Sports Round-up: Girls Hoops State Bound, Swimmers Clean up at Districts

You can call it a successful weekend for Upper Dublin athletics.

The Lady Cardinals girls' basketball team qualified for states via a last second, 36-33 win over Central Bucks East Friday night in Wissahickon. Meanwhile, 12 miles away at La Salle University's Kirk Natatorium, the Upper Dublin boys and girls swim teams were cruising to a pair of District 1 Titles.

In basketball, the Lady Cardinals turned a game that was slowly slipping away into a dramatic victory. The Times Herald reports that Upper Dublin found themselves down seven entering the fourth quarter, but held Central Bucks East to just two points in the final frame while scoring 12.

The final, game-clinching three points came from forward Brianna Spector, who nailed the shot with just seconds remaining after Upper Dublin held the ball for the final shot for over two minutes. Guard Taylor Bryant led Upper Dublin with 15 points.

The win gives Upper Dublin ninth-place in District 1, and the final ticket to the state tournament. The Lady Cards had to gut through three consolation bracket victories after being in the second round.

Boys and girls' swimming, on the other hand, left no doubt about their place atop District 1. The boys upset North Penn by a team score of 298.5 points to 262, setting a district record in the process, according to results posted on UDSwimming.com.

The 200-yard medley relay team of Bobby Bantley, Cooper Tollen, Zach Brech, and Eric Jensen set a new district record by finishing in 1:33.74. The time broke the old 1:34.99 mark, set by Upper Dublin's D. Fitzgerald, C. Willcox, D. Derr, and C. Starosta in 2009.

Upper Dublin also took first in the 200-yard freestyle (Bantley, 1:40.18), 100-yard freestyle (Bantley, 45.97), 100-yard breaststroke (Tollen, 57.76), and the 400-yard freestyle relay (E. Jensen, I. Flynn, Brech, Bantley, 3:07.69).

The Upper Dublin girls put on a show of their own, finishing with 246 points, well ahead of second place North Penn's 191. The team took first in only one event, when the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Casey O'Neill, Sam Wheatley, Emily Houser, and Carolyn Meier finished in 3:32.18.

However, the Lady Cardinals benefitted from a balanced team effort, placing in the top five in 8 of 12 events.

In addition, Upper Dublin wrestling's Devon Dhoble by taking second in the southeast regional Saturday. The 195-pound Dhoble is Upper Dublin's first representative to Hershey in seven years.