PW put the clamps on Spring-Ford to take championship in finals rematch
Plymouth Whitemarsh set some lofty goals for itself this season but there was one in particular that meant a whole lot to the Colonials.
No defeat in recent years had stung more than last year’s District 1 6A title game, where the Colonials lost to Spring-Ford on the Rams’ home floor and ended their season thanks to the COVID-19-altered playoff format. That loss served as fuel for the Colonials all season, time each practice spent in homage to what lost that game, each win a step closer back to the championship.
That the opportunity to make amends came against the same program that had foiled them a year ago was only a sweetener for the Colonials.
Top-seeded Plymouth Whitemarsh did what it came to do, stopping No. 11 Spring-Ford 49-31 at Temple’s Liacouras Center to win the District 1 6A girls’ basketball title on Saturday.
“It felt even better because we did it right back to them,” PW junior Erin
Daley said. “We felt they took it away from us last year and I think that is really what was hard on us, not only did they take the district championship, but they ended our season.
“We did it for all of us here and we did it for last year’s seniors too.”
Even for a team that starts three college-bound seniors and two juniors fielding Division I interest, there was still an adjustment period to the atmosphere and size of the venue at Temple. Save for a brief 2-2 tie early in the first quarter, PW never trailed but that didn’t mean the Colonials came out firing on all cylinders early either.
Senior point guard Kaitlyn Flanagan, who directed the Colonials brilliantly with 11 points, eight assists and lockdown defense, said the idea was to get any nerves out of their system in warm-ups. Putting words into action, Flanagan also took charge early with a more aggressive approach than usual for a couple baskets plus two assists as PW built an 11-4 lead after eight minutes.
“I have to look for myself
sometimes,” Flanagan said. “It did end up helping later on, it got my teammates open when they realized they were going to have to guard me.”
As it has been much of the season, Plymouth Whitemarsh’s defense was
the difference maker. Colonials coach Dan Dougherty said Spring-Ford is a difficult team to guard because the Rams do such a good job of orchestrating their offense without many sets, instead moving the ball to set up mismatches.