle Baxter scored four points apiece in the opening quarter as the Pink squad held a 16-12 lead after one period.

 Pink increased their lead to seven 24-17 with 4:20 left in the second quarter before Purple rallied, outscoring Pink 8-2 to trail by one 26-15 at halftime.

The game was tied at 30-30 two minutes into the third quarter when Purple ran off four straight points to take a 34-30 lead. 

Pink rallied to tie the game at 35-35 with 2:02 left before Purple scored four of the next six points to lead 39-37 heading into the final ten minutes of action.

The Purple squad opened the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run to lead 46-39 and built the lead to double digits 55-43 in the final two minutes of action before settling in for the 57-46 win.

Standings

 

(Thru Tuesday, June 14th)

 

Team        W  L  PCT.   GB    PF  PA

 

Columbia Blue  1 0 1.000. — 59 53

Heather Maroon  1 0 1.000. — 44 36

Kelly Green  1 0 1.000. — 77 33

Purple  1 0 1.000. —57 46

Red  1 0 1.000. 1 76 45

Black  0 1 .000. 1 53 59  

Pink  0 1  .000. 1  46 57 

Orange  0 1  .000. 1 45 76 

Royal Blue  0 1 .000. 1 33 77

Sun  0 1 .000.  1 36 44

 

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

 

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

 

Thursday, June 16

 

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

Court 1: Sun (0-1) vs. Kelly Green (1-0)

Court 2: Red (1-0) vs. Pink (0-1) 

Late Games (7:45 p.m.) 

Court 1: Black (0-1) vs. Purple (1-0)

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

Court 3: Columbia Blue (1-0) vs. Heather Maroon (1-0)

 

Tuesday, June 21

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

Court 1: Pink vs. Royal Blue

Court 2: Heather Maroon vs. Black

Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

Court 1: Purple vs. Red

Court 2: Kelly Green vs. Columbia Blue

Court 3: Orange vs. Sun

 

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

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)

 

Columbia Blue/D2-Holy Family (1-0) vs. Blk-W; vs. HM-G2; vs. KG-G3; vs. Or-G4; vs. Pk-G5; vs. Pur-G6; vs. Red-G7; vs. RB-G8; vs. Sun-G9

 

Heather Maroon/D2-USciences Grads (1-0) vs. Sun-W; vs. CB-G2; 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 (1-0) vs. RB-W: vs. Sun-G2; 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-G2; vs. Red-G3; vs. RB-G4; vs. Sun-G5; vs. CB-G6; vs. HM-G7; vs. KG-G8; vs. Or-G9

Red/D2-Chestnut Hill (1-0) vs. Or-L; vs. Pk-G2; 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-G2; vs. HM-G3; vs. Red-G4; vs. KG-G5; vs. RB-G6; vs. Or-G7; vs. Sun-G8; vs. Pk-G9 

Orange/D3-Ursinus (0-1) vs. Red-L; vs. RB-G2; vs. Sun-G3; vs CB-G4; vs. HM-G5; vs. KG-G6; vs. Blk-G7; vs. Pk-G8; vs. Pur-G9

 

Pink/D2-Kutztown (0-1) vs. Pur-L; vs. Red-G2; vs. RB-G3; vs. Sun-G4; vs. CB-G5; vs. HM-G6; vs. KG-G7; vs. Or-G8; vs. Blk-G9

Royal Blue/D3-Arcadia (0-1) vs. KG-L; Or-G2; vs. Pk-G3; vs. Pur-G4; vs. Red-G5; vs. Blk-G6; vs. Sun-G7; vs. CB-G8; vs. HM-G9

Sun/Draft-2 (0-1) vs. HM-L; vs. KG-G2; 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, LC1

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. Sun, LC1

July 19: vs. Pink, EC2

 

Columbia Blue/D2-Holy Family (1-0)

June 14: vs. Black, W - 59-53

June 16: vs. Heather Maroon, LC3

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 (1-0)

June 14: vs. Sun, W - 44-36

June 16: vs. Columbia Blue, LC3

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 (1-0)

June 14: vs. Royal Blue, W - 77-33

June 16: vs. Sun, EC1

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 (0-1)

June 14: vs. Red, L - 45-76

June 16: vs. Royal Blue, LC2

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 (0-1)

June 14: vs. Purple, L - 46-57

June 16: vs. Red, EC2

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

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. Kelly Green, LC2

July 19: vs. Orange, LC2

Red/D2-Chestnut Hill (1-0)

June 14: vs. Orange, W - 76-45

June 16: vs. Pink, EC2

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 (0-1)

June 14: vs. Kelly Green, L - 33-77

June 16: vs. Orange, LC2

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 (0-1)

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

June 16: vs. Kelly Green, EC1

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