The Guru Report: Heather Maroon/USciences Grads Comeback Heads Three Teams Clinching Quarterfinals Slots in Philly/Suburban Women’s Summer League

By Bob Heller and Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

HATBORO, Pa. — Action in the Philadelphia/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League resumed Tuesday night after the 10-team operation took a a week’s break for the July 4th holiday and the stretch drive to the playoffs began with a rally by the defending champion and first place Heather Maroon/D2-UASciences Grads 72-65 over the Purple/D2-West Chester squad (3-3) to hold first place.

With a one-game lead over Pink/D2-Kutztown (5-2), which topped Kelly Green 44-33, one of two draft contingents, to maintain second, the duo were joined by Red/D2-Chestnut Hill (5-2), which edged Columbia Blue/D2 Holy Family 40-36 and flipped over the Tigers (4-3) to grab the first three qualifications with byes into the playoff quarterfinals at Kelly Bolish Gym, home of the AAU Renegades.

Two games are left in the nine-game regular season, which ends next Tuesday night.

The other two results saw Black/D2-Jefferson continue to climb from a ragged season start to 4-2 ahead of Columbia Blue and fourth place, beating Orange/D3-Ursinus 61-53, while Sun, the other draft squad whose roster is not dominated by a single squad that competes in the winter, gained a lopsided 67-35 win over Royal Purple/D3-Arcadia (0-7), still looking for its first win and relegated to one of the four team slots in the first round a week from Thursday.

Right now, Heather Maroon is alone in first, while Pink and Red are tied for second.

 Pink, however, off a head to head win is the second seed and Red the third if the playoffs began this week, which they don’t.

Black has a half-game lead in fourth on Columbia Blue, followed by Purple, holding the final quarterfinal slot as of now a half-game ahead of Kelly Green and Sun, which are tied for seventh.

Kelly Green, however, is the seventh seed for now off its head-to-head win over Sun. Orange is alone in ninh ahead of Royal Blue.

As far as Tuesday’s individual performances, no one reached the 20 points or more nightly milestone, but Heather Maroon’s Jess Huber, which has done it four times in seven games, had the best performance in the five games coming close with 19 points.

Huber, who has done it twice, and Annie Whalen on Pink and Natalie Mehl on Orange have the season’s best performances with 24 points.

Looking Ahead

Considering the actual seed spots in the quarterfinals are still to be claimed, on Thursday, Heather Maroon and Red, who met for last summer’s championship, will meet at 7:45 p.m. on Court 3.

There is an iron women night in a manner of speaking involving Black and Purple, who were unable to meet in Game 2 of the season, but to avoid a forfeit agreed to first meet each other at 6:30 p.m. in a makeup game on Court 3.

Then at 7:45, Black will play Sun on Court 1 while Purple will meet Kelly Green on Court 2.

The other games have Pink and Orange at 6:30 p.m., meeting on Court 1, while at the same time Royal Blue and Columbia Blue will meet on Court 2.

Now Here’s Bob with the five-game detail report.

Recaps

 

Heather Maroon 72  Purple  65

First place Heather Marron (Usciences Alumni +) pulled off a come-from-behind win as they survived a close scare from Purple (West Chester) 72-65 in the opening game on Tuesday night.

Maroon remains in first place with a 6-1 record. Purple falls to 3-3.

Jess Huber led all scorers with 19 points (four three point baskets) to pace Maroon.  Dayna Balasa added 15 points while Irisa Ye added 13 points. Leah Johnson had 15 points to lead Purple while Michele Kozicki added 11.

Purple scored the first ten points of the game before Maroon rallied to tie the game at 17-17 at the end of the first quarter – the first of six ties over the remaining thirty minutes.

Cassie Sebold sank a three pointer to open the second quarter to give Maroon their first lead starting a series of lead changes that continued until midway through the fourth quarter.  Huber and Ye later sank back-to-back three-point baskets to give Maroon a 34-29 lead before their offense went cold.  

Purple took advantage and closed out the quarter with a 12-2 uprising to lead 41-36 at halftime before expanding the margin further by bursting from the break for a seven-point lead in the opening of the third period.

