Mount Closes Out Hatboro Horsham League
by TOM UTESCHER
In their final week of games in the Hatboro Horsham summer league, the Mount St. Joseph Magic came away with a split, topping the league host Hatters on Monday, 50-24, and then getting edged out by Pennridge High School, 47-43, on Wednesday night.
On Monday the Mount was missing two of its top players, Sarah McGorry and Laura Johnson, but the Magic still had a full bench while Hatboro Horsham had just one sub available. Young Mounties such as Ryan Gallagher, Shannon Bridges, and Jenny Sabia helped the locals gain a 24-13 foothold by halftime.
Gallagher nailed two three-pointers in the first period, and at the start of the second half Sabia and Bridges each deposited their second treys of the night. Mount St. Joe soon had the lead up over 20 points, ringing up the first 15 points of the second stanza. The Hatters showed signs of life later in the game, but were kept at bay as Mollie Flynn came on to score seven of the Magic’s last 11 points.
Both sides were understaffed in Wednesday night’s league finale. Pennridge (from Perkasie in Bucks County) had a total of seven players on hand, and the Mount made due with six until Rebecca Naab arrived at halftime to even things up.
In the first 15 minutes McGorry put up 11 of her game-high 15 points and Claire Kueny collected six of her 13 to provide the rest of the Magic’s scoring during this stretch. The Mount hit lay-ups and medium-range jumpers for most of its total, while Pennridge balanced drives to the hoop with a few three-pointers. With five minutes left the Lady Rams led by a point (18-17), but while MSJ’s Flynn deposited two baskets in the closing minutes, Pennridge added four field goals to lead 26-21 at the break.
Kueny and McGorry continued to score for the locals in the second stanza, while Aubrey Barrett chimed in with three three-pointers. Four minutes in, Barrett assisted a transition basket by McGorry to level the score at 30-30. The Lady Rams scored off a rebound the next time down the floor, then added a basket from the low post and another off of a steal.
After this 6-0 spurt, Pennridge led the rest of the way, enjoying a 47-36 advantage with five minutes to go. Barrett then lobbed in the last of her treys and Naab and Kueny each scored driving lay-ups to make it 47-43 with a little over a minute remaining. The Magic might have owned the lead at this point if they’d done a better job at the foul line, where they made just one of nine attempts in the second half.
Pennridge itself missed four straight free throws near the end of the game to leave the door open, but the Mount couldn’t cross the threshold and finished four points short.
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