MART STAYS OPEN FOR PENNRIDGE
Rams player comes up clutch in win over Tennent
Corrin Mart provided five clutch points in the fourth quarter while Rose McCormick finished with a career-high 16 points as the Pennridge girls basketball team held off a charge from visiting William Tennent to secure a 51-44 Suburban One League Continental Conference victory Friday night.
“It shows that we can finish games we is something that really boosts our confidence,” McCormick said. “Instead of when things don’t go our way it’s good to know that know we’re able to mentally keep in the game.”
The Rams (5-5, 1-3 conference) led 34-23 in the third quarter after an Evelyn Loughery jumper but Tennent collected seven of the quarter’s last nine points – a three-point play from Emma Stanfield at 1:20 making it 36-30.
After a Sam Muredda bucket put Pennridge up eight early in the fourth, the Panthers (6-5, 1-4) ripped off eight straight points, pulling level at 38-38 when Bryn Evans banked in a runner.
Mart, however, drove down the lane to break the tie with McCormick getting inside to extend the Pennridge lead to 42-38.
“This was a good challenge for them because again we had a nice lead, they came back, they battled,” Pennridge coach Mike Elton said. “We got into a little trouble –and I think we probably got in foul trouble, too – but it was a nice way to pull that out and pull that out in the end.”
Two Haley Crossley free throws with 3:47 left made it 42-20. A
Brooke Bachtle foul shot at 2:50 had the Rams up three and after Tennent missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Pennridge worked the clock and Mart buried a corner 3-pointer for a 4640 advantage. The Panthers could only close to within five from there.
“To be honest, I wasn’t going to take it but then I realized how open I was,” Mart said. “So I just went for it. Kind of just happened.”
Stanfield scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in the second half for William Tennent, which dropped its third straight – all in SOL Continental play. Crossley finished with 16 points while Evans added 10 points.
“I don’t know if we used up so much energy. We’re not a deep team so girls were playing with fouls and major minutes, so, like I said I don’t know if it kind of caught up with us,” Panthers coach Laura Whitney said. “Once we tied it up we weren’t able to get the lead. I think we had a couple of possessions where maybe kind of forced a few things, rushing a couple of shots.
“And then Pennridge, they have great athletes, they made big shots late in the game when they needed to. That kind of put the separation in.
Both teams are playing in the SOL Challenge Saturday. Pennridge faces Neshaminy 4 p.m. at Plymouth Whitemarsh while William Tennent hosts Upper Moreland at 7 p.m.
McCormick had six points during the first quarter which ended with the Rams up 9-8.
With the Panthers struggling against Pennridge’s full-court pressure in the second quarter, the Rams grabbed a 24-14 lead on a Gill Anderson 3-pointer before two Stanfield free throws at 32.3 seconds made it 24-16 at the half.
Pennridge pushed the lead to 11 four times in the third quarter before the Panthers cut the margin to six entering the fourth.