Maroon the erupted and went on a 14-5 run to retake the lead at 50-48.  Balasa scored eight of the 14 points while a three-ball from Allie Crone capped the run and gave Maroon their two-point lead. 

The advantage changed hands five more times (twice in the third quarter and three times in the fourth quarter  before a Huber basket tied the game for the sixth time at 59-59.

Balsa’s basket with just over four minutes left gave Maroon the lead for good at 61-59.  

The defending champs then slowly pulled away as they took a seven point lead at 67-60 on a Lexie Edwards basket with 1:20 left.   They closed out the game by making five of six free throws in the final minute to seal the seven point win.

Black 61  Orange 53

In the other early game Tuesday night, Black (Jefferson University) held off a late rally from Orange (Ursinus College) to earn their fourth straight win, 61-53.

Black improves to 4-2 and remains one-half game behind second place Pink and Red.  Orange falls to 1-6.

Black placed three players in double figures, led by Cassie Murphy’s 16 points.  Sam Yencha added 15 while Emily Keehfuss chipped in 12.

 Molly Aromando and Erin Doherty scored 12 points apiece to lead Orange.

A 15-4 run by Black in the final six minutes of the second half gave the victors a double-digit lead at 36-21 by halftime.  

Yencha’s basket to open the third quarter gave Black their biggest lead of the game at 38-21. 

Doherty then speared a comeback effort by Orange, scoring seven straight points to start a 12-0 run that cut Black’s lead to five 38-33. 

 Two Keehfuss free throws broke the run and the two teams exchanged points the rest of the quarter as Black held a 50-43 lead heading into the final quarter.

Orange continued to chip away at the lead, opening the fourth quarter with an 8-3 run to close within two 53-51 but they could get no closer as Black scored the final six points of the game to secure the 61-53 win. 

Red  40  Columbia Blue 36

In a battle between two of the three team’s tied for second place in the league standings and in a game that saw both offenses struggle, Red (Chestnut Hill) eked out a 40-36 win over Columbia Blue (Holy Family) in one of three late games Tuesday night.

The two opponents also meet in the winter as South Division rivals in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC).

Red’s 40 points was the lowest score by a winning team since July 9, 2015 when Pink (led by former St. Joseph’s University star Sarah Fairbanks) handed Purple (made up of USciences players) a 34-31 loss.

 Red improved to 5-2 while Columbia Blue dropped to 4-3.

Sara Tamoun led all scorers with 11 points to pace the Red squad while Emily Sekerak chipped in eight.  

Lindsey Tretter led Columbia Blue with ten points.

It was Tamoun and Sekerak who provided the spark in the fourth quarter as Red battled back from a 25-19 deficit to take the lead in the final two minutes of the game.

 Sekerak scored Red;s first five points of the final quarter as they cut Blue’s lead to 27-24.  

Morgan sterner followed with a basket to pull the Red squad within one, 27-26.  A basket by Ava Morrow and a free throw from Jessica Riepe put blue back up by four before Tamoun started her offensive barrage for the red squad.

Tamoun started the rally with a basket that closed the gap to two before Monee Moore ‘s three-point bucket put Blue up by five with just under four minutes remaining.

 Bri Hewlett added a basket and Tamoun followed with a three-point bucket to tie the game at 33-33 with 2:42 left.  

Tretter’s basket agaib put Blue back on top 35-33 before Tamoun sank another three-ball, this one with 1:40 left to give Red a 36-35 lead.  

Emily Chmiel added a basket with 1:12 left on the clock to push Red’s lead to three 38-35, forcing a Blue timeout.

Hewlett was fouled when play resumed after the timeout and made one of two free throws, making it a two-possession game. 

Carolyn Prevost then went to the free throw line for Blue and pulled her team within three, 39-36 by connecting on one of two.   

Following two missed free throws by Red, Blue had an opportunity to tie the game but could not take advantage and was forced to foul with 13.2 seconds left.  

Morgan Orloski made the first of two free throws to put Red up 40-36  and Hewlett recorded a steal on Blue’s final possession to seal the win.

Pink 44  Kelly Green 33

In the other game involving one of the three teams tied for second, Pink (Kutztown University) kept pace with Red, beating Kelly Green 44-33 and improved to 5-2 while Kelly Green dropped to 3-4.

Annie Whalen led Pink with 11 points while Olivia Smelas and Shannon Remolde chipped in eight and seven points respectively.  

Dana Bandurick led Green with seven points while Alexa Naessens chipped in six.

Green held the early lead before a Remolde basket tied the score and Whalen followed to give Pink the early 10-8 lead enroute to a 13-12 advantage after one quarter.

Pink opened the second quarter with five straight points to take a six point lead before two straight Green baskets cut the lead to 18-16. 

 Pink closed out the quarter on a 7-3 run to lead 25-19 at halftime.

Sydney Blum and Naessens opened the scoring in the third quarter for Green who cut Pink’s lead to 25-23.  

After a layup from Anna Hansson made the score 29-27, Pink scored four of the next fibe points to close out the third quarter up five 33-28.

Pink opened the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run to increase their lead to double digits, 40-30 and held off Green the rest of the way to finish with the 44-33 win.

 Sun 67  Royal Blue 33

In what proved to be the most lopsided game of the night, Sun used a strong second quarter to defeat Royal Blue (Arcadia University), 67-35, keeping the Blue squad winless on the season.

Sun improves to 3-4 overall while Royal Blue falls to 0-7.

Kirsten Hostetter and Emily Violante led Sun with 13 points apiece while Caitlyn Priore chipped in ten.  Olivia Wyckoff led Blue with nine points with Hannah Rhodes scoring seven.

Leading by six after one quarter, Sun exploded with 23 second quarter points to take control of the game and lead 37-17 at halftime.   Seven different players scored for sun in the quarter with no player scoring more than four points.

Sun continued to build on their lead in the third quarter, outscoring Blue 20-7 to take a 57-24 lead heading into the final period.  

In the final quarter, Sun made just four field goals, but outscored Blue 10-9 to close out the 67-33 win.

Standings

 

(Thru Wednesday July 13th)

 

Team    W  L  PCT.   GB    PF  PA

 

Q-Heather Maroon  6 1 .857. — 416 369

Q-Pink  5 2  .714 1 378 319  

Q-Red  5 2  .714 1 421 346

Black  4 2 .667 1.5 368 300  

Columbia Blue  4 3 .519 2 408 377

Purple  3 3 .500 2.5 427 383

Kelly Green  3 4 .429.  3 367 377

Sun  3 4 .333  3 391 374

Orange  1 6 .143 5 362 473 

S-Royal Blue  0 7 .000 6 351 517

Q-Clinched quarterfinal round

S-Will slot opening round

 Players Scoring 20 or More Points

24-Jess Huber, Heather Maroon, W, vs. Orange, June 28

24-Jess Huber, Heather Maroon, W, vs. Kelly Green, June 23 

24-Annie Whalen, Pink, W, vs. Red, June 21

24-Natalie Mehl, Orange, L, vs. Sun, June 21

22-Jess Huber, Heather Maroon, L, vs. Pink, June 30

21-Siobhan Boylan, Red, W, vs. Purple, June 21

20-Leah Johnson, Purple, W, vs. Royal Blue, June 23

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

Phila/Suburban Women’s Summer Basketball League 

Running Results/Advance Schedule

Tuesday, July 12

Heather Maroon 72, Purple 65

Black 61, Orange 53

Pink 44, Kelly Green 33

Red 40, Columbia Blue 36

Sun 67, Royal Blue 35

Tuesday, July 5 

No Games - Holiday Break

Thursday, July 7

No Games - Holiday Break

Thursday, June 30

Red 61, Sun 54

Black 79, Royal Blue 46

Columbia Blue 74, Purple 69

Pink 71, Heather Maroon 49

Kelly Green 57, Orange 48

 

Tuesday, June 28

Purple 74, Sun 53

Heather Maroon 68, Orange 42

Pink 55, Columbia Blue 53

Red 83, Royal Blue 60

Black 82, Kelly Green 50

Thursday, June 23

Columbia Blue 76, Orange 51

Heather Maroon 69, Kelly Green 51

Sun 56, Pink 47

Purple 87, Royal Blue 67

Black 48, Red 39

Tuesday, June 21

Heather Maroon 53, Black 45

Pink 63, Royal Blue 50

Red 71, Purple 51

Columbia Blue 51, Kelly Green 48

Sun 75, Orange 62

 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

Thursday, July 14

Early Games (6:30 p.m.)

Court 1: Orange (1-6) vs. Pink (5-2)

Court 2: Columbia Blue (4-3) vs. Royal Blue (0-7)

Court 3: Purple (3-3) vs. Black (4-2) - makeup from 6-16.

Late Games (7:45 p.m.)

Court 1: Sun (3-4) vs. Black (4-3 or 5-2 pending makeup opener)

Court 2: Kelly Green (3-4) vs. Purple (4-3 or 3-4 pending makeup opener)

Court 3: Heather Maroon (6-1) vs. Red (5-2)

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 (Setting the Spots)

 

Q-Heather Maroon/D2-USciences Grads (6-1) vs. Sun-W; vs. CB-W; vs. Blk-W vs. KG-W; vs. Or-W; vs. Pk-L vs. Pur-W; vs. Red-G8 vs. RB-G9

 

Q-Pink/D2-Kutztown (5-2) vs. Pur-L; vs. Red-W; vs. RB-W; vs. Sun-L; vs. CB-W; vs. HM-W; vs. KG-W; vs. Or-G8; vs. Blk-G9

Q-Red/D2-Chestnut Hill (5-2) vs. Or-W; vs. Pk-L; vs. Pur-W; vs. Blk-L; vs. RB-W; vs. Sun-W; vs. CB-W; vs; HM-G8; vs. KG-G9

Black/D2-Jefferson (4-2) vs. CB-L; vs. Pur-Ppd.; vs. HM-L; vs. Red-W; vs. KG-W; vs. RB-W; vs. Or-G7; vs. Pur-G2-M; vs. Sun-G8; vs. Pk-G9 

Columbia Blue/D2-Holy Family (4-3) vs. Blk-W; vs. HM-L; vs. KG-W; vs. Or-W; vs. Pk-L; vs. Pur-W; vs. Red-G7; vs. RB-G8; vs. Sun-G9 

Purple/D2-West Chester (3-3) vs. Pk-W; vs. Blk-Ppd; vs. Red-L; vs. RB-W; vs. Sun-W; vs. CB-L; vs. HM-L; vs. Blk-G2-M; KG-G8; vs. Or-G9

Kelly Green/Draft-1 (3-4) vs. RB-W: vs. Sun-W; vs. CB-L; vs. H.M.-L; vs. Blk-L; vs. Or-W; vs. Pk-G7; vs. Pur-G8; vs. Red-G9

Sun/Draft-2 (3-4) vs. HM-L; vs. KG-L; vs. Or-W; vs. Pk-W; vs. Pur-L; vs. Red-L; vs. RB-W; vs. Blk-G8; vs. CB-G9

 Orange/D3-Ursinus (1-6) vs. Red-L; vs. RB-W; vs. Sun-L; vs CB-L; vs. HM-L; vs. KG-L; vs. Blk-L; vs. Pk-G8; vs. Pur-G9

S-Royal Blue/D3-Arcadia (0-7) vs. KG-L; Or-L; vs. Pk-L; vs. Pur-L; vs. Red-L; vs. Blk-L; vs. Sun-L; vs. CB-G8; vs. HM-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.

Q-Clinched quarterfinals; S-Will slot opening round

 

 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 (4-2)

June 14: vs. Columbia Blue, L - 53-59

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

Jun 21: vs. Heather Maroon, L - 45-53

June 23: vs. Red, W - 48-39

June 28: vs. Kelly Green, W - 82-50

June 30: vs. Royal Blue, W - 79-46

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Orange, W - 61-53)

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

July 14: vs. Sun, LC1

July 19: vs. Pink, EC2

 

Columbia Blue/D2-Holy Family (4-2)

June 14: vs. Black, W - 59-53

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

Jun 21: vs. Kelly Green, W - 51-48

June 23:  vs. Orange, W - 76-51

June 28: vs. Pink, L - 53-55

June 30: vs. Purple, W - 74-69

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 (6-1)

June 14: vs. Sun, W - 44-36

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

Jun 21: vs. Black, W - 53-45

June 23: vs. Kelly Green, W - 69-51

June 28: vs. Orange, W - 68-42

June 30: vs. Pink, L - 49-71

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Purple, W - 72-65

July 14: vs. Red, LC3

July 19: vs. Royal Blue, LC1

 

Kelly Green/Draft Team-1 (3-4)

June 14: vs. Royal Blue, W - 77-33

June 16: vs. Sun, W - 51-50

Jun 21: vs. Columbia Blue, L - 48-51

June 23: vs. Heather Maroon, L - 51-69

June 28: vs. Black, L - 50-82

June 30: vs. Orange, W - 57-48

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Pink, L - 33-44

July 14: vs. Purple, LC2

July 19: vs. Red, EC1

Orange/D3 - Ursinus (1-6)

June 14: vs. Red, L - 45-76

June 16: vs. Royal Blue, W - 61-60

Jun 21: vs. Sun, L - 62-75

June 23: vs. Columbia Blue, L - 51-76

June 28: vs. Heather Maroon, L - 42-68

June 30: vs. Kelly Green, L - 48-57

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Black, L 53-61

July 14: vs. Pink, EC1

July 19: vs. Purple, LC2

 

Pink/D2-Kutztown (5-2)

June 14: vs. Purple, L - 46-57

June 16: vs. Red, W - 52-51

Jun 21: vs. Royal Blue, W - 63-50

June 23: vs. Sun, L - 47-56

June 28: vs. Columbia Blue, W - 55-53

June 30: vs. Heather Maroon, W - 71-49

July 5: Dark: 

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Kelly Green, W - 44-33

July 14: vs. Orange, EC1

July 19: vs. Black, EC2

 

Purple/D2-West Chester (3-3)

June 14: vs. Pink, W - 57-46

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

Jun 21: vs. Red, L - 51-71

June 23: vs. Royal Blue, W - 87-67

June 28: vs. Sun, W - 74-53

June 30: vs. Columbia Blue, L - 69-74

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Heather Maroon, L - 65-72

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

July 14: vs. Kelly Green, LC2

July 19: vs. Orange, LC2

Red/D2-Chestnut Hill (5-2)

June 14: vs. Orange, W - 76-45

June 16: vs. Pink, L - 51-52

Jun 21: vs. Purple, W - 71-51

June 23: vs. Black, L - 39-48

June 28: vs. Royal Blue, W - 83-60

June 30: vs. Sun, W - 61-54

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Columbia Blue, W - 40-36

July 14: vs. Heather Maroon, LC3

July 19: vs. Kelly Green, EC1

Royal Blue/D3-Arcadia (0-7)

June 14: vs. Kelly Green, L - 33-77

June 16: vs. Orange,  L - 60-61

Jun 21: vs. Pink, L - 50-63

June 23: vs. Purple, L - 67-87

June 28: vs. Red, L - 60-83

June 30: vs. Black, L - 46-79

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Sun, L - 35-67

July 14: vs. Columbia Blue, EC2 

July 19: vs. Heather Maroon, LC1

Sun/Draft Team-2 (3-4)

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

June 16: vs. Kelly Green, L 50-51

Jun 21: vs. Orange, W - 75-62

June 23: vs. Pink, W - 56-47

June 28: vs. Purple, L - 53-74

June 30: vs. Red, L - 54-61

July 5: Dark:

July 7: Dark:

July 12: vs. Royal Blue, W - 67-35

July 14: vs. Black, LC1

July 19: vs.  Columbia Blue, LC3