Upper Dublin girls basketball wins two over weekend, pushes streak to nine ahead of showdown with Cheltenham

Basketball is often referred to as a simple game: if you can put the ball through the hoop, you will win. For the Upper Dublin girls basketball team, this was unfortunately not the case on a cold-shooting night at rival Wissahickon last Friday. However, the girls had the benefit of learning another truth about the game: if you stop your opponent from shooting the ball through the hoop, you will win.

“We didn’t play very well here, give Wissahickon credit, they played well, but we missed a lot of layups and we missed a lot of foul shots,” said head coach Vincent Catanzaro after the game. “Defensively, we did a good job, and we got after it.”

This was the story of the game last Friday, as the girls tipped off against the rival Trojans and quickly fell into shooting woes. The Cardinals scored only 7 points in the first quarter, tied for their lowest opening frame all year, and found themselves down by a point.

However, the Cardinals went on a critical 19-6 run in the second quarter behind the strong play of Taylor Bryant. Bryant recorded three of her seven steals in the quarter, leading to several fast break and foul shot opportunities, and also hit a 3-pointer.

Heading into the locker room, the Cardinals had built a 26-14 lead that would prove to be the difference in the game.  The teams would be even the rest of the way, ending with a final score of 42-30.

“We’re very capable of doing that, the thing is we turned it up and started playing really hard D,” said Catanzaro about the team’s important play in the second quarter. “Defensively we gave up 30 points…30 points isn’t bad, it means you’re doing something out there.”

Bryant paced the Cardinals with 15 points, five rebounds, and seven steals. Upper Dublin also benefitted from strong contributions from their role players, with guard Cutrena Goff chipping in a team-high five assists and six steals, and sharpshooter Sarah Hallowell adding 11 points on 2-3 shooting from beyond the arch.

The girls played again on Sunday in the Blue Star tournament, hosted by Upper Dublin. The showcase-style competition featured 12 teams from New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

As has been the case all year, the girls again displayed stellar defense against opponent Central Bucks West, holding them under 30 points in a 48-25 win. The Cardinals used a big fourth quarter to pull out the victory, outscoring CB West 19-5 in the frame.

Sarah Hallowell lead the team in scoring on a very efficient night from the field, shooting 5-6 (83%) from the floor and 2-3 from long range. Cutrena Goff lead the team with 9 assists, chipping in eight points and six rebounds. Forward Jen Myers also had a solid game on the glass, pulling down six boards, three on the offensive end.

The two wins push the Cardinals’ record to 11-2 (5-1), and their win streak to nine. During that time, they’ve held all but one of their opponents to 40 points or less, and have outscored the opposition by an average of 19.3 points.

They next take to the court on Thursday, Jan. 20 at Cheltenham. The girls will try to avenge one of their two defeats on the season, as they lost to the Panthers 56-50 on December 17.