Bears battle on boards past PJP
When basketball teams rebound and play strong defense, that combination often leads to good things on the other end of the court. And that was the key to success for the Boyertown girls on Saturday afternoon in a 5240 Pioneer Athletic Conference crossover win at Pope John Paul II.
Julia Smith knocked down five consecutive 3-point shots and led the Bears (6-3 PAC, 7-7 overall) with 17 points. Ashley Kapp scored 11 for the winners, and Mary Kate Shannon topped the Golden Panthers (4-3, 4-7) with 11 points.
“Rebounding,” said Smith. “We have really been struggling with our rebounding. That led into our transitions. We got a lot of transition points and we were able to play at a high level to win.”
Boyertown ran out to an 8-0 lead in the first three minutes as Amber Marburger hit a pair of free throws, Kapp put in a layup off a pass from Avery Sweisfort, Smith scored on a pass from Mikayla Moyer on a fast break and Kapp scored another layup on an assist from Sweisfort.
The Bears’ advantage was up to 20-8 when Smith hit a 3-point shot two minutes into the second quarter.
“They could have taken us lightly, but they came out ready to go,” said Golden Panther coach T.J. Lonergan. “They looked in mid-season form. That was the difference. They executed right out of the gate.”
PJP closed to within 2219 late in the half as Amelia Kennedy hit a 3-pointer from the left corner, Kayla Viney drove for a basket and Shannon connected on a pair of shots from 3-point range.
But Kapp hit a trey from the left wing to close the half. Then Smith stole the ball twice at the start of the third quarter and quickly passed up court to Moyer and Sweisfort for baskets and Marburger went inside for a 3-point play and a 3319 advantage.
“We passed the ball up the floor on our transitions,” said Smith. “We made a lot of good skip passes. I feel like our defense was pretty good today. We focused on our defense. We knew where their shooters were.”
The Bears led 42-30 after three quarters when Smith passed inbounds to Emily Hillegas for a basket at the buzzer. Then Smith drilled 3-pointers from the right corner and the top of the circle to start the final period and put the game away.
“Smith had a phenomenal game,” said Lonergan. “When she’s on, she’s on. That’s a sign of a good shooter. She was finding ways to get open.”
“She’s been playing really solid all year,” said Boyertown coach Jason Bieber. “Tonight was her night to hit shots. It’s really an unselfish group. Amber (Marburger) did a nice job of using her body and getting some nice drives.”
Marburger scored seven, including 5-for-5 shooting for the line, and grabbed five rebounds. Moyer scored eight and Sweisfort had seven points and the Bears had a 30-22 rebounding advantage.
“We’ve been missing box-outs and teams have been hurting us with that,” said Bieber. “We told them to go get it and they did a really good job of that today.”
Tess Crossan scored nine and had a game-high eight rebounds for PJP, Viney scored seven and Kennedy scored six before leaving the game with an injury in the second quarter.
“When we started to settle back in, we started to play the defense we know we can play,” said Lonergan. “I give our players so much credit. For what happened in the middle of the game (the game-ending injury to Kennedy), they rallied and played with pure heart.
“It’s dealing with adversity and trying to push through it. It’s a case of tightening some things up on defense and playing with that same heart.